NAGA CITY, Jan. 16 (PNA) -– The city government here has formalized its position of gradually phasing out vehicles in the local public transport industry that use air pollution-causing conventional fuels by passing an ordinance that allows and promotes the use of ecologically-friendly vehicles.
Eco-friendly vehicles for not emitting pollutants to taint the air for a healthy atmosphere was the foundation of the recently passed City Ordinance No. 2011-065 which allows the operation of electricity powered vehicles particularly tricycles or e-trikes in the city.
The ordinance provides for a program on electric-driven vehicles that when made fully operational, according to City Mayor John Bongat, will pave the way for the fielding of a total of 1,600 e-trikes to ply the routes within the territorial limits of the city.
The legislation aims to provide the community with an alternative means of transport that will promote, among others, a less polluted setting and for the drivers and operators to have an opportunity to earn a higher and complementary source of income, Bongat said.
Since such vehicles will be using electric charges and not the conventional petroleum like gasoline, he said the ordinance also specifies that charging stations will be established in strategic public places within the city outskirts.
Recently, Bongat said the city government received 10 units of e-bikes, courtesy of a climate change adaptation program of the United Nations, making Naga the first local government unit (LGU) to be a recipient of the donation in the country, free of cost and for use by selected LGU departments in the delivery of basic services to its constituents.
Last year, the city government entered into a partnership with a private firm for the deployment of a fleet of electric vehicles into the city’s public transportation scene as the local government steps up its fight against the worsening air pollution which is being principally attributed to smoke emissions of petroleum using motor vehicles.
Bongat said 70 percent of some 3,000 passenger jeeps and tricycles plying the city streets are smoke-belchers even as their operators are constantly being warned of penalties provided for under the Clean Air Act of 1999.
Under the partnership agreement, Enzolutions Inc., a Manila-based private firm engaged in renewable energy generation and development of innovative clean technology products, will initially make available 50 units of e-trikes in the city.
The Enzolution’s electric vehicles program is in association with Eco-Merge Philippines, Inc., a Filipino-Japanese joint venture firm involved the development of solar energy projects all over the country and Gerweiss Motors Corporation the leader and the pioneer of various models and types of electric vehicles in the Philippines.
Eco-Merge will put up solar-powered charging stations within the year as a necessary component as the e-trikes program goes full swing and in anticipation of the e-jeep deployment, he said.
The same firm is also behind the ongoing establishment of the US-million 11-megawatt solar power farm in a 22-hectare property in the nearby Pili town in partnership with the Australian-owned engineering firm, SMEC Philippines Inc.
Bongat said that under the electric passenger vehicle program, the city government will endorse drivers who will operate the units under a lease scheme to be entered with the Enzolutions.
The deployment of the initial number of units of electric vehicles in the city is contained in the project’s first phase which aims to determine its commercial viability and demonstrate to the public the technical aspect of the vehicle as a cleaner and economical alternative mode of transportation, the city mayor said.
A study shows that an electric tricycle would do away with five to six liters of gasoline equivalent to P200 to P300 a day. Daily battery recharging costs only around P45 and based on the research conducted by the University of the Philippines-National Center for Transportation Studies, gasoline-fed vehicles emit fine-particulate matters that bring serious illness to people.
The emissions become even worse due to vehicle age, poor maintenance, lubricant misuse and fuel adulteration, it said.
Bongat said the program is also in line with the desire of the administration of Pres. Benigno Aquino III to lessen pollution by way of fielding e-bikes across the country that are totally with no emissions.
A study of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) says that if all Philippine tricycles are e-bikes, the country can save much as 20 million metric tons of carbon footprints a year and tricycle drivers can save up to P300 in daily fuel costs.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has offered to provide loans for the Philippine government to finance a proposed re-fleeting program for tricycle drivers and operators shifting to e-bikes. (PNA)
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