<!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } -->
As biofuels have grown in importance in discussions about energy and climate change, the extent to which biofuels can play a beneficial role in replacing fossil fuels and reducing carbon emissions is still hotly debated.
 
In current practice, biofuels still have to surmount the energy-intensive agricultural production and conversion of its core crops. Biofuels from high-energy plants that need little processing, such as sugar cane as well as oil palm or coconuts, can possibly achieve the best results.
 
However, the large quantities of crops required to replace the small fraction of the huge volume of oil will have a large scale impact on the food security and self-sufficiency of our agricultural production. Even for high-yield crops, large tracts of land are necessary. According to one estimate, if all the country's coconut supply is to be turned into biodiesel, the country can only sustain up to a 20% blend of biodiesel.
 
Converting farmland for rice or food to biofuel cultivation or destroying forests to make way for fuel crops are controversial. For a country with a high hunger rate, as well as a large landless peasant base, conversion of farmland will not only reduce the land available for growing food but could possibly worsen the landlessness in the country. Clearing of natural forests would affect water and soil quality and threaten biodiversity.
 
In the Philippines, the implementation of the Biofuels Act on May 6, 2007 has already resulted to a 50 centavo increase in the price of fuel as subsidies have now been removed. The Bio-fuels Act, which was enacted into law last January, will require the mandatory blending of coco bio-diesel with petroleum diesel initially at one percent in early May 2007 and increasing to two percent within two years. It also calls for 5% Ethanol with gasoline within the first 4 years.
 
There are several companies in the Philippines producing coco-biodiesel. Chemrez, the largest, targets to produce 60 million liters of coco-biodiesel per year out of a total of 110 million liters of coco-biodiesel per year. Senbel produces 25 million liters and 10 million liters are produced by RI Chemicals. If the large scale production of biodiesel in the long run would turn to be oriented mainly for export, as Chemrez plans to, biofuel production would be no different from other cash crops in our agricultural history: the Philippines end up producing only raw agricultural exports for other countries. Japan and Germany, the Americans, Australians and the Chinese have a growing market for biodiesel and ethanol.
 
The production for biofuels has been touted as a way for fuel independence. However, biofuel production seems to benefit those who want to preserve ownership of large tracts of sugarcane and coconut land rather than genuinely sustaining domestic demand and lowering prices.
 
Local generation of biofuels cannot and should not be divorced from land reform. For example, current large scale production of crops is almost always connected to large landowners. In Bukidnon, small landowners have opted to rent out their lands to sugar planters where an estimated 55,732 hectares are devoted to sugarlands, increasing in mono-cropping. Food production should be the primary concern of our agricultural output.
 
Biodiesel and other alternative fuels should be developed in view of the long term problems and concerns of the country. The current oil monopoly and control of a few companies, the current land monopoly and control of a few landlords, and the mainly export-oriented nature of production in our country are major stumbling blocks to the benefits of these alternatives.###