Philippines seeks comments on revision of biofuel standards

The Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it will be re-calibrating the standards and test protocols for biodiesel products as mandated by the Biofuels Act of 2006.

Specifically, the technical committee on petroleum products has revised DPNS/DOE TM 01:2015, Determination of Ester and Lauric Acid Content in Fatty Acid (FAME) by Gas Chromatography, which was last updated in 2009.

The proposed revised standard is open for comments until 2 April 2015 and can be viewed by clicking on this link.

The modified test will be able to verify blends higher than 2.0% by volume. Currently, the biodiesel content in petroleum diesel is 2%, but the DOE is taking steps to increase it to 5%. This should have happened this year, but reinforcing policy formulations, as well as reviewing protocols and processes, has taken longer than expected, the DOE said. It has asked the help of Chevron Philippines (Caltex), because of its technical expertise in this area, the government agency said.

This standard will ensure that the test is reliable in determining the content of ester and lauric acids, as well as provide wider coverage for biodiesel blends above 2%.

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