E-trikes to reduce fuel import, address climate change
By Fayette C. Riñen
CEBU CITY, February 2 (PIA) -- Apart from reducing the country’s dependence on imported petroleum, the E-Trike Project of the Department of Energy (DOE) is also an initiative of the national government to mitigate the effects of climate change.
DOE-Visayas Field Office Regional Director Antonio Labios bared the government through the DOE is promoting the use of e-trikes because fuel consumption is much less and no smoke emissions that cause air pollution are emitted.
“Instead of buying fuel which is quite expensive, e-trike drivers only spend for the recharging of the battery which is less than P100,” Labios said.
Labios cited the case of Mandaluyong City, the pilot site of the first e-trikes operating in the country where e-trike drivers only spend P50 per day for recharging their battery.
“Imagine the savings e-trike drivers earn because they no longer buy fuel. And if you translate that to the adoption of e-trikes nationwide, then the country will have significant savings on fuel importation,” Labios said.
Labios said the incessant rising prices of oil in the global market is making the country captive to costly fuel since we are over 90 percent dependent on imported petroleum.
“We need to fast track measures to lessen the dependence of imported fuel and the adoption of e-trikes is one of them,” Labios declared.
Labios said promoting the use of e-trikes hopes to see the gradual phase-out of conventional tricycles although he did not disclose a timeline.
On top of reducing our dependence on fuel import, e-trikes is also environmentally-friendly because it does not discharge smoke so no carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere, Labios further said.
Carbon dioxide is one of the major greenhouse gases that destroy the earth’s ozone layer contributing to global warming and climate change, this is learned.
Unlike conventional tricycles with combustion engines that produces smoke, e-trikes produces no noise and zero emissions, Labios said. (PIA-Cebu)
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E-trikes to boost income of tricycle drivers, DOE 7 says
By Fayette C. Riñen
CEBU CITY, February 2 (PIA) -- Using e-trike (electric tricycle) will help boost the daily income of tricycle drivers because less fuel is consumed and the vehicle is more efficient resulting to more trips that can be made.
Engr.Eduardo Amante, chief of the energy resource development and utilization division of the Department of Energy (DOE) 7 explained that because e-trike uses battery which can just be recharged then tricycle drivers can be unburdened by the high cost of fuel prices which significantly impacts on their daily income.
Amante cited the case of Mandaluyong City which is the pilot area for the first e-trikes plying in the country where tricycle drivers today earn P445 for their daily average net income.
“Before they drove the e-trikes, tricycle drivers in Mandaluyong City spend an average of P250 per day on fuel alone. Today, they only spend P50 a day for charging their battery,” Amante said.
“So the tricycle drivers have a daily savings of P200 which is already a substantial amount” for other basic needs, Amante said.
Furthermore, the average daily trips for a two-kilometer route by the same e-trike drivers in Mandaluyong City is eight trips and their average daily income is P720/day, Amante disclosed.
The P720/day amount is deducted P225/day to pay for the loan amortization of the e-trike, according to Amante.
“The E-Trike Project was launched in Mandaluyong City as the pilot site in April last year with no less than Pres. Aquino in attendance,” the DOE-7 official said.
The 20 initial e-trikes in Mandaluyong City is financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as the latter wants to work with local government units to provide funding for the e-trike production for registered tricycle drivers under a lease-to-own financing mechanism.
DOE 7 Regional Director Engr. Antonio Labios on the other hand, bared that there are e-trikes already operating in other areas in the country such as in Puerto Princesa, Makati City, Surigao and in Taguig.
Though Labios said the e-trikes are more applicable in secondary cities where tricycles are more popular as the mode of transport, some urbanized cities can also benefit form the project.
Labios cited Cebu which is a highly urbanized metropolis but there are certain interior sections in the cities of Lapulapu, Mandaue and Talisay where tricycles are being used as public transport.
Labios said that after the announcement of the winners of the DOE national contest on the ‘Best E-Trike Design’ set on February 24, their agency will go wider in the implementation of the E-trike Project starting with a massive advocacy campaign to the local government units. (PIA-Cebu)
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DOE 7 assures Cebu has enough power supply for 2012
by Amor Saludar
CEBU CITY February 2 (PIA) -- The Department of Energy (DOE-7) assured that Cebu has enough power supply for this year brushing off concerns of power shortage due to insufficient power supply.
DOE -7 Regional director Antonio Labios said Cebu has enough power reserves for 2012 due to the additional 400MW power supply from newly installed power plants in Cebu including the two100-MW each coal-fired power plants of Salcon-Kepco in the City of Naga and another 100-MW power plant in Toledo City.
“Cebu has a total of around 1,600-MW power capacity but actual demand is only about 1,300-MW power. So there is an excess of about 300-MW power,” Labios declared during the recent Kapihan sa PIA.
Labios added that “we can assure the public that we still have enough power reserve in Cebu and the region as well and that power shortage is least expected,” Labios clarified.
But Labios however warned that the critical stage would be in 2015 to 2017 when minimal power shortage would likely be experienced.
Any critical power situation that might happen in the future will however, depend on investors coming in, Labios said.
“This is why the DOE is encouraging investors in the power plant industry to put up power plants here,” Labios said.
Meanwhile, the DOE 7 is currently evaluating the performance of the service contractors given permits to explore renewable energy resources in the Visayas.
Labios said they have to determine whether the service contractors given permits are actually conducting survey and examination in identified areas spotted to have a possible source of renewable energy. (FCR/AS/PIA-CEBU)