Nipahol may just be the country’s solution to high prices of gasoline.  

An expert in renewable energy is pushing for the use of the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) Nipahol in producing gasoline blend that is up to 15% ethanol by volume (E15). 

Dr. Fiorello Abenes, who recently served as Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Balik Scientist at MMSU, pushes the use of Nipahol for E15 would lower the staggering costs of fuel while maintaining its efficacy. 

Nipahol is a 95% ethanol with 5% water that is reflux-distilled from the sap of a nipa palm. It is the highest concentration of ethanol that can be obtained by distillation so far. Launched in 2020, it was first used to replenish the dwindling supply of disinfectants in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, this was reintroduced as an alternative cooking fuel which could possibly substitute the liquified petroleum gas.

However, Dr. Abenes, a professor emeritus of the California State Polytechnic University, together with researchers of the MMSU National Bioenergy Research and Innovation Center (NBERIC) believe that Nipahol cannot only disinfect and gas cooking stoves, but can be used to drive vehicles, as well. 

Expressing support to this new venture, NBERIC Director Roque Ulep said the directorate will soon test the efficacy of E15 via Nipahol, side by side with the E10 (gasoline blended with 10 percent ethanol by volume). 

For her part, MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis welcomed this development, saying this would surely address the burden of consumers, and at the same time, advance MMSU-NBERIC’s mandate as the renewable energy center in the country. 

Dr. Abenes and NBERIC researchers have been studying hydrous ethanol containing 5% water in gasoline blends since 2010. They already developed HBE-20, a blend of hydrous ethanol and E10.  

Why E15 via Nipahol?

Ethanol provides oxygen, making gasoline burn more cleanly in engines. That is why the E10, which contains 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline, is widely accepted and available at all gas stations in the Philippines, as mandated by the Biofuels Act of 2006. 

E15 is a blend of 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline. With 5 percent more ethanol, E15 has an octane rating of 88, higher than that of the E10 which is 87. (The higher a fuel’s octane, the more resistant it is to knocking.)

Dr. Abenes said E15 will be cheaper than E10, explaining its cost of production per liter of hydrous Nipahol is just Php 35.00, as estimated by the NBERIC economists. “The cost of removing the last 5% water can add 25% to the cost of producing fuel grade ethanol.”

The renewable energy expert assured that the 5% water in hydrous ethanol is not an issue since the tolerance of gasoline for water is temperature dependent. “The higher the temperature, the more water gasoline can hold without separation. In the Philippines, where average temperature is close to 80 degrees, phase separation of gasoline and ethanol will not occur.” 

Growing in the coastlines, nipa palm has been reported to have ethanol yields ranging from 6,480 to 20,000 liters/ha, which makes it several times more productive than sugarcane.

Having the fifth longest coastline in the world, the Philippines has the third largest area of nipa forests, which is estimated at 38,000 hectares. According to MMSU economists, nipa forests can supply all of the 300 million liters of ethanol currently imported by the government. 

Aside from helping produce ethanol, managing nipa forests can also provide livelihood opportunities to coastal communities, which covers 62% of the country’s population, Dr. Abenes emphasized. 

Growing nipa and developing it as bioethanol is in line with the Biofuels Act of 2006, which envisions the development of homegrown biofuels to expand the country’s options for affordable fuel. Currently, domestically produced bioethanol is derived from sugarcane (mostly molasses) and blended with gasoline.

Related to this, the Ethanol Producers Association of the Philippines has also been pushing for the raise of gasoline blend from 10 to 15 or even 20 percent “to reduce gasoline prices, generate more savings, and to avoid greenhouse gas emissions.” 

In its Philippines Biofuels Report, the United States Department of Agriculture pointed out that if the Philippines had moved to E15 and E20 using current prices, it would have decreased the gasoline pump price by 2.2 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively, resulting in average annual savings equivalent to PhP 11.8 billion and PhP 23.6 billion. 

“This environment would have also facilitated an opportunity to share a portion of gained consumer welfare with local fuel ethanol producers via higher prices for locally produced fuel ethanol, which in turn, would have encouraged local producers to maximize production,” the report added. (JVBT/DPTJ, StratCom)