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THE Biofuels Caravan—a cross-country motorcade that aims to
encourage vehicle owners to consider the use of
alternative fuels, especially those of bioethanol and
biodiesel—wound up its 10-day sweep of the key cities of
the country.
A one-day pit stop at the Ford Motor Philippines plant in
Santa Rosa, Laguna last week saw the tumultuous welcome
of the group led by US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Santa
Rosa Mayor Arlene Arcillas—Jazareno and top officials of
Ford such as its president Rick Baker and chairman Henry
Co.
The caravan, composed of members of the Philippine Fuel
Ethanol Alliance (a grantee of last year’s Ford
Conservation and Environmental Grants program), Sugar
master Plan Foundation, the Department of Energy, the US
Sustainable Energy Development Program, Seaoil and
Flying V, chugged its way on February 3 from the
northern province of Pagudpud and before winding up in
the northernmost part of Mindanao.
The caravan backed the quest of transforming the country into
a biofuel producing one and even showcased vehicles that
have the convenience and practicality of biofuels in
their tanks.
After that pit stop in the Ford plant in Laguna, the caravan
went on to Lipa and Batangas then snaked its way towards
Iloilo City, Bacolod City, San Carlos City, Cagayan de
Oro City, Malaybalay, Bukidnon, and then Davao City,
where they ended the tour. Several public forums were
also held in Tarlac,
Bacolod and Cagayan where representatives from the DOE, Automobile
Association of the Philippines (AAP), and the Clean
Cities Coalition of the
Philippines (a collective group of cities pursues
“cleaner air for a cleaner environment).
At the Ford plant, Ambassador Kenney lauded the country’s
continued march towards the use of biofuels. She said
that the
US’s
partnership with the Philippines in the search for more
alternative fuels goes beyond boundaries as we look for
every means towards independence from oil use. “This is
what we are doing as we go forward to a brighter and
greener future,” she said.
For her part, Santa Rosa Mayor Arcillas-Jazareno said, “she
is very happy that Ford is here in our city. We hope
that our continued search for alternative fuels would
lead to the solving of imbalances in the environment, if
properly implemented,” she added.
A tour of the Ford plant was also held wherein the
participants and guests saw how the first flex fuel car
in the country—the Ford Focus—is being manufactured. The
Focus is now capable of running on a 20-percent
bioethanol blend.
Ethanol
ready.
In a caravan held a month
before the signing of the Biofuels Bill, several units
of E20 (80-percent petroleum, 20-percent
ethanol)-capable Ford Focus compact sedans were brought
to the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City for
viewing by Bukidnon congressman and Biofuels Bill
proponent Juan Miguel Zubiri.
“Globally, Ford is on the forefront of this
endeavor to promote the use of alternative fuels—from
the vehicles we produce, to the marketing and
communication outreach we do to increase awareness and
educate the motoring public, to the partners we tap to
move our vision forward. Our strategy going forward is
to leverage a flexible array of technology options
including hybrids, clean diesels, advanced engine and
transmission technologies, and vehicles that run on
biodiesel and bioethanol. We also continue to research
and develop lithium battery-powered hybrids as well as
hydrogen internal-combustion engines and fuel cell
technologies,” Baker said in his opening statement.
He also revealed, “this Biofuels Caravan is one of the
projects that received funding under the 2006 Ford
Conservation and Environmental Grants program. Although
it has started only a few days ago, I am pretty sure it
has already made its mark on Filipinos concerned about
the environment. This bold first step in creating a
brighter future for the Filipinos is truly commendable.
It’s great to see one of our grantees in action!
“It is the belief of Ford, along with these inspiring group
of people and organizations that biofuels can bring the
Philippines to this prophecy of a globally competitive
nation. And it is very overwhelming to see that we have
all come this far to reach our single goal of seeing an
alternative fuel-consuming Philippines. Together, join
us in our pursuit as we campaign for renewable energy
and take this giant step towards achieving a better
state for us environmentally and economically,” Baker
added.
Baker also stated that “Ford is very pleased with the signing
of the Biofuels Act and we would continue to push and
work to increase the awareness of this vision.”
Ford chairman Henry Co, on the other hand, said that he
believes that the country is now gearing towards the way
Brazil went to biofuels technology some thirty years
ago. “Needless to say, these are very exciting times for
us as we move closer and closer to attaining what Brazil
was able to accomplish in the field of alternative fuel
use.
“To achieve sustainable mobility, our company stated as well
that focusing on three pathways will get us to our
goal—integrated strategy, technological innovation and
external dialogue, and partnership. In a few short
years, Ford has achieved much in tackling these pathways
and even on a global scale, the company has taken the
first steps in changing the human mindset on fuel
consumption, particularly in countries like the United
Kingdom, U.S.A. and China to mention a few,” Co said. |
