Gov’t adopts violet color for bioethanol fuel pumps

Roses are red, violets are blue, and bioethanol is violet, too. Starting January 1, gas dealers nationwide will use violet color for their bioethanol fuel pumps to avoid confusion at gasoline stations. Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla on Friday said the color scheme will also make government monitoring and implementation of the bioethanol program more effective. Bioethanol is also commonly known as e-gasoline. In a recently issued department circular No. 2006-11-0012, the Department of Energy mandates all companies selling bioethanol fuel to adopt the color scheme for e-gasoline pumps in order to "differentiate the product from other gasoline blends and from ethanol used for beverages." "The circular strictly specifies that the PNS (Philippine National Standard) color specification of dark violet for fuel bioethanol shall be mandatory effective January 1, 2007," the circular said. Lotilla explained that the product quality standard is important to protect the interest of the stakeholders, the government and most particularly the consumers. "All oil industry players engaging in retailing bioethanol-blended gasoline or e-gasoline at gasoline stations are required to label all e-gasoline pumps with pertinent information about the product," Lotilla said. Bioethanol is an alternative to gasoline. Basically alcohol, bioethanol is made from starch plants (grain, mostly corn, and tubers like cassava) and sugar plants (sugar beet or sugar cane). Based on estimates, by using 10 percent ethanol blend, the Philippines will save 565 million liters of gasoline per year, resulting in foreign exchange savings of $354 million. Studies further show that the Philippines would need about 400 million liters of ethanol by 2010, thus requiring about 20 more ethanol plants. A bicameral conference committee meeting of lawmakers from both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed the biofuels bill last November 23. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had certified the bill as urgent and it is expected to be enacted into law soon. The proposed Biofuels Act mandates that gasoline contain 4 our percent bio-ethanol, while diesel will have a 2 percent bio-diesel blend during the first two years of its implementation. On the third year, an additional 1 percent blend will be required until both gasoline and diesel contain 10 percent biofuel. -GMANews.TV