Green transport program to help fight rising fuel prices

Friday, March 25, 2011

THE new eco-jeepney program of the Department of Energy (DOE), which would complement the green transport initiative, would help ease the nation's dependence on oil.

The DOE announced the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with large transport groups in the implementation of the eco-jeepney program that will promote the use of auto-liquefied petroleum gas (auto-LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG)-fed engines.

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The program aims to convert as many diesel-run jeepneys as possible.

"The future is in clean, renewable energy, which is predicted to be one of the biggest industries by 2014,” Senator Edgardo Angara said in a statement lauding the DOE’s program.

“It is a vital step we must take in order to harness and develop the abundant alternative energy resources that our country possesses to benefit both present and future generations," he added.

Angara, author of the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, said that "we are at the mercy of constant world oil price fluctuations and consequently by the oil companies operating in the business. Each year, we import 94% of all our crude oil needs while our oil consumption is projected to rise by more than 10% in the next decade."

The Philippines is one of the most oil-dependent countries in Asia. “This puts us in a vulnerable position as the country's demand for energy can only be expected to grow as households, transport and factories multiply,” he said.

Expressing his support to the DOE program, the senator, who also chairs the Congressional Commission on Science Technology and Engineering (COMSTE), identified the development of electric vehicles and green transport as priority projects of the commission for 2011.

The green transport initiative and electric vehicle program was conceptualized by COMSTE under the Renewable Energy Research and Development Institute (RERDI) and will be implemented in cooperation with the DOST and the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP). The project will promote the development of new technology that can produce more efficient, low cost batteries and new electric vehicle design initiatives.

Angara said that innovative green transport systems such as electric tricycles, hybrid jeepneys, buses and electric bicycles have the potential to lessen pollution caused by conventional transportation.

The COMSTE model for green transport also includes the use of renewable energy sources such as biofuels, like algae, which will in turn charge the batteries of electric and hybrid vehicles, creating a sustainable green transportation system. (CGC)