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  1. Join Date
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    #721
    http://ph.news.yahoo.com/afp/2010042...e-aeafa1b.html

    April 28, 2010

    Yahoo News
    Philippines' dirty jeepneys starting to turn green

    AFP - Wednesday, April 28




    A fleet of battery powered "jeepneys" are seen in Manila's financial district. The rides, which are for free, are financed by the city government as part of a campaign to reduce its greenhouse emissions.
    Slideshow: Faces of Asia PH

    MANILA (AFP) - – With exhausts that belch out dark clouds of fumes, drivers who arrogantly break road rules and sardine-can-like interiors, "jeepney" mini-buses are an unlikely source of pride in the Philippines.
    The iconic vehicles with their flamboyant paint designs are much loved as a symbol of national ingenuity because Filipinos created them from surplus US military jeeps after American forces left at the end of World War II.
    However, six decades later, they are also becoming known as environmental vandals because their huge diesel-powered motors are one of the major contributors to air pollution and ensuing health problems in Philippine cities.
    "Because the old jeepneys are all diesel fed and so inefficient, they produce a lot of pollution," said Red Constantino, director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, a Manila-based non-government organisation.
    Constantino, along with a small collection of politicians, business groups and other NGOs, has embarked on a campaign to turn the Philippines' main form of public transport green by replacing them with so-called "e-jeepneys".
    The e-jeepneys look like little more than glorified golf carts, but they are an emissions-free form of transport powered by electricity that carry a dozen people each.
    After charging for between six and eight hours, the e-jeepneys can travel about 70 kilometres (45 miles) at speeds of up to 60 kilometres an hour, according to their manufacturer, Philippine Utility Vehicle.
    Makati, Metro Manila's financial district and arguably its most orderly city, introduced the e-jeepneys on two so-called "green routes" late last year.
    "Because of the e-jeepney we were able to reduce smoke-belching problems... and that was able to give an answer to our problems of air pollution," Makati mayor Jejomar Binay told AFP on board one of the mini-buses recently.
    With only 15 servicing Makati, compared with 60,000 licensed traditional jeepneys across all of Metro Manila, Binay may have been overstating the environmental benefits in his enthusiasm for the project.
    Nevertheless, Constantino, a former climate change campaigner for Greenpeace, said the Makati project was crucial in offering a showcase for the future.
    "It's very important to have solutions on the ground to show people that these types of things are viable," he said.
    "Our goal is to eventually replace all public utility vehicles with appropriate electric ones."
    Constantino said momentum was starting to build, with a third green route to be opened in Makati next month and other city governments in Metro Manila placing orders to buy e-jeepneys.
    Meanwhile, Puerto Princesa, the capital of Palawan island in the southwest of the archipelago, is developing as a second flagship city for the planned e-transport revolution.
    Puerto Princesa authorities are aiming to introduce an e-jeepney fleet, but their major ambition is to replace the city's 4,000 gasoline-powered tricycles with electric "e-trikes", Constantino said.
    A big next step for Puerto Princesa and Makati is to build biogas plants to power the e-vehicles with organic waste from local markets and households, rather than using fossil-fuel derived electricity as is currently the case.
    Puerto Princesa began construction of a one-megawatt biogas plant, costing 2.4 million dollars, in February to fuel its electric public transport fleet.
    Tropical storm Ketsana, which submerged vast parts of Manila in October last year, delayed a similar project for Makati but Constantino said that would also soon get underway.
    Amid the hype for the e-jeepneys -- they have won a plethora of positive reports in the local media -- traditional jeepney drivers remain skeptical.
    "We are not against e-jeeps, we know they are for our common good but they only work in Makati where roads are smooth," said Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines president Zeny Maranan.
    "I also want to see how long e-jeeps will last for. And I see maintenance as a problem... our current jeepneys have durable chassis and bodies that can withstand collisions. How about an e-jeep, how sturdy is it?"
    Nevertheless, Maranan conceded that old jeepneys -- with powerful engines and bodies originally designed for battle rather than city traffic -- had serious environmental flaws.
    "It is difficult to deny the fact about the black smoke emissions and poor performances of our jeepneys," she said.
    Maranan said the jeepney industry was exploring ways of switching the vehicles' fuel source from diesel to natural gas.
    However few conversions have taken place and Maranan said a green revolution would not happen without massive state funding.
    "The government should take the initiative to save our environment. If it will provide the budget, we are willing to take part and have the e-jeep system implemented," she said.
    Constantino and the others involved in the e-jeepney are refusing to wait for such an unlikely scenario to occur.
    "We are trying to make the solutions of tomorrow available today," he said.

  2. Join Date
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    #722
    After charging for between six and eight hours, the e-jeepneys can travel about 70 kilometers (45 miles) at speeds of up to 60 kilometers an hour, according to their manufacturer, Philippine Utility Vehicle.

    Constantino said momentum was starting to build, with a third green route to be opened in Makati next month and other city governments in Metro Manila placing orders to buy e-jeepneys.


    Meanwhile, Puerto Princesa, the capital of Palawan Island in the southwest of the archipelago, is developing as a second flagship city for the planned e-transport revolution.


    Puerto Princesa authorities are aiming to introduce an e-jeepney fleet, but their major ambition is to replace the city's 4,000 gasoline-powered tricycles with electric "e-trikes," Constantino said.


    A big next step for Puerto Princesa and Makati is to build biogas plants to power the e-vehicles with organic waste from local markets and households, rather than using fossil-fuel derived electricity as is currently the case.


    From:


    RP’s dirty jeepneys starting to turn green
    Agence France-Presse First Posted 12:09:00 04/28/2010

    http://globalnation.inquirer.net/new...-to-turn-green


    Yes! Yes!

  3. Join Date
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  4. Join Date
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    #724
    ^^ mukha silang mall police/security.

  5. Join Date
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    #725
    Not too far from this picture, ain't it?


  6. Join Date
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    #726
    di naman daw pang pursue. pang visibility lang daw. it will serve the purpose. pwede na.

  7. Join Date
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    #727

    nasaan yun golf clubs nila? hehehe

  8. Join Date
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    #728
    Quote Originally Posted by OyiL View Post
    di naman daw pang pursue. pang visibility lang daw. it will serve the purpose. pwede na.
    And using a standard vehicle (like a Toyota Vios) is not visible enough?

    Going electric for the sake of "going green" is not a reason especially when something like the police is involved. I would rather have them in regular cars that can respond to an emergency call whenever and where-ever it may be.

    Honestly, the electric golf cart being used as a police "car" is a poor replacement. It cannot even offer sufficient weather protection to its occupants.

    It cannot go beyond 30kph. A man on a bicycle can out-speed the electric police golf-cart.

    Police bike patrols would be more effective in both patrolling a small area and keeping the police officers trim and fit.

  9. Join Date
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    #729
    Curiously ... what happened to those electric single person "carts" the San Juan City used to have deployed in Greenhills? I haven't seen them being used for a year.



    Are those "carts" just gathering dust in some forgotten corner of the San Juan police station?

    Batteries a problem?
    Last edited by ghosthunter; May 9th, 2010 at 05:23 PM.

  10. Join Date
    Aug 2006
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    1,488
    #730
    Quote Originally Posted by ghosthunter View Post
    And using a standard vehicle (like a Toyota Vios) is not visible enough?

    Going electric for the sake of "going green" is not a reason especially when something like the police is involved. I would rather have them in regular cars that can respond to an emergency call whenever and where-ever it may be.

    Honestly, the electric golf cart being used as a police "car" is a poor replacement. It cannot even offer sufficient weather protection to its occupants.

    It cannot go beyond 30kph. A man on a bicycle can out-speed the electric police golf-cart.

    Police bike patrols would be more effective in both patrolling a small area and keeping the police officers trim and fit.
    alam nila yung sinasabi mo kasi binanggit din nila yung bike e. sinabi ba nila na replacement yun?

"e-Jeepney" - The electric powered jeepney