Vehicle owners and public transportation in the Philippines are currently faced with the horror of almost weekly increases in petroleum prices that lead to higher transport fares and constantly increasing prices of consumer products. Added to that, the noxious gas the oil guzzlers emit makes the air unsuitable for people to breathe, which causes respiratory illnesses.
The frequent oil-price increases has led the current price of diesel to P49 a liter, regular and unleaded gasoline to P57 and premium gasoline to P62. And there is no stopping in sight.
On air pollution, Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje reported last week that under the Aquino administration’s first six months, the level of total suspended particulates in Metro Manila was 133 micrograms per normal cubic meters (ug/Ncm). Although it declined by 20 percent from the 166 ug/Ncm monitored in the first half of 2010, it is still above the standard level of 90 ug/Ncm.
Recent reports from the World Bank said that 18 million Filipinos are exposed to air pollution, with health cost and loss of income amounting to P7.6 billion annually.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) data show that emissions from the transport sector currently represent 30 percent of total pollution in the country, and about 80 percent of air pollution in Metro Manila, recent reports said.
It said that a big proportion of vehicle emissions could be attributed to inefficient public transport, particularly from tricycles, jeepneys and buses.
Paje gave credit to the strong partnership with agencies such as the Land Transportation Office, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, local government units, civil society and the private sector for the improvement in the air quality, and noted efforts to rid the roads, particularly Edsa, of smoke belchers.
While the government is still looking for solutions to the unabated oil-price increases, it is inching to finding solutions to lessen vehicular emission—through electric-powered public transportation.
After the electric jeepney was earlier introduced in Makati, 20 ADB-funded electric tricycles (e-trike) were turned over to Mandaluyong City last week as a sustainable, energy-efficient transport model for the country. Mandaluyong City is one of the pilot cities in Metro Manila to use the technology.
President Aquino, who graced the event, said the project would help in reducing the pollution contributed by around 5 million tricycles in the country, with 2.8 million based in Metro Manila.
“This e-trikes will help lighten the weight with rising world crude-oil prices. Nobody loses in this project,” Mr. Aquino said.
LPG for jeepneys
With this backdrop, Cielo Fregil, managing director of Global Ambient High Technology System Inc. (GATES), would like to introduce liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) jeepneys to the country as an alternative to oil, and in response to the twin problems of increasing prices of petroleum and air pollution.
GATES is into the conversion of engines of taxis and even luxury cars into LPG-fueled ones. Actually, its business in March has increased by 300 percent because of high demand. As a result of oil-price increases, car and taxi owners are rethinking their fuel sources and are turning to LPG-run engine.
“We are running out of [LPG-engine] kits because of the big demand. Customers would even opt to reserve and pay in advance [to ensure LPG-engine availability]. We had an outstanding sales in March,” Fregil told the BusinessMirror on Tuesday.
As of Tuesday, auto LPG cost only P30.40, against diesel’s P49 a liter, and gas’s P57 to P62 a liter. It is cheaper by more than P18 compared with diesel, or from P26 to P31 a liter compared with gasoline.
Pilot project
Fregil said the first LPG-fueled engine was launched on February 14 at the “Love the Air” project, where the prototype LPG-run, 24-seater jeepney was shown at Miriam College Environmental Studies Institute.
The jeepney used was an old one with its engine replaced with an LPG-fueled one.
The launch was a collaboration with GATES, Philippine Automotive Depot Inc., Fighters for Clean Air, Concerned Citizens Against Pollution, Miriam College Environmental Studies Institute and former Environment Secretary Elise Gozun of the Climate Change Commission, among others.
Fregil said her partner for the pilot project is Miriam College Environmental Studies Institute, which would check the parameters for the testing. It will also study the environmental benefits of the LPG jeepney and its economic viability.
“We are testing the engine itself: What it would provide to the jeepney driver, the operator and the passenger. It is supposed to be smoke-free, low or noise-free. With its big reduction in noise, one would not notice that the jeepney is already running,” she said in Filipino.
She added that it should also provide a faster speed than the 35-kilometer-per-liter diesel-fueled engine.
She said the LPG jeepney will have its test run in May on Katipunan Avenue after the parameters for the testing and its permits were secured.
She added that the Department of Energy (DOE) is still preparing the mandate or direction for the LPG jeepneys, as it is pushing for the repowering of the jeepneys to encourage them to convert to alternative fuel, which is cheaper and pollution-free.
She said the infrastructure for LPG is already in place, with networks of LPG refueling stations, like that of Clean Fuel, are already widely available.
Government support
Fregil said she was encouraged to get into the project on LPG-fueled jeepneys in 2008 when the Arroyo administration came up with a project under the Clean Air Initiative, with P500-million fund, for jeepney operators to repower their engines with LPG. However, the project was shelved.
But Fregil’s company persisted in pursuing it.
“If the government could not provide funds, we will look for funds somewhere to ensure that the jeepney engines are changed because most of their engines are already old,” she said in an earlier interview with the BusinessMirror.
Fregil saw a promise in the project with the DOE’s current program for alternative-fuel sources. The governmentwill njow have to source for funds to make available the LPG jeepneys for drivers and operators while her company will supply the LPG-fueled engines.
Mission
“I want to make available the LPG-engine fueled kits for jeepney at a very affordable price,” she said, which currently is P250,000, but could be lowered with more demand.
Fregil pointed out: “My mission is to make sure to change the way we run our streets.”
“We should change the carbon-emission [equation]. I feel that, on a personal level, it [using LPG-run vehicles] is the only way we can have a direct contribution to lower carbon emission. There is no other way, something you can compute, something that is measurable.”
The LPG-fueled engine Fregil is introducing into the country is manufactured by one of the top three manufacturers in Japan. It could also be upgraded to run on compressed natural gas.
She said her company initially wanted to make a “new jeepney look” run by LPG, but is having a rethinking because the jeepney operators might have a hard time buying new ones since the bodies of their jeepneys are still in working condition “which still look iconic, anyway.” She, however, said GATES will still develop a jeepney similar to the current design but with lighter body and have better safety features.
“It will have better fuel efficiency because it is lighter and has a new engine,” she said.
Making vision come true
In an earlier interview, Fregil told the BusinessMirror she is engaging local government units (LGUs) and jeepney drivers and operators’ cooperative to make her vision come true. She said the LGUs are important because they participate in policymaking, while the cooperatives could avail themselves of the program.
“If we do it in the private way, the reach will be very limited. I want to make it available nationwide to each and every jeepney operator,” she said.
She said LGUs could help mobilize the jeepney cooperatives and organizations because they coordinate the jeepney routes. They could also help in making a system of payment for loans from financial institutions.
“There are available funds for the clean-air initiatives. What I don’t want to happen is borrow money, but fail to pay,” she said.
She added that LGUs could also provide for the setting up of LPG stations or run their own since the current LPG stations are privately run. Fregil said jeepney cooperatives’ concern is that the engine might not be efficient.
“I guarantee that the engines are very good. They are being manufactured by one of the big three Japanese car manufacturers. The engines are similar to the ones being used by minibuses in Shanghai, China. Apparently, the minibuses in China have the same weight as jeepneys [in the Philippines],” she explained.
The jeepney drivers, she added, wanted to change their engines to LPG-run ones in order to save on costs.
Lifestyle change
“What I stand for is to make sure that at least 30 percent of private individuals would convert their cars to LPG [fuel]. I hope to do this in the next three years. I want to have a campaign to let people realize that for them to have a measurable way of contributing to Mother Earth. I don’t know how it’s gonna be done. But I just hope that other companies would embrace it,” she said.
“I’m running my cars in LPG since 2005. I drive a Ford 150, I drive a BMW, I also drive a Vios. All my cars are running on LPG. They are having no problem in terms of safety, in term of maintenance. Its benefit is the conscientious effort in saving the environment,” she said. And she could save 47 percent in fuel expense because of LPG.
“Because I was able to save fuel money, I can have another cup of coffee, I can take my kids to a good movie,” she said.
“So you start to embrace the lifestyle. Because of my advocacy, I also want to prove to people that even our luxury cars can run on LPG. Even [Mercedes-]Benz, BMW. Car suppliers are already putting their cars on LPG.
“I’ve done Gilbert Remulla’s and Boying Remulla’s [cars], [former senator] John Osmeña’s Expedition, and the cars of Foreign Undersecretary Berna Romulo Puyat, Joel Magsaysay, owner of Honeybee Farms and Ilog ni Maria in Tagaytay, and of rally champion Vip Isada. I also have a customer whose Lexus and Mercedes-Benz S-Class 600 now running on LPG,” she enumerated.
LPG for cars, taxis
GATES is into LPG-fuel conversion for cars and taxis since 2005.
“In fact, what we fit for taxis are the same kits we fit for BMWs, for Expedition or for Suburban,” Fregil explained,
Autohub, the coowner of GATES, Fregil said, encourages its customers to have their cars on LPG. Autohub sells cars, such as Ford, Nissan, Hyundai and Mini Cooper.
To entice its customers, Autohub provides the warranty for the car converted to LPG. Normally, the warranty is void if the customer fits the brand-new car with LPG.
“It has been proven that if you maintain your car properly and if you coordinate with the fitter, you won’t have any problems with the car. I’m very strict on safety standards of all the conversions that we carry. We inform the customer what he or she has to do,” Fregil said.
Taxis as models
Fregil said GATES is trying to make company cars run on LPG for pricing and environment benefits. But the companies are afraid they will not be able to maintain it.
She pointed out the best example on how efficient to run cars on LPG, she said, is the taxi.
“[Taxis] run 400 kilometers a day. And they run efficiently on LPG. What more can private individuals or corporate cars do? They say LPG is only for taxis. But what is the difference between a car for taxi and family car? If taxis can run 400 km a day, 24/7, their doors opened and closed frequently, they should be very durable. This should tell you what car you should buy,” she explained.
Fregil said there is an approximated 12,000 taxis converted to LPG-fueled engines since 2005. The biggest number is in Cebu, followed by Manila, Iloilo, Davao and Cagayan de Oro.
On allegations that LPG car fuel is unsafe, Fregil said there were no proof on allegations of explosions or taxi drivers getting sick.
“It was proven it [LPG] is not hazardous to your health. The cooking gas we use is the same LPG we use in the car. The LPG-powered engine is fitted outside the body. We follow fitting standards,” she explained. Fregil insisted that her company has a strict compliance in LPG conversion.
“We are licensed, so we make sure the installations are done very well and will give you the optimum emission limit, and make it cleaner.”
Incentives needed
Australia is very strict on motor-vehicle emission. To encourage the use of alternative fuels, the Australian government gives A$1,000 incentives, Fregil said. In Japan all public vehicles run on alternative fuels. There is no incentive to alternative-fuel use in the Philippines. Fregil suggested that lawmakers legislate one to encourage people to use environment-friendly fuels.
“If you use an LPG-fueled car, you should not have to undergo emission testing so you could save on fees, or you should be exempted from number coding. These would encourage the people to use clean energy,” she said. She also suggested that the price of LPG fuel should be regulated.
Business model
When asked if she is already an environmentalist before she started the business, Fregil said when GATES started the business in 2005 it saw the business model already being applied in other cities abroad.
“Italy is running their cars on LPG, especially in public transportation. If the pollution meter is high in the city center, you are not allowed to go inside the city center. So you have to park outside. And you have to take a shuttle or public transportation which are running on LPG. The same in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea. So you just have to look into a business model wherein you could see that you could implement it.”
“So when we studied its benefits, we realized it was OK. It is good to get into that business. It is more fulfilling to have a business that contributes to the [protection of the] environment.”
Fregil pointed out: “The Earth is getting warmer. The health of our children or our own health is at stake. What will happen if we don’t do anything?”
