E-jeeps coming; 1st in Southeast Asia
By TJ Burgonio
Inquirer
Last updated 06:06am (Mla time) 06/15/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- The jeepney's electric-powered version will soon be
weaving through the
streets of Bacolod City to pick up passengers.
A multisectoral group is importing two electric jeepneys (E-jeeps) from China
this month in an
effort to introduce a low-carbon but sustainable transport system in the city.
Once the E-jeep becomes viable, more of them will be shipped to Bacolod for
commercial
operations. Who knows, this may be replicated in other cities across the
country.
But the E-jeep is just the icing on the cake. The real magic lies in the fact
that the jeep will
be running on electricity produced by a renewable energy power plant from the
city's market and
household wastes.
Green Renewable Independent Power Producer Inc. (GRIPP) conceived of the
1-million euro
(P61.88-million) project -- the first in Southeast Asia -- to further cement
Negros Occidental's
move to go for clean energy five years ago.
GRIPP is the same network of civil society groups, business sector, local
government units and
green groups that led Negros' campaign to foil the construction of coal plants
in the province
and stay clean.
Logical choice
The province gets its power mainly from geothermal energy. That's why Bacolod
is the most logical
choice for the pilot-testing.
"The concept grew out of a desire to complete the clean energy campaign for
Negros. We thought it
fitting to complete that by adding a transport component," Athena
Ronquillo-Ballesteros, founding
member of GRIPP, said.
The idea, eventually, is to have a fleet of 50 E-jeeps plying the secondary
routes, or those
streets not covered by the 3,000 to 3,500 locally-made jeepneys.
After getting 300,000 euros (P18.56 million) for the entire fleet from the
Dutch institution
Doen, GRIPP ordered two E-jeeps worth 6,000 euros (P371,280) each from
Langqing Electric Vehicle
Co. Ltd. in Guangzhou.
It plans to run six E-jeeps for the initial tests from three to six months
beginning July. Once
it has a clear idea how well the operation runs, GRIPP will go into full
commercial operations by
July next year.
"Our dream is that in three to five years, they can increase the fleet from
six to 50, and
eventually, 100, so we can break 10 percent of the market," said Ballesteros,
also Greenpeace
climate and energy campaigner. Greenpeace is part of GRIPP.
Doen is actually a partner in the project.
"The more commercially viable or successful the project is, the more the
[Dutch group] will
support it. In fact, [Doen] is even willing to support the replication of the
project in other
cities," Ballesteros said.
Batteries, colorful designs
Unlike the metallic jeeps that rule urban cities' roads, the E-jeeps are made
of fiberglass, and
can seat only 12, excluding the driver. They will carry batteries that will be
charged for eight
hours daily to give them power to cover 80 to 100 km.
But like the iconic jeepneys, they'll be carrying colorful designs on their
bodies.
As currently practiced, GRIPP will ask its drivers to remit a portion of their
daily earnings as
part of the "boundary," the fixed amount that drivers remit to the jeepney
owners out of their
earnings at day's end.
GRIPP will use the money to fund its own operations.
With no fuel and maintenance costs, drivers of E-jeeps are expected to bring
home bigger incomes
each day.
A jeepney driver earns an average of P1,856 daily. But after paying for the
gas, and remitting
the "boundary" to the operator, he ends up with a take-home pay of P247.52 a
day.
"If the [E-jeep] driver remits a boundary of P804 to P990 a day to the
foundation, and takes home
the rest, then his earnings will be four times what he's earning now. And he's
not that
exhausted," Ballesteros said.
The E-jeep drivers will charge the standard fare approved by land
transportation officials.
Power plant
Beyond the E-jeep, the more crucial component of the project is the setting up
of a power plant
consisting of a generator, a high solid anaerobic digester, and gas engine on
a piece of land to
be provided by the city government.
Here, organic wastes collected by the city's garbage trucks from restaurants
and wet markets will
be emptied into digesters, where they will be "solubilized" and converted into
gas. The gas, in
turn, will be fed into a gas engine that will produce the electricity.
"When we thought of the project it's no secret we had the environment in mind.
Climate change and
solving air pollution are two of our primary concerns," Ballesteros said.
"With this project, you can reduce both. If you have better, cleaner air for a
city like Bacolod,
you also reduce the waste and you have more savings in the city," she said.
Savings which, Ballesteros said, could otherwise fund the city's other
priorities, such as
infrastructure, education and governance.
GRIPP hopes to enter into a joint venture with another partner to set up and
operate the power
plant.
Charging station
Eventually, it has to establish a depot that will serve as a charging station
and maintenance
center, the project's third component. But this can come later.
Meantime, the jeepneys' batteries will be charged at a local utility. GRIPP
wouldn't mind if a
city government copies the concept, or the manufacturer of the local jeepneys
makes its own
E-jeep.
"Our hope is to replicate it in other cities in the Philippines and in the
rest of Asia,"
Ballesteros said. "The goal here is to show that it works in a place like
Bacolod."
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