A mini-caravan for Clean Air was recently staged by a multi-sector group, featuring a demonstration on how coco-biodiesel eliminates the problem of smoke belching and saves money for motorists.
Amid ongoing discussions on the benefits of alternative fuels in line with the country’s move towards energy independence, another factor that should be considered is the environmental aspect of its use.
Alternative fuels, when added to diesel or gasoline, have been proven to be friendlier to air. In fact, a vehicle that uses coco-biodiesel, or coconut methyl ester (CME) could effectively reduce carbon dioxide emissions while increasing its mileage run for every liter of fuel.
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CARLOS PALAD, public affairs officer of Chemrez,
guides a participant as he fills bio-diesel into
the vehicle. | | The road show, which ran for a week in May covered the provinces of Cavite (Trece Martires), Batangas (Lipa), Laguna (San Pablo), Quezon (Infanta), Rizal (Antipolo City) and Bulacan (Malolos). The road show was capped by a closing event in San Fernando, Pampanga.
It was jointly organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Philippine Biodiesel Association, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Energy and Clean Air Project (ECAP) and Vic Milan of Kalikasan Vigilante.
Milan, an advocate of alternative fuel, developed the Clean Air Caravan concept, encouraged by his personal experience of having made the longest single test in using the additive for over a distance of more than 4,000 kilometers, achieving an extra mileage record of 29 percent.
The Clean Air Caravan’s highlight was a demonstration on the benefits of using biodiesel, in cooperation with Chemrez, Inc., the first and largest producer of coco-biodiesel in Asia. For each stop, emission levels of randomly selected vehicles in the localities were tested to provide a baseline data for comparison.
The fuels of these vehicles were then mixed with a coco-biodiesel additive manufactured by Chemrez, Inc. The same vehicles were subjected to emission tests again, 30 minutes after the biodiesel additive was introduced into the fuel. The results showed marked difference in the emission levels of the vehicles before and after the use of coco-biodiesel.
Jeepneys whose emission levels were above 8 (the standard emission level for diesel-fed vehicles is 2.5) that were loaded with cocobiodiesel were tested with opacimeter readings of below 2 after idling the engines with the additive for just 30 minutes.
The caravan also featured talks on the benefits of using biodiesel. Public Health Specialists Belinda Villasencio and Helen Calong of the Lung Center of the Philippines discussed the ill effects of air pollution from mobile sources.
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