|
NEWS
ARCHIVES |
| |
| |
Gov't
to push compressed natural gas-fueled transport system
this year |
|
| |
|
|
|
MEDIA
RELEASE
April
5, 2005 |
  |
|
| |
To
mitigate the adverse effects of the continuously
increasing prices of oil, the government will push the
operationalization of its compressed natural gas
(CNG)-fueled public transport system project this year.
Department of Energy (DoE) Secretary Raphael Lotilla
said they will inaugurate next June the CNG mother gas
stations and field out initial buses to serve the South
Super Highway route.
The twin moves, Lotilla said, will also initiate the
accelerated deployment of CNG fuel tanks and the use of
compressed natural gas in vehicles.
In a media interaction at the Clark Special Economic
Zone (CSEZ) on Monday, Lotilla expressed optimism that
by December this year, the full deployment of the
initial 200 CNG-fueled buses will be completed.
"Then, we will be able to negotiate with the
Natural Gas Consortium (of China) for 2,000 additional
buses to be deployed over a year’s time," he
added.
 When
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo visited Beijing in
September last year, she witnessed the signing of a
Memorandum of Agreement between the DoE and the Natural
Gas Consortium for the acquisition of an initial batch
of CNG-fueled Chinese-made buses.
The agreement also provided for the consortium to invest
in the setting up of CNG gas stations in the country and
provide the needed CNG tanks to be fitted to vehicles.
The Energy secretary said the government is likewise
trying its best to address through various means the
concerns about the immediate impact of the rising oil
prices.
Lotilla said petroleum companies have committed to
continue and even expanded the number of gas stations
offering diesel for public transport at one peso per
liter discount, from 247 to 377 nationwide.
To ensure that there will be no "price
gouging," the government, he added, will continue
to monitor the oil price increases and appealed anew to
oil companies not to suddenly jack up their prices and
adopt instead a graduated price hike schedule to soften
the impact on consumers.
Lotilla said that aside from the four-day workweek
scheme, he has also appealed to all concerned to reduce
the use of elevators, which he suggested "should
stop only on every other floor instead of every
floor," to help save energy.
In the case of power, Lotilla said the government has
now significantly reduced the country’s dependence on
oil by tapping indigenous energy sources like coal and
natural gas. |
|
p
Top
|
| |
|
|
