Biofuel not detrimental

PUERTO PRINCESA – The ethanol and gasoline blend required for local vehicles is not detrimental to engine performance, according to the first Philippine study on how the fuel impacts on internal combustion.

“The findings will give the government and consumers a better picture on the effects of different blends of ethanol in Philippine conditions,” says Melchor E. Jaramilla of Palawan State University (PSU) who measured the power, fuel consumption and exhaust emissions of different ethanol-gasoline blends.

The Biofuel Act requires local oil companies to sell gasoline pre-blended with 10 percent ethanol (E10). “No local study has been done to support the policy,” says Jaramilla, a mechanical engineer and faculty member.

Engine tests showed no difference in power as the ethanol blend increased. Five percent ethanol had the highest carbon monoxide emission that decreased with higher ethanol concentrations.

The emission of pollutants, in fact, decreased as the amount of ethanol in the blend increased.

All carbon monoxide concentrations in different blends conform to the Philippine Clean Air Act. The carbon dioxide emissions were similar to that of carbon monoxide.

Jaramilla made the study as a scholar of the of the Department of Science and Technology’s Engineering Research and Technology for Development program at the College of Engineering, University of the Philippines Diliman, where he finished his masteral studies on heat power.

“A number of environmental and economic benefits have been claimed for biofuels but always leaves a big question mark, especially for oil producers and consumers, for the lack of a concrete and general recommendation that can be adopted universally,” says Jaramilla who hopes the study will be used as a guide in creating more substantial government policies and regulations.

Jaramilla investigated the performance and emissions of different ethanol-gasoline blends, from zero to 25 percent.

“Our country is very fortunate with recent active oil exploration and extraction of previous and new discoveries,” Jaramilla told Malaya Business Insight. “However, dependence on petroleum as a main source of energy does not augur well for us. In a few decades, this country’s known reserves will be exhausted.”

“It is vital that the alternative fuel used must be produced from renewable resources and it must be usable directly without requiring any major changes in the structure of the engine,” he says.

The Alternative Fuels Program aims 60-percent energy self-sufficiency by this year and, according to the Department of Energy (DOE), E10 means “better performance, reduced carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbon emissions which, in most cases, improves fuel economy.”

His study, which confirms the DOE claims, hopes to provide the government with data on the effect of using different ethanol blends on the performance of spark-ignition engines in light cars in terms of power, fuel consumption and emissions.