THE PHILIPPINES is prepared to meet its 2014 biofuel requirement of about 537 million liters of bioethanol a year, Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said.

In his speech before the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference last week, Yap told delegates that the Department of Agriculture has confirmed that 16 bioethanol projects are being put up.

"When completed, the rated capacity of these projects, representing half a billion US dollars in investments, is placed at 567 million liters annually," he explained.

Yap noted that demand for energy crops is fueling interest in sweet sorghum, cassava and, until recently, a much ignored bush called "jatropha curcas."

He said the demand for bioethanol alone would require more than 500,000 hectares of expansion areas for sugarcane, sweet sorghum and cassava in the Philippines.

He likewise stressed the need to intensify production in areas set aside for the planting of these crops, especially now that the Philippines is cashing in on the booming biofuels sector.

For biodiesel, Yap said that there were enough current accredited coco methyl esther (CME) producers operating in the market, the biggest of which has an actual production of 70 million liters annually.

"Still, new projects will be needed to meet future CME fuel demands, not only of the Philippines, but of foreign markets as well," Yap said.

The Philippine government, he noted, provides incentives to new players in the biofuels industry, with the signing of Republic Act No. 9367 last year.

The law mandated the pre-blending of gasoline with 10 percent ethanol, and of diesel with 2 percent CME or coco-biodiesel.