Angara lauds ADB e-trike project

Senator Edgardo Engara has lauded the electric tricycle project of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), saying the use of e-vehicles could lessen the Filipino’s dependence on oil and lower the level of air pollution. In a statement issued Thursday, Angara said the ADB is funding the e-tricycle project in line with the government’s aim to replace petroleum-fueled vehicles with environment-friendly modes of transport. The ADB said the new e-trikes will use lithium ion batteries rather than the “heavier, environment-unfriendly" lead acid batteries used in earlier e-trike models. Angara explained that the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology, and Engineering (COMSTE), which he chairs, has labeled the development of electric vehicles as a priority project for 2011. “Once thousands of e-trikes begin to be manufactured, many new jobs could be created. Working together, we can give Manila cleaner air, bluer skies, and a more livable environment," said Kunio Senga, director-general of ADB’s Southeast Asia Department. "The Philippines is assuming a leading role in Asia in supporting green transportation alternatives, and if e-trikes are followed by new fleets of electric buses and jeepneys, the effect could be transformative," the ADB official added. In March, another group bared efforts to promote solar-powered vehicles by manufacturing a solar car to run in the 3,000-kilometer World Solar Challenge in October. In 2008, a solar-powered car traveled around the world for the first time after the United Nations climate talks that year. “These new technologies are ready," said 36-year-old Louis Palmer, who made the trip. "It's ecological, it's economical, it is absolutely reliable. We can stop global warming." — AY/PE/VS, GMA News