CONGRESSMAN [Roilo] Golez’s concern that biofuels will eat into food security — specifically, “making beer more expensive” — strains credulity.
Couldn’t he at least think of other, more plausible reasons besides worrying about a more expensive alcoholic drink?
– Perla Limbaga Manapol, Banga, Aklan, Philippines (via e-mail)
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July 6th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Dyan tayo magagaling na Pinoy, pag hindi natin idea, kontra agad tayo.. Nung nadiscover ang langis di lahat ay sang ayon dahil nakasanayan na nila ang steam power, d nila ma gets ang concept ng petrochemical refining ng crude oil. Ganyan din tayo ngayon pag may alternative na naisip sinusupalpal agad, kahit na yung bakcground knowledge na alam ay kakatiting lang, nag gegeneralise agad ng conclusion. Kung sa tingin ninyo ay alam ninyo ang solusyon edi ilahad ninyo!! Hindi yung puro negatibo lang ang alam ninyong sabihin.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Can’t figure out how a poisonous weed like Jatropha had taken the fuel hungry
world like a storm. Nobody seem to object
offer an intelligent study, effects on environment, profitability, how it will
help the poor Pinoys or just another ploy
by the foreigners. In India where it all
started now have qualms about the
so-called ease of care. Harvesting is very
labor intensive as the nuts mature at
different stages,fruits are sorted manually
seeds are dried, peeled, pressed. Oil that
is recovered if used as is causes coking
and polymerization. Diesel conversion
is a difficult process unlike other oils.
I still can’t understand why we export
millions of tons of coconut oil and copra
yet import 150,00 tons of palm oil to fry
our foods with. Now we have to plant
poison.
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Ric said:
“…Biofuel looks like a nice and easy alternative to petrol products. But it is not.
If farmers want to get a good income out of that plants, then biofuel could become much more expensive than gasoline or diesel. This, because one liter biofuel has not the same power than one liter gasoline, it is much less powerful…”
***
Nope, for biodiesel and petroleum diesel they have very similar energy efficiencies, check out: http://www.biodiesel.org/pdf_files/fuelfactsheets/LifeCycle_Summary.PDF
Excerpt:
The total energy efficiency ratio (ie. total fuel energy/total energy used in
production, manufacture, transportation, and distribution) for diesel fuel and
biodiesel are 83.28% for diesel vs 80.55% for biodiesel. The report notes:
“Biodiesel and petroleum diesel have very similar energy efficiencies.”
***
Ric also said:
“…biofuel will unstoppable create monocultures since the plants and trees can not be taken out and something else is produced instead alternatively. But monocultures usually need more and more fertilizer, making it more and more expensive and the production of fertilizers will swallow more energy and create more pollution than ever can be saved with biofuel…”
***
Not necessarily, there are biofuel plants that do not need more fertilizer than what is currently being used anyway. Biofuel plants are PLANTS which unlike petroleum fuel are able to absorb carbon dioxide thus reducing a great amount of this gas in the atmosphere.
A new system of using nitrogen fixing shrubs planted in between biofuel producing plants in fact could further reduce dependencies on fertilizers. But despite this, current plants which are sources of biofuel do not need more fertilizer than what is currently being used.
Biofuel production in the country would also reduce our dependency on foreign oil and the money goes back to our farmers thus pump priming our economy instead of spending our money to buy petroleum from some foreign country whose citizens usually abuse our overseas foreign workers anyway (especially domestic helpers) .
***
Conclusion: Biofuels are far better to use than ground extracted petroleum. This is an excellent TRANSITION FUEL as in parallel we also continue to develop and promote other alternatives like electric vehicles, hydrogen fueled vehicles, and other alternate fuel sources toward a vision of a completely “petroleumless” future.
January 3rd, 2008 at 12:21 am
To kabayan
Biofuel looks like a nice and easy alternative to petrol products. But it is not.
If farmers want to get a good income out of that plants, then biofuel could become much more expensive than gasoline or diesel. This, because one liter biofuel has not the same power than one liter gasoline, it is much less powerful. Means, instead of tanking one gallon gasoline, you need 3..4 gallon biofuel. And that is for sure more expensive. In addition, the pollution out of three gallon biofuel is also more than out of one gallon gasoline. We have to compare the combustive power, not just the same volume. Sure, there will come a time when fossile oil becomes scarce and its price will skyrocket, but then it will anyway not just be burned anymore but used for chemical processes which create a hundred- or thousandfold value.
Aside of this, biofuel will unstoppable create monocultures since the plants and trees can not be taken out and something else is produced instead alternatively. But monocultures usually need more and more fertilizer, making it more and more expensive and the production of fertilizers will swallow more energy and create more pollution than ever can be saved with biofuel.
To chito
Yes, there is a problem. But not so much about westernized christmas etc., but because of the extreme commercialising of all occasions. You can not eliminate the “western” christmas without to eliminate the complete western christianity and catholic religion. All comes from outside the Philippines.
How commercial christmas is already, one can easy realize at the extreme price increases just shortly before christmas. 1..2..300 percent increase of common basic goods like food is happening. And Filipinos accept it, at least those with the “performance bonuses” and cash gifts, often more than common workers earn within half a year and for sure work harder than gov. employees with their much higher salaries, perks, incentives, privileges and much less working days. Therefore, this easy earned money is also easy spent and higher prices do not much matter for them. Still it is shameful how the business is trying to grab its share of that giveaway money, not caring that the majority of Filipinos are not showered with such easy money. Besides, how there can be billions of “savings” if all the year over the same agencies are unable to do the planned projects because of “not enough funds”? It looks like they just stop working projects out for to save that money which will then be given to them as performance bonus.
About the people going to the USA forspecial reasons, usually they are out of politics, govrnment. But just remember when Estrada has been asking for his knee operation abroad or at least by his longtime US doctor, he has been told that RP is abundant with specialists. But when those who have told this feel sick, immediately they go abroad instead to one of the abundant RP specialists. It is not the same to tell sombody else what to do and then also to do the same.
January 2nd, 2008 at 6:46 pm
his “making beer more expensive” statement may have been based on an articled published by the Financial Times where Heineken’s CEO, von Boxmeer, expressed that “the expansion of the biofuel sector was beginning to cause a ’structural shift’ in European and US agricultural markets.”, referring to the reduction of barley production areas to increase corn production, for ethanol production purposes.
Article futher quotes Van Boxmeer to saying that “One consequence could be a long-term shift upwards in the price of beer. Barley and hops account for about 7-8 per cent of brewing costs.”
Here’s the link to the FT article: http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto022520071613595903