| Coal briquettes explored as alternative fuel to costly LPG |
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The Department of Energy is experimenting on commercial development of coal briquettes as alternative to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), as a way to ease pricing pressures on this commonly-used commodity for cooking. This proposed venture is getting a jumpstart with DMCI Holdings Inc., operator of the Semirara Coal Mining Corporation in Antique, already taking first steps to introduce this in the domestic market. DMCI Holdings president Isidro Consunji noted that they will be tapping the application of a German coal briquetting technology for this venture; but he withheld yet some other details on how they plan to go forward with the investment plan. Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla, for his part, acknowledged that the potential of eventually having an alternative to LPG comes as a relief for them as energy planners of the country, especially so since the raw material can be sourced locally. He said this will take pressure off from the consumers, who for the longest time, have also been held hostage by the vagaries of volatility of LPG contract prices in the world market. The development of cooking fuel from indigenous source is seen in keeping with the government’s policy of energy independence, targetted at 60 percent by 2010. To date, the country is depending heavily on importation of roughly 55percent to satiate domestic LPG demand; while the rest are from the outputs of local refiners. Consunji explained that the coal briquettes to be turned as a cooking fuel will be utilized out of what are already considered as "waste coal" from the Semirara mine. As experimented upon by other countries, it was noted that technology will afford the production of sulphur-fixed coal briquettes, with savings from raw material also registered at about 10 percent; thus, emissions can be made lower as compared to direct combustion of bulk coal. Currently available technology for briquette production is now well established and even set multi-series and multifunctional for stoves or burners. Briquettes, as experienced by other countries like India and even Indonesia, thrived a lot cheaper than LPG; and depending on the raw material to be used, it oftentimes come cleaner as alternative. Market watchers emphasized that LPG price volatilities are primarily attributed to increasing demand for imports, especially for countries also experiencing hurried expansion, both in their economy and size of population, such as in the case of China and India. Other markets were reported to have already tried on other alterative fuels or cooking, such as dimethyl ether (DME) which is a also a liquid form extracted from coal. |
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