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THE city
of Makati will be the first local government to host a
test run of the country’s first electric jeepneys early
this week.
Two
units of the “e-jeepneys” will be previewed before city
officials led by Makati Mayor Jejomar C. Binay and
representatives from environmental groups and the
private sector on Wednesday at the Ayala Center.
Binay
sees the e-jeepneys plying the Central Business District
(CBD) as early as July on a test-run basis. If the test
run is successful, Binay said the Makati city government
and its partners, Green Renewable Independent Power
Producer (GRIPP) Inc., Greenpeace, and Solar Electric Co
(Solarco), will jointly promote the use of electric
jeepneys in other cities.
“This
project is an innovative way of addressing two major
concerns of cities, namely pollution and waste
reduction. Makati is very keen on this project
considering the volume of vehicle that we have in our
CBD and the organic waste generated by households and
commercial establishments here,” Binay said.
There
are over 777,000 vehicles on
Makati’s
major roads during weekdays, and Binay sees the electric
jeepneys as a way of reducing carbon-emission levels in
the country’s financial center.
Binay
said the electric jeepneys can be powered by both solar
energy and organic waste and therefore, do not emit
noxious fumes. “If the test runs prove successful, this
could be the beginning of cleaner Philippine cities,
beginning with Makati,” he said.
During
the test-run period, the city government and its
partners GRIPP, Greenpeace and Solarco will closely
coordinate with representatives of jeepney operators and
drivers associations, who are also considered as
stakeholders of the project.
Binay is
pleased that the initial reaction of the jeepney drivers
group has been receptive. “We also want to look into the
economics of the project. If the electric jeepney can
help increase the income of jeepney drivers by removing
their expenditure for gasoline, then all the more reason
for us to push ahead with the projects,” he said.
Initially, two electric jeepneys will be leased by the
city government from GRIPP. If the test runs show the
project is feasible, additional units will be leased.
Both
Makati and GRIPP will also study the feasibility of
developing a high-solid anaerobic digester-based power
plant that will be fed by organic waste of the city. The
by-product will be used to power the electric jeepneys.
GRIPP is
an organization which aims to promote the greater use of
renewable energy to mitigate climate change. The
electric jeepney is part of its Climate-Friendly Cities
(CFC) project, which aims to provide cities with
integrated sustainable waste management and public
transport initiatives. GRIIP is a collaborative project
of Greenpeace, the Philippine Rural Reconstruction
Movement (PRRM), and the International Institute for
Energy Conservation (IIEC), with the participation of
Solarco and Preferred Energy Inc. |
