In CNN Eco Solutions:
Driving ambitions for electric vehicles in Philippines
089 December 2010
By Dean Irvine, CNN

Manila, Philippines (CNN) -- Quietly cutting through the chronic traffic of Manila, the sprawling capital city of Philippines, is a fleet of brightly colored electric vehicles.

Can these e-jeepneys -- eco-friendly versions of the iconic Philippine form of public transport -- lead the country towards a clean, green future?

Red Constantino believes so. He's the Executive Director of the Institute of Climate and Sustainable Cities, the NGO behind the 20 vehicles currently driving around the area of Makati.

"The project was crafted as an element of an integrated program," he said.

"The whole idea was to create a full loop: create energy from waste without burning it, capture the methane, and transform it into electricity which will then power the vehicles. Something that is very replicable that other cities can see and improve on."

While that full loop is yet to be realized, the e-jeepneys have been running two routes for just over a year, powered by old-fashioned lead-acid batteries.

It means the charge time and range of the vehicles are not as impressive as electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion cells; e-jeepney top speeds aren't more than 30 kmph and full charging can take eight hours.

But waiting for more expensive and efficient technologies to come down in price wasn't as important as simply getting an effective project up and running, believes Constantino.

"We didn't think that the challenges lay in the technology but in the application," he said.

With around 70% of the e-jeepneys made locally or in the Philippines, another benefit of the project is helping to grow local industry.

Just getting the vehicles on the road was a challenge in itself that took nearly two years as new regulations had to be made and bureaucratic snarl-ups negotiated.

"It took us that long just to get registration plates because the papers required (the vehicle) to have a tailpipe and an engine number which electric vehicles don't have, and so on and so forth," said Constantino.

"The next stage was to prove technological viability and function normally and by normal people."

Constantino says that passengers and drivers of the old diesel-powered jeepneys have been very supportive. The e-jeepneys have been full on the routes they run, he says (possibly in large part because they are free), while initially skeptical, jeepney drivers would ask questions about how well the new electric variety would fare driving through flooded streets -- a common hazard in the tropical city.

The main roadblocks to electric vehicles won't be from commuters or drivers, says Constantino, but a lack of private enterprise and funding opportunities.

Money, however, is finding its way to eco-friendly transport projects across the Philippines.

Sparked by a recent proposal by the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources to reduce the pollution in Metro Manila by 30% in 2011, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is supporting a project to make the city's tricycle taxis eco-friendly.

"I believe this is going to be a game changer," said Sohail Hasnie, the ADB's Principle Energy Specialist for Southeast Asia.

The ADB's plan is to start small but quickly grow in ambition.

Beginning with 20 vehicles deployed next month in Mandaluyong, another area of Manila, the plan is to scale up to 20,000 tricycles across the city by the middle of next year.

Powering the nation's 3.5 million trikes by clean, renewable energy would stop 10 million tons of CO2 currently being emitted each year, according to the ADB.

Elsewhere Edward Hagadorn, mayor of Puerto Princesa, the capital city on the island of Palawan, is also looking to turn all the city's tricycles electric by 2013.

"The same solutions apply to bigger cities, like Manila, it's just about putting in your political will and then getting the community to agree and support the program," he said.

Whether or not all the projects are going the right way to provide clean, green transport is debatable.

The ADB funded tricycles will have lithium-ion batteries, and Hasnie describes the widespread use of the lead-acid variety as used in the Makati e-jeepneys as an "environmental disaster."

Constantino is similarly skeptical of some of the ADB's plans suggesting "they are pulling things in a different direction" by providing sizable grants to small projects that could make electric vehicles seem like gimmicks.

However, with a new e-jeepney route set to open next month, Constantino is bullish that the future of transport in Manila and other cities will be electric, one way or another.

"Electric vehicles are here to stay, so long as they are intended for public application they will endure and expand." #

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E-vehicles, the next big thing?
abs-cbnNEWS.com
November 25, 2010, Updated as of 11/26/2010 3:27 AM

MANILA, Philippines – Electric vehicles (E-vehicles) could be the next big thing in the country’s automotive industry, advocates and businessmen believe.

Leading figures from the private sector, the government, non-government organizations (NGOs), and the academe have vowed to fast-track and scale up the development of e-vehicles in the country.

They made the vow at the conclusion on Wednesday of the first national summit on e-vehicles.

“The market for electric vehicles in the Philippines is big enough for all. In Mindanao, the potential is particularly promising,” said Ariel Torres, chief executive officer of Alternative Modern Transport.

His company co-sponsored the 2-day summit, which secured support from more than 250 participants from national agencies, city governments, banks, businesses, civil society groups, and international industry associations.

The summit took place at Meralco, which helped put together the meeting.

“The summit ended on a full charge, with robust plans, new alliances and investor interest,” said Red Constantino, executive director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC).

“This gathering was about solutions and all representatives from the public and private sector contributed positively, from titans of local industry to jeepney driver associations,” he added.

Constantino’s group has already rolled out e-jeepneys in Makati City and Puerto Princesa City.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) co-organized the summit.

“Harnessing the potential of the market is critical to the country’s response to the climate crisis. Sustainable transport is a key component that can greatly help manage climate change risks and at the same time contribute to the development goals of the Philippines,” said WWF climate change head Gia Ibay.

Top officials who graced the event include Vice-President Jejomar Binay, Meralco president Manuel Pangilinan, and Transportation and Communications Undersecretary Aristotle Batuhan.

Batuhan opened the event’s second day, which tackled regulatory and financing issues, along with challenges posed by battery development and charging stations. #

Electric vehicle program gets boost from summit
Ayen Infante, The Daily Tribune

Pasig City, November 25, 2010 - Pledges from leading figures from the private sector, the government, non-government organizations (NGOs) and the academe to scale up and accelerate electric vehicle development were made during the conclusion yesterday of the country’s first electric vehicle summit.

“The summit ended on a full charge, with robust plans, new alliances and investor interest. This gathering was about solutions and all representatives from the public and private sector contributed positively, from titans of local industry to jeepney driver associations,” Red Constantino, executive director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, said.

Gia Ibay, climate change head of the World Wide Fund for Nature, which co-organized the event, says, “Harnessing the potential of the market is critical to the country’s response to the climate crisis. Sustainable transport is a key component that can greatly help manage climate change risks and at the same time contribute to the development goals of the Philippines.”

Aiming to craft a long-term road map for the electric vehicle industry, the two-day summit garnered support from over 250 participants from national agencies, city governments, banks and businesses, civil society groups and international industry associations. The summit took place at Meralco, which helped put together the meeting.

Meralco president Manuel Pangilinan opened the event followed by Vice President Jejomar Binay, who delivered the summit’s keynote speech.

“The market for electric vehicles in the Philippines is big enough for all. In Mindanao, the potential is particularly promising,” notes Ariel Torres, CEO of Alternative Modern Transport, a summit sponsor.

Transportation and Communications Undersecretary Aristotle Batuhan opened the event’s second day, which tackled regulatory and financing issues, along with challenges posed by battery development and charging stations. #

Photo by Taweng Attunaga/iCSC

Meralco commits to assist e-vehicle program
Paul Anthony A. Isla, 23 November 2010
BusinessMirror

FINANCING electric jeepneys and tricycles remain to be the biggest challenge most operators face, Red Constantino, executive director of the Institute of Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC) said on Tuesday.

“The biggest challenge is in the realm of financing. People can go to banks and get financing for SUVs at the expense of polluting the environment,” Constantino said at the sidelines of the First Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit.

He also pointed out that it’s high time local commercial banks open closed windows of lending opportunities for private sector, electric jeepney and tricycle operators and local government.

Constantino said lending to electric- vehicle operators enables the owners and other stakeholders to spread out the cost and accelerate the deployment of electric-vehicle applications.

He added that the government also plays a huge role in the program.

“Any signal it provides is something the private sector will respond to. For us, the electric vehicles program is an opportunity to making the solutions for tomorrow available to Filipinos today,” he added.

Vice President Jejomar Binay said it took two years to register the electric jeepneys plying around Makati City with the Land Transportation Office.

Binay said the local transportation regulatory body still has lots of room for improvement, particularly for electric vehicles.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) president and chief executive, committed to help finance the country’s electric-vehicle program.

Pangilinan said Vincent Perez, former Energy secretary and now World Wide Fund-Philippines (WWF-Philippines) chairman, estimated that the program would need 5 million.

“Perez mentioned an amount of 5 million needed for three years, I’m not sure, though if that’s in dollars or pesos,” the Meralco president said in jest.

Pangilinan quickly added that Meralco would definitely help, particularly a local industry that develops e-jeepneys and e-tricycles.

He also noted that Meralco could look into setting up charging stations where electric vehicles could recharge their batteries and they will have enough supply to meet the demand for electricity. #

Photo by Nonoy Lacza/BusinessMirror

Coming soon: commercial use of e-jeepneys
By Jessica Anne D. Hermosa, Senior Reporter
BusinessWorld, November 23, 2010

ELECTRIC JEEPNEYS may soon become more commonplace as proponents are looking at commercial use of the so-called "green" transports roughly a year after they first started plying public roads.

The government is poised to issue the first franchise next year, speakers at yesterday’s Electric Vehicle Summit claimed, thus allowing operators to run e-jeepneys for profit.

Coupled with the cheaper option of retrofitting existing jeepneys instead of buying brand new, this should prod drivers and operators to make the shift, they added.

But the speakers also continued to call for government incentives, banking support, and even public readiness to pay a premium to complete the transition.

"Lately, we’ve developed conversion. It’s a concept we want to use on passenger jeepneys," said Ferdinand I. Raquelsantos, president of electric jeepney assembler PhUV, Inc., at the event.

Interested jeepney owners need to shell out just P250,000 to have an electric system installed instead of the P625,000 for a brand new battery-powered vehicle, Mr. Raquelsantos said.

With savings of P3.15 per kilometer from nixing diesel, he claimed that electric jeepney operators would be able to earn back their investment in three years, thereafter enjoying a doubling of revenues.

The government, in turn, is expected to issue the first electric jeepney franchise next year to allow their commercial use, said Renato Redentor Constantino, director of the Filipino nonprofit Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, at the sidelines of the event.

While the vehicles have been allowed to take to public roads, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board has yet to authorize drivers to collect fares from their operation, Mr. Constantino explained.

This is why the e-jeepney fleet currently running on "green routes" in the Makati business district continuous to offer free rides, he told BusinessWorld, with revenues from advertising on the vehicles’ bodies and donations funding the effort in the meantime.

"Now we’re in the commercial viability phase. We’re on the verge of launching the first electric vehicle franchise," Mr. Constantino said.

Financing, however, still remains a hurdle with jeepney operators reluctant to make an investment, the speakers said.

"The biggest challenge lies in the realm of financing. People can go to banks to get financing for SUVs (sport utility vehicles). It should be time enough for banks to finance electric vehicles too," Mr. Constantino said.

Various schemes were proposed, ranging from using tradeable carbon credits as bank collateral to even hiking household power rates to subsidize the vehicles.

"[The] government is a huge player itself. The signals it provides is something the private sector will respond to," Mr. Constantino said.

The Metro Manila Development Authority, for instance, could sweeten the transition by exempting electric jeepneys from the color-coding scheme, Mr. Raquelsantos said. Income tax holidays for manufacturers would also help lower the vehicles’ prices, he added.

The country’s largest power distributor, Manila Electric Co., even heaped its support with a vague promise "to help" from its CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan, who declined to elaborate.

"More than technology, its’ about partnership and our ability to work together," Mr. Constantino said. #

Photo By Jonathan L. Cellon

PNoy lauded for replacing Alvarez as CCC vice chair
Danilova Molintas, November 22, 2010
GMAnews.tv

A nonprofit group actively working with government to shape fair climate change and sustainable development policies in the Philippines praised President Benigno Aquino III for replacing former Sen. Heherson Alvarez as vice chairman of the Climate Change Commission (CCC).

Lawyer Mary Ann Lucille Sering, former undersecretary of the environment department, took her oath Monday afternoon as the new CCC vice chairperson, in ceremonies administered by the President in Malacañang.

“We applaud the President for his quick action even as we challenge the (Commission’s) new leadership to decisively arrest the governance chaos that has for far too long plagued the administration of climate finance, which enters the country's coffers from abroad," said Red Constantino, director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC).

"It is only proper that PNoy exercises a free hand in choosing his alter ego in the CCC, which he heads as the chairperson," Constantino said.

iCSC, which works on sustainable energy solutions and fair climate policy issues, leads the campaign to establish direct-access driven, just, long-term adaptation finance for the country’s most vulnerable communities.

The group is also the proponent of the pioneering Climate-Friendly Cities (CFC) initiative that integrates waste management, energy generation and sustainable transport programs for sustainable, climate-resilient city and community development.

The popular electric jeepneys, or eJeepneys that ply Makati and other cities, is a central part of the CFC initiative.

Alvarez had been widely criticized by the climate change groups for “usurping authority’ and acting “unilaterally" on climate change issues.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad vowed on Nov. 17 to ask the President to step into the long-simmering leadership crisis at the CCC.

GMANews.TV tried contacting Alvarez for his reaction to no avail.

Hopeful

With a new vice chairperson appointed to the CCC, Constantino said that climate change groups have more hope that their issues will be prioritized in the Aquino administration's planning and budgetary processes.

“Kailangan ng bayan ng depensa laban sa climate change (the country needs a defense against climate change), and with the changes in the Commission, the Aquino government has taken a major step forward," Constantino said.

“Commissioner Sering brings with her a formidable expertise in management and a nuanced understanding of climate negotiations, which will be critical during the next round of talks in Cancun, Mexico this December," the iCSC director said.

“We also hope she will champion the People's Survival Fund (PSF) bill which was filed by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and which we hope will be certified by PNoy as urgent legislation," he said.

HB 3528 or the PSF bill aims to establish a fund dedicated to vulnerable local governments and communities struggling to adapt to the rapidly changing climate."

The PSF is a ‘rewards’ fun: vulnerable localities that craft climate change adaptation projects or plans can access the PSF. The PSF thus incentivizes local climate action."

The funds that make up the PSF can come from sources such as portions from Motor Vehicle User’s Charge (road tax), cash dividends from all government-owned and controlled operations, credits earned under the Clean Development Mechanism, and contributions from other private, public, foreign, and local sources.

He also said his group congratulates the government for recognizing that it cannot and should not confront the climate crisis on its own.

“The pursuit of low carbon development and the channeling of finance to vulnerable communities requires the critical collaboration of all Filipinos."

"We hope the new Commission will engage civil society organizations more closely and meaningfully and that there will be more coherence in the body's handling of climate finance.

Not consulting

Earlier, Constantino had taken Alvarez to task for not “consult(ing) anyone, including the President, his fellow CCC commissioners and the other agencies."

Criticisms reached a peak when a mix-up occurred in the official Philippine choice of which nation to endorse to host the 2012 Global Climate Change Summit.

The diplomatic faux pas arose when Alvarez endorsed South Korea as the host of the 2012 summit, when the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had already endorsed Qatar months earlier.

The 2012 summit on climate change is the 18th annual meeting of nations who have signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The UNFCCC, an international environmental treaty drafted at the 1992 UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, aims to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to levels that would prevent climate change.

Since 1992, nations that have signed the treaty have met annually to discuss the progress of the goals.

South Korea and Qatar have both expressed interest in hosting COP-18.

Alvarez had announced that CCC was inclined to support South Korea, but the DFA had already committed the country’s support for Qatar.

“Alvarez is acting as if he is the Commission," Constantino said. “This is wrong."

“I think he has usurped the authority of the commission and the president for the last time," he added.

Alvarez, who was a former secretary of the agrarian reform and environment departments, as well as Isabela representative and senator, has been widely criticized for allegedly taking over the CCC’s chairmanship and making important decisions without consultations.

Alvarez was appointed by former Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as Secretary of the CCC, acting as the Vice Chair to the President and Executive Director of the climate change office on Dec. 1, 2009.

The Climate Change Act of 2009 which created the Climate Change Commission designates the President as the chairperson.

Aside from Sering and Alvarez, the other commission members are Naderev "Yeb" Sano, a former climate campaigner at the World Wildlife Fund.

Earlier, Alvarez defended his support of Korea, saying “climate change is a daunting survival issue. For its environment dimension, we expressed our choice of Korea."

“But the matter is yet to be worked out and decided in Cancun," he added.

“This is an issue of engaging and overarching national interest," he noted. “The determination of where the national interest lies in this issue will always be the prerogative of the Chief Executive, and we will always abide by that determination," he said. #

Photo of Commissioner Sering addressing the participants of the EV Summit by Taweng Attunaga/iCSC

‘People’s Survival Fund’ Bill pushed to help victims of climate change
By Gina Abuyuan, November 18, 2010
Yahoo! Southeast Asia

SURIGAO CITY, Surigao – The subject of the film “An Inconvenient Truth,” an award-winning documentary about global warming and the man who made it a buzzword, ex-U.S. vice president Al Gore, is more than a conversation piece here in Mindanao.

It’s a daily reality for those making their living off the land and sea, and whose livelihoods have been adversely affected by climate change.

It’s also the anchor on which a new bill has been written: Known as the People’s Survival Fund (PSF) or HB 3528, the bill aims to ”establish a fund dedicated to vulnerable local governments and communities struggling to adapt to the rapidly changing climate.”

It was filed initially Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, who describes it as a “legacy bill,” as future generations are certain to be impacted by climate change.

Representative and Deputy Speaker Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III (4th district of Quezon) works closely with Enrile and explained it today to participants in an event entitled ‘Depensa: Climate Adaptation Financing and Risk Reduction Initiatives in Mindanao.’

“The Philippines is one of the highest risk-prone areas in the world,” Tañada says. “The impact of climate change falls most heavily on people who have the LEAST to do with climate change.”

As it is, local governments have to divert funds allotted for education, health, and agriculture, to disaster management. Most funds that come for that purpose are either from charity or aid from foreign governments. “We need a long-term, predictable, and transparent source of funds to make LGUs more resilient,” Tañada said.

According to a statement prepared by Oxfam and iCSC (Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities), “The PSF is a ‘rewards’ fun: vulnerable localities that craft climate change adaptation projects or plans can access the PSF. The PSF thus incentivizes local climate action.”

Tañada says that the funds that make up the PSF can come from sources such as portions from Motor Vehicle User’s Charge (road tax), cash dividends from all government-owned and controlled operations, credits earned under the Clean Development Mechanism, and contributions from other private, public, foreign, and local sources.

“We want early passage, in current congress,” says iCSC executive director Renato Redentor Constantino. “The next step to be taken is that PNoy must certify it as priority legislation.”

“You may have the best climage change adapation strategy, but the bottomline (is still important),” says Tañada. “If the sources of funding are not made available, our efforts are meaningless.

“Kelangan natin ng pondo sa depensa, depensa para sa climate change. Hindi tayo magpapatalo sa pagbabago ng klima (We need funds for our fight against climate change. We will not be defeated by it.” #

Photo by Jose Enrique Soriano/iCSC. Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Lorenzo "Erin"Tañadadelivers the keynote address at the landmark launching of Depensa! held in Surigao City last November 18, 2010, a campaign spearheaded by iCSC, Oxfam and Dakila.