NewsWhore
11-23-2007, 02:10 PM
President Leonel Fernandez presented new alternatives for public transport to run on bio-diesel and natural gas at the Presidential Palace yesterday. An OMSA bus that has been converted to run on bio-diesel, fuel provided by the recycling of cooking oil from hotels and restaurants was on display. OMSA director Ignacio Ditren announced that 10 buses would soon be operating using bio-diesel, as reported in Diario Libre. Fernandez also said that 300 OMSA buses will have been converted to run on natural gas by February, and that by February/March 2008 half of the energy saving proposals recently announced by the government would be in place.
Although a national energy saving plan is welcomed by most, some are questioning its feasibility. Listin Diario is reporting that the systems that convert gasoline vehicles to natural gas will cost US$1,200 - three times the cost of a system that converts gasoline vehicles to liquid gas (GLP) vehicles. Industry and Commerce Minister Melanio Paredes said that this initial investment by drivers would soon be recouped because natural gas is 50% cheaper than propane.
President Fernandez ratified the decision to use natural gas in public taxis yesterday. Although the chip that needs to be installed in vehicles will be donated by a Colombian company, the gasoline conversion units must be paid for. Salvador Rivas, director of the Non-Conventional Energy Department at the Industry and Commerce Ministry, said that these systems cost around US$1,200 in Peru, although prices may vary.
CNTU transport union president Ramon Perez Figuereo has asked Fernandez and the government to carry out further analysis of the proposal to change from propane to natural gas because of the increased cost associated with the installations of the systems. He added that in the interim, a fuel subsidy should be introduced. Perez added that it is yet to be defined whether the drivers or the state would pay for the systems, and that at US$1,200 per system and 2,000 the total cost would reach RD$84 million.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)
Although a national energy saving plan is welcomed by most, some are questioning its feasibility. Listin Diario is reporting that the systems that convert gasoline vehicles to natural gas will cost US$1,200 - three times the cost of a system that converts gasoline vehicles to liquid gas (GLP) vehicles. Industry and Commerce Minister Melanio Paredes said that this initial investment by drivers would soon be recouped because natural gas is 50% cheaper than propane.
President Fernandez ratified the decision to use natural gas in public taxis yesterday. Although the chip that needs to be installed in vehicles will be donated by a Colombian company, the gasoline conversion units must be paid for. Salvador Rivas, director of the Non-Conventional Energy Department at the Industry and Commerce Ministry, said that these systems cost around US$1,200 in Peru, although prices may vary.
CNTU transport union president Ramon Perez Figuereo has asked Fernandez and the government to carry out further analysis of the proposal to change from propane to natural gas because of the increased cost associated with the installations of the systems. He added that in the interim, a fuel subsidy should be introduced. Perez added that it is yet to be defined whether the drivers or the state would pay for the systems, and that at US$1,200 per system and 2,000 the total cost would reach RD$84 million.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)