Boracay transportation may go electric
By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Visayas Bureau
First Posted 02:26:00 08/05/2008
Filed Under: Road Transport, Regional authorities
BORACAY ISLAND, AKLAN – Smoke-belching and noisy tricycles and other motorized vehicles on this island resort will soon be a thing of the past if plans to introduce electric-powered vehicles materialize.
Municipal councilor Wilbec Gelito said he would sponsor an ordinance that would introduce the use of e-vehicles on the island and, at the same time, phase out tricycles and multi-cabs using fuel.
Gelito, vice chair of the committee on transportation of the municipal council of Malay, said there was already a consensus among the council members to push for the measure.
He said the e-tricycles would be efficient and ecology-friendly because an eight-hour charge could give the vehicles enough power to cover 120 kilometers, enough for several days of trips to cover the 1,006-hectare island.
Estimates showed that public utility vehicle drivers could earn an additional P400 per day by using e-vehicles, Gelito said.
Tricycles were among the main causes of noise and air pollution and traffic congestion on the island.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources wanted to regulate motor vehicles on the island because it was already causing noise pollution and threatened to contaminate the air on the island.
The number of registered motor vehicles has more than tripled from 553 in 2004 to 1,861 in 2007. Most of these (1,486 or 79 percent) are passenger motorcycles using two-stroke engines, according to the DENR draft Boracay environmental master plan.
Two-stroke engines have been found to produce substantial amounts of hydrocarbons, which contribute to the smog that causes air pollution. While motorcycles are considered primary contributors to pollution and health problems in the Philippines and many developing nations, they are still preferred by operators and drivers due to their low cost, durability and capacity.
A DENR test on total suspended particulate (TSP) level conducted on Oct. 22, 2007, in the three barangays showed the level within the standards of 230 microgram per normal cubic meter (ug/Ncm) for 24-hour exposure.
Meanwhile, tests conducted in three stations on the island showed noise levels beyond the standard value of 50 decibels (db) for residential areas and 60 db for areas along the road during mornings.
The DENR and stakeholders have pushed for the abolition or conversion of tricycles with two-stroke engines.
Gelito said the e-vehicles would substantially help reduce this problem.
E-jeepneys have been operating in Makati City after it was launched last year. The introduction of E-jeeps is a project of the Green Renewable Independent Power Producer Inc. (GRIPP), a network of environmental groups including Greenpeace, business firms and local government units promoting the use of renewable energy and against fossilized fuel like coal.
The E-jeep with five-horsepower engine running solely on electricity costs P550,000 each. An eight-hour charging of its batteries is enough to cover 120 km each day at a maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour, Solar Electric Co. president Robert Puckett told the Inquirer in an earlier interview.
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