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PILIPINAS Shell Petroleum Corp. said the lack of infrastructure is
hindering the transport sector’s shift to alternative fuels like
compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Ed Chua, Shell country chairman, said the
company cannot go beyond its CNG pilot project and put up refilling
stations unless a pipeline that will distribute the fuel from the
field is put in place. Shell leads a consortium that operates the
Malampaya natural gas field.
Without the pipeline, transporting CNG to and
from various parts of the country will be a “logistics
nightmare,” Chua said.
He said the company also remains reluctant in
putting up LPG refilling stations because the government has yet to
issue standards for converting vehicles.
A Department of Energy official admitted that
more than half of LPG-running vehicles were converted by “fly by
night” operations.
The government has begun offering subsidies to
the public transport sector to convert their vehicles to CNG or LPG
use. President Arroyo on Wednesday said the government is setting
aside at least P500 million from the value-added tax on oil to help
the transport sector shift to these alternative fuels.
Separately, Transport Secretary Leandro Mendoza
said the government is allotting P1.3 billion to assist the public
transport sector convert their vehicles to alternative fuel use.
Of the total amount, P300 million will fund the
CNG supply infrastructure; P250 million, engine conversion program;
P2 million, development of business plan for public transport
conversion to LPG/CNG; P750 million, public-utility jeepney engine
conversion program; P15 million, development study on the
formulation of a masterplan for the conversion of public transport
to alternative fuel; and P1.5 million, campaigns.
Data from the Department of Transportation and
Communications show that the average fuel consumption of
public-utility jeepneys per day is 30 liters, while a public-utility
bus consumes 150 liters a day.
The public transport sector ‘s consumption of
gasoline and diesel per day is 2.93 million and 6.45 million liters,
respectively.
For full year, the nationwide consumption of
fuel reached 1.03 billion liters for public-utility jeepneys, and
1.77 billion for buses. In Metro Manila alone, jeepneys consumed
315.71 million liters a year, while buses, 589.2 million liters.
A World Bank study also estimates an economic
loss of about $170 million due to air pollution.
-- Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo and Darwin G. Amojelar
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