DoE needs P6B for sustainable fuel program

The Department of Energy (DoE) is seeking P6 billion in fresh funds for its Sustainable Fuels for Transport Program, under which it targets to have 1,000 public buses running  on compressed natural gas (CNG) and nine refilling stations to support these.

In a presentation at the Philippines-Korea forum on Thursday, Evelyn Reyes, director of the DoE’s Energy Utilization Management Bureau (EUMB), said the government was also targeting to have 5,000 public transport jeepneys running on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), about 20,000 LPG-fueled taxis, and some 60,000 electric vehicles plying the road starting 2015.

These are expected to result in the displacement of 117 million liters of diesel and 217 million liters of gasoline, and the reduction of over 450,000 tons in greenhouse gas emissions, Reyes said.

To ensure that these program expectations are met, the DoE—through the Philippine National Oil Company Exploration Corp.—is now preparing for a government takeover of the CNG mother and daughter station owned and operated by Pilipinas Shell.

Reyes said the government was also looking to transfer to another area the CNG mother station, which is currently located inside the Shell refinery in Tabangao, Batangas.

The DoE is coordinating with concerned government transport agencies, including the Department of Transportation and Communications, to plan the potential routes for the additional 1,000 buses over the next several years.

As for the supply of CNG for the initial 200 buses coming in by next year, the government is banking on the natural gas from the Malampaya field.

Further negotiations are needed to ensure natural gas supply for 1,000 CNG buses that would be deployed in 2014 to 2015.

Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras has stressed the need for the Philippines to pursue alternative fuels, such as natural gas, given the global oil price volatility, to which the country is highly vulnerable as it sources most of its fuel requirements abroad.

Natural gas has been deemed as among the more feasible alternatives that will allow the country to diversify its energy and transport fuel sources.