Natural gas program to cut fuel, environment costs

 

Whenever world oil price heats up, the country endures a spiral of economic repercussions because of heavy dependence on imported oil.  But there may be options to consider.  One is to use natural gas especially for transport.

The Department of Science and Technology through the Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development supports the development of natural gas as an alternative fuel since 1993. 

PCIERD joined the Department of Energy in urging the government to carry out the use of natural gas in the transport sector after several projects were completed in 2002 that confirmed the viability of natural gas as an alternative fuel.  This resulted to the launch of the Natural Gas Vehicle Program for Public Transport by Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on October 16, 2002. 

Pres. Arroyo has since encouraged government agencies and the private sector to use natural gas specifically for public transport.  But market conditions and infrastructure for storage and distribution of natural gas are still being worked out.

Natural gas is environment-friendly since it is clean-burning fossil fuel with low sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide emissions when used.  Commercialization however depends on reliable and economical technology, fuel supply industry support, attractive price spread between clean fuel alternative and traditional fuels, stricter environmental standards, and government and private support.

The country's first natural gas project was implemented in 1993 following an investigative program for natural gas utilization that was formed into an ASEAN regional joint S&T cooperation. The concept was firmed up under the management of ASEAN committee on science and technology through the initiatives of the ASEAN sub-committee on non-conventional energy research.

As ASEAN-COST member, DOST-PCIERD developed and managed the project to optimize use of indigenous energy sources and to improve environment quality through the use of natural gas in local transport sector.

Today natural gas is widely used and promoted as an alternative fuel in Southeast Asia, except in the Philippines.

The most important factor in developing the natural gas industry specifically for the transport sector is the price competitiveness of compressed natural gas compared to diesel and gasoline.  A PCIERD-supported study showed that CNG is a good substitute for diesel. 

But huge capital required to build the right supply and distribution infrastructure largely delayed adoption of natural gas in the country.

For this reason, DOE and other industry stakeholders are preparing a development plan for a downstream natural gas industry that will involve a 100-kilometer gas pipeline from Batangas to Manila along with possible sub-sea pipeline from Sabah, Malaysia to the Philippines. 

The Malampaya gas reserve in Palawan also is a main source of natural gas with deposits of 3.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.  Its development is expected to provide 3,000 megawatt of electricity for 20 years.

While the natural gas pipeline is not yet in place, a mother-daughter fueling system will be put up in Batangas and in Metro Manila to service an initial 100 CNG-powered public buses. 

Pres. Arroyo has also directed DOST to promote and develop locally-manufactured CNG conversion kits and components.   Design of local CNG components will be studied by DOST's Metals Industry Research and Development Center. 

PCIERD committed to provide a test vehicle for CNG conversion using localized CNG components. Other government agencies and vehicle parts manufacturers were asked to support the project. 

An earlier project monitored by PCIERD featured an Isuzu Hilander 4JA1 diesel engine converted to natural gas and tested by the Philippine National Oil Corporation—Energy Research and Development Center.  A small CNG refueling station was also installed in PNOC-ERDC's 3MW gas power plant in Echague, Isabela for extraction of gas to be used for engine bench testing. 

The vehicle was road-tested in Isabela, Cagayan, Ifugao and Mt. Province covering 400 kilometers.   Another 15,000 km test run was conducted to get more data and verify its performance and efficiency versus diesel engine of similar size.

The tests proved the efficiency and environment-friendly characteristic of natural gas shown by clean exhausts.  Tail pipe emissions have significantly less carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and other particulate matter than conventional fuel.  Natural gas has higher octane rating than regular unleaded petroleum, increasing engine efficiency by about 20 percent.

Other government actions to support the program will come through 1) incentive policies (competitive gas price, tariff reduction for NGVs and related equipment, investment incentives for NGV-related businesses, attractive loan packages for CNG bus operators/users; 2) mandates (gas infrastructure, clean air act implementation, franchising/registration); 3) financial support for research, development and demonstrations; 4) development of standards; and 5) public education.