Safety in clarity

As motorists and public-utility operators deal with surging fuel prices, they seem to get little help from the government by way of clear and detailed guidelines on how they can convert their engines to use cheaper fuel alternatives such as liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG. This is not to say there are no guidelines or rules, rather, there is large-scale confusion on the part of the public as to what can and cannot be done.

The issues requiring clarification, perhaps by the energy department, include the following: health and occupational safety of LPG for automotive use, retrofitting of vehicles for LPG use, fuel blending and emission standards, among other things. To date, the public is somewhat blind on these issues for the simple reason that the government is either still to draft the guidelines or is poorly communicating whatever guidelines have been drafted so far.

Meantime, taxis as well as private vehicles continue to troop to conversion centers to switch to LPG. Some shops have actually run out of conversion kits because of the high demand, and some unscrupulous ones are taking advantage of the situation by raising conversion prices.

In terms of health safety, the Department of Health previously initiated an investigation into complaints that users of LPG-fed cars suffered from respiratory illnesses. If memory serves, there was a commitment by the government to report out its findings, to protect public safety. To date, it doesn’t seem like such a definitive report has been released on the health safety of LPG use in cars.

As for retrofitting guidelines, there is no definitive information as to whether LPG tanks should be mounted inside or outside the vehicle to be converted. Most taxis put the tanks inside, and such a setup requires additional safety valves to guard against leaks. On the other hand, an externally mounted tank seems to be more practical, particularly in terms of leak protection. However, several trips to various conversion shops reveal confusion as to whether or not externally mounted tanks are allowed.

On the matter of fuel blending, just yesterday, the Department of Energy cautioned the public against using a dual-fuel system which utilizes in-line blending of 70 percent diesel and 30-percent LPG. “The results of the tests made by the Department of Science and Technology on this system have been proven to be very inconclusive,” said Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, adding that LPG and diesel combinations are not proven to be safe. It is highly recommended that Reyes release to the public the results of the government tests on in-line blending, which is an accepted practice in other parts of the world. Making public test results will help the public come to an informed decision on the matter, in the same manner that the health department should finally release its findings on its investigation of health complaints involving LPG use in cars.

What will help clarify the matter is Reyes’s recommendation that the government conduct more tests prior to the full enforcement of the mixed-fuel technology. But it should be done soonest, and conclusively. Reyes should, likewise, hurry with the guidelines and accreditation requirements for the retrofitting of jeepneys and buses from diesel to spark-ignition engines to allow the 100-percent utilization of alternative fuels such as LPG, compressed natural gas and 85-percent bioethanol blends. More and more cars are already converting to LPG and other alternative fuels.

The lack of clear guidelines and the confusion are, likewise, evident in emission centers, which have been issued emission standards only for gasoline and diesel engines. Asked regarding the emission standard for LPG engines, one emission center said cars running on dual systems should manually switch to gasoline during emission testing. The center claimed there were no clear guidelines on emission standards for engines running purely on LPG.

Unfortunately, this is not a simple problem as more and more motorists switch to alternative fuel. In one town in Negros Oriental, town vehicles run partly on oil from jatropha, while in Makati City, electric jeepneys made their debut yesterday in the central business district. Unless it hurries in disseminating guidelines, the government might soon find itself overtaken by events—its regulatory powers made irrelevant by people’s urgent need to cope with present-day realities. After all, necessity heeds no law. Worse, unless clear rules and guidelines, as well as penalties are quickly disseminated, public safety is put at high risk.

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