Board chairman Athena Ballesteros of the Green Renewable Independent Power Producer, yesterday said they have been getting requests for the electric jeepneys from other cities that are known to be pro-environment like Davao and Puerto Princesa.

The electric jeepneys under the Climate Friendly Cities projects was launched in Bacolod City Friday by GRIPP and Greenpeace.

The launch, which established Bacolod alongside Makati City as a pilot area for the project, coincided with the visit of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who was present for the public viewing of the electric jeepneys. The memorandum of agreement for the implementation of the project was entered into between Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia, representing the Bacolod City government, and Ballesteros, representing the GRIPP, at the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City Friday.

The project, particularly the development of the initial 50-strong fleet of electric jeepneys to be leased to pilot cities, is largely funded by the Dutch DOEN Foundation which provides funding to organizations and projects in the fields of sustainable development, culture, welfare and social cohesion.

Ballesteros said the Climate Friendly Cities project does not only contribute to the solution of Bacolod City's environment and health problems, but also represents a triple win for the local economy, the environment and will create manufacturing and other industries related to maintaining the e-jeepneys.

She said "There are about 3,000 jeepneys in Bacolod and if we can put up 50 units first and then 100 in the next three years, we break 10 percent of the market and that's a significant contribution in terms of emission - no air pollution and no garbage."

Ballesteros said the project also represents a win for the global climate because climate change is the biggest environmental threat we are facing and we need to find more sustainable solutions.

GRIPP is the overall project operator and the jeepney's component will be ran by Solar Electric Co., Ballesteros said.

She said they will bid out openly the biogas digester to interested parties like the Philippine Bio-Sciences Co. Inc. and Preferred Energy, but they will choose a partner who will have a long term commitment to the project and who can help with long term financing.

SITE INSPECTION

PhilBIO Cebu branch manager Ricky Beltran, together with Bacolod Public Information Officer Ramon Lozana, conducted a site inspection at a proposed site in Brgy. Mandalagan Friday.

Under the MOA, GRIPP will secure the proposal, resources, funding and technical expertise for the electric jeepney component of the project, starting with the development and manufacture of the E-jeepneys, with the initial fleet of three units, whose importation, technical operation and maintenance will be undertaken by their project partners.

It shall be responsible for the actual implementation of the project, particularly the operations of the biodigester and the utilization of the electronic jeepneys and its concomitant results.

GRIPP will also secure the funding and technical expertise for the power plant component of the project, consisting of a generator, a high solid anaerobic digester, and gas engine that shall provide the electricity to charge the complete fleet of electric jeepneys. It will also provide for the construction of a depot that shall serve as a charging station and maintenance center of the fleet. On the other hand, the city will be responsible in helping secure for the project preferably a one hectare piece of land for usage of GRIPP upon which the biodigester or power plant and depot for the jeepneys will be built, by way of a long term lease agreement at a reduced or affordable price or whatever arrangement is deemed appropriate.

CHEAPER OPERATION

The city will also help provide GRIPP with a test route or routes and the corresponding franchises for a period of technical and commercial tests of the pilot fleets of three electric jeepneys, of not less than three months between July to October 2007.

Solar Electric Co. president Robert Puckett said the retail price of an electric jeep with 5-horsepower engines running solely on electricity is P550,000. "If you charge the battery for eight hours that can cover a distance of 120 km, your electricity bill is only P150," he said.

Puckett said jeepney drivers spend around P800 to P1,000 a day on diesel fuel so if they drive an electric jeepney they will be able to save three to five times. And as the prices of fuel keep on rising, the more the driver will earn, he said. It is very simple to operate an electric-jeepney, he said, which he compared to a toy car.

ONLY IN RP

Puckett said it is only in the Philippines and no other country in Southeast Asia where the project was launched.

Puckett said SOLARCO is a 32-year-old renewable energy company in Manila with offices in Bacolod and Iloilo.

He said electric driven cars have been around since the 1900's. "We don't want to displace anybody, he said but we are bringing it to the streets of Bacolod as an alternative solution to polluted gas or engine." The project will bring a lot of livelihood to the local jeepney drivers and operators, he added.

Puckett said there are many companies who are interested in providing financing to operators and interested buyers of the E-jeeps.*CGS

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