Davao City is among the local government units that wrote to the Department of Energy and committed to implement the E-trike Rent to Own Program.
Speaking before power stakeholders in the entire Mindanao in today’s Energy Forum held at the Waterfront Insular Hotel, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras bared Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte’s enthusiasm in supporting the department’s E-trike program.
This program hopes to accelerate efforts in promoting and utilizing alternative fuels technology for public transport by partnering with local government units to formulate a program to be able to help municipalities acquire electric tricycles.
“We have proven electric tricycles as economically viable. Converting from the traditional tricycle to electronic would spell out additional income to the operator by about P200 to P300 a day. Indeed, there’s economic value to this,” he said.
Aside from the economic aspect, DOE also sees its viability with the social value that e-tricycles could give to operators and the riding public.
“The next time oil price turns high, we will be assured that the tricycle fare remains the same because it does not rely on oil,” Almendras said.
DOE is set to distribute 20,000 units of e-trike from 2012 to 2013 until it reaches to release up to 100,000 units by 2016.
A loan facility will be provided by the Asian Development Bank for industry market transformation through the introduction and adoption of energy efficient electric tricycles.
To achieve this objective, the program aims to deploy 100,000 electric tricycles with the use of lithium ion batteries in various key cities and provinces.
It was in April this year that DOE piloted the program in Mandaluyong City. About 20 units of electric tricycles were turned over to the LGU as they started commercial run of these units the following month. Results showed promising economic returns for the drivers within the four months of using the e-tricycles.
Using natural gas is cheaper than using diesel and gasoline. It is also tagged cleaner and environment-friendly. Studies showed that if the country has 1,000 natural gas buses running all over the Metro, the country will have a cleaner air with a reduction from 147 ppm (parts per million) down to about 90 plus ppm.
DOE is taking the lead in providing the so-called FSTP or Fueling Sustainable Transport Program, wherein the government have identified all possible alternative fuels for the transport sector. (PIA-11/Mai Gevera-Macapagat)
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