The country’s alternative fuels industry has drawn support from several notable foreign companies, including LG Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd., Yamaha Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Hitachi Ltd., a government official said.

Energy Undersecretary Loreta Ayson said Friday Ricardo plc, an engine and electric vehicle maker based in the UK, had expressed interest in the e-vehicle project of the government.

She said Yamaha was interested in assembling e-vehicles while Toyota plans to develop charging stations.

Ayson said Hitachi, meanwhile, offered to supply electric motors, while Nissan, Sanyo, Dow Chemicals, LG and GB Systems proposed to produce lithium ion batteries.

“For electric tricycles, foreign investors are looking at setting up businesses here. Malaysian companies are interested in assembling e-trikes locally,” Ayson said.

She said bus operator Pantranco would also participate in the alternative fuels program with plans to field 1,000 buses fueled by compressed natural gas.

“Pantranco’s plan is still under study because they have to identify source of fuel,” Ayson said.

She said South Korean companies led by members of the Korea Association for Natural Gas Vehicle, including Korea Gas Technology Corp., had expressed interest to participate in natural gas-fed vehicles.

The Energy Department is formulating the Alternative Fuels Roadmap that will serve as the fundamental policy framework on diversifying fuels for transport use in the Philippines.

The plan, which is supported by the Asian Development Bank, sets out specific timelines and targets for utilization of alternative fuels in the Philippines.

The department is finalizing the Fueling Sustainable Transport Program as the mechanism to implement the plan.

The FSTP seeks to convert public and private vehicles from diesel and gasoline to CNG, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas and electric power.

“With the FTSP, the government hopes to reduce the carbon footprint of road transport in the Philippines,” the department said earlier, noting that road transportation accounts for around 50 percent of the total air pollutants in the country.

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The Department of Energy (DOE) said the transport sector would likely account for at least five percent of the total market demand for natural gas in the country.

Despite the absence of concrete level of natural gas to be allocated for the transport sector, the DOE said one of the key strategies to successfully implement the country’s program on natural gas for transport is to develop a market base.

“The magnitude of the public transport system, in terms of volume and coverage, makes it viable for conversion to compressed natural gas (CNG), the DOE said.
It was also noted that while there are now several buses running on natural gas, the government hopes to increase the number of units within the coming years.

The DOE said other public transport systems such as tricycles, jeepneys and taxis are also being considered for conversion to natural gas.

There are private sector entities, the DOE noted, that have already signified interest to venture into this undertaking.

According to the DOE, some of these interested firm have already conducted field tests and vehicle test runs and may move to go on commercial basis within the short-term.

The CNG mother-daughter system that is now in place was initially designed for 200 buses. However, the government’s program is to have at least 2,000 buses and 500 jeepneys running on CNG in Metro Manila by 2010.

Thus, additional CNG refilling stations may have to be put up within the next two years.

Another key strategy that is critical to the successful implementation of the country’s natural gas program, the DOE said, is the development of a strategic network of gas infrastructure, including gas pipelines and other related facilities.

This is vital to the delivery of natural gas to identified markets. Without this network of infrastructure, natural gas development will remain in a stalemate.

The DOE said that a 420-kilometer long of interconnected legs of high pressure transmission pipelines and related facilities have been identified to ensure that access to natural gas is made available starting 2011 to Metro Manila and its surrounding provinces.

By Donnabelle L. Gatdula, Philippine Star

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