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Chinese OEMs to Supply CNG Buses to Manila Fleets |
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 Manila
bus fleet operators are accompanying President Gloria Arroyo during a
visit to China this week to finalize purchase arrangements for up to
140 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses for Manila. Apart from trial
buses, these will be the first operational CNG fleets in the
Philippines.
The five fleet operators visited China last month to inspect buses and are due to sign contracts with three separate Chinese OEMs. Five more fleet operators are believed to be considering purchases from Chinese suppliers as well.
OEMs supplying the buses are Ankai,
Jinling and Yutong. Cummins Westport
 is
expected to announce within the next few days that they will supply
engines for all of the buses. The first batch of vehicles is expected
to be operational within the first three months of 2005.
The fleet operators include a mixture of
well established operators as well as
 start
up operators who will be operating CNG only fleets. The
operators will receive preferential treatment from the Land Transport
Franchising Registration Board (LTFRB) which is responsible for
issuing route licenses for bus operators.
President Arroyo has taken a personal
interest in establishing CNG bus usage in Manila since launching the Natural
Gas Vehicle Program for Public Transport October 2002. She
reiterated her commitment during the recent Philippines election
campaign. As well as being part of a drive to improve Manila's chronic
pollution, the introduction of CNG buses is also seen as part of a
solution to reduce Philippines dependence on imported energy.
The country currently imports around 47%
of its energy needs and President
 Arroyo
has instructed the Secretary of Energy, Vincent Perez, to reduce this
to 40%. Though the Philippines has vast resources of natural gas, to
date they have not had the infrastructure to utlize it.  Mother/daughter
refueling stations will be used as an interim measure while a pipeline
network to Manila is established. Manila has more than 10,000 buses on
its roads which could potentially use CNG once sufficient
infrastructure is established.
Other measures currently under
investigation are increased use of ethanol as a fuel additive and the
use of coco-methyl-ester (CME) as an additive to diesel.
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A PUBLIC SERVICE OF EXCALIBURCNG HAULING, STORAGE & DISTRIBUTION, INC. |
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