Closing the Green Transport Loop in the Philippines: Climate-Friendly Cities by iCSC

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Alisa Zomer Jun 15, 2013 06:28 Member 1 \| Share via:	Great proposal! Jeepneys are a dominant and defining component of public transport in the Philippines. Anyone who has been to Manila (or Delhi, Bangkok ect..) truly understands what real traffic looks, smells and feels like. Converting jeepney fleets into cleaner and sustainable models could make a significant improvement in life quality for people who spend a significant amount of time traveling and for the city's larger emissions profile. One way to enhance this proposal might be how to engage creative communications, social media, and jeepney users in promoting this alternative. Furthermore, linking this project to the policy realm of transport, energy, and climate in the city could allow for wider impact in advanced stages. With policy and people power, we can really try to close the loop for climate-friendly cities in the Philippines and elsewhere.
2013transportationjudges 2013transportationjudges Jul 8, 2013 06:27 Judge 2 \| Share via:	The judges for the Transport Efficiency contest have selected this proposal as a finalist! Here are some of their comments on the proposal: - Although the individual components are not novel (electric fleet of public transit vehicles; sustainable source of electricity), they have been put together and developed in convincing detail. - Many developing cities have similar semi-public transit modes, and this proposal could have significant value by reducing emissions in these settings. - There are some similarities to the proposal titled "Closing the biofuel cycle", so cooperation with that author may improve the proposal. - The emissions reductions difference according to the source of electricity can and should be quantified. The judges also want to emphasize that they will pay particular attention for the following elements when selecting a Judges' Choice winner from among the Transport Efficiency finalists: - An attempt, even if not exhaustive, at a quantitative analysis of the costs and benefits (in of the proposal. - References for assumptions, claims and numerical figures in the proposal or cost-benefit analysis. - Brevity and focus in the proposal statement; an economy of words.
Carlos Gershenson Jul 10, 2013 10:46 Member 3 \| Share via:	Very interesting proposal. I wonder whether you have a calculation of how much waste would be required to produce the electricity required by one vehicle for one day, and what would be this production cost.
Reina Garcia Jul 19, 2013 07:24 Member 4 \| Share via:	Proposal contributor Thanks to the judges and to everyone for the inputs, comments, and the opportunity to advance to the next round! I hope to have sufficiently addressed these in the edits of the proposal. Carlos - The amount of food waste would vary with the ratio of the type and source of the waste (i.e. waste from restaurants/kitchens, animal slaugterhouse waste, wet market waste) which would, in turn, vary with the locality where the waste will be sourced. A waste audit is thus crucial in the pre-development phase of the biogas component. Calculations based on the estimate of 500 cubic meters of biogas produced with every ton of organic waste, and 2 kWh of electricity generated per cubic meter of biogas, result in each electric jeepney requiring 11.6 kilos of organic food waste for a single full charge.
2013transportationjudges 2013transportationjudges Jul 29, 2013 04:39 Judge 5 \| Share via:	While the proposal is not particularly original, there is potential for big impact due to the prevalence of diesel vehicles in developing world cities. Potentially large impact in the developing world is the saving grace in the judges' eyes, but this is not highlighted or given enough emphasis by the proposal authors themselves. Sounds like it has already been implemented to some extent. It is not clear how many jitneys are operating and how many would be converted for the given amount ($480k). Some mention of upstream electricity, which is kind of novel. Also, some statements in the proposal are incorrect and should be checked.
Mark Capron Aug 18, 2013 05:20 Member 6 \| Share via:	Actually, consider converting the diesel to bio-methane. Bangladesh has many skilled mechanics for such conversions. Then can be either 100% bio-methane or bi-fuel varying between 100% to about 30% diesel, depending on what is available. (Or use the bio-methane to generate electricity for electric vehicles.) For more discussion, see the Ocean Foresters entries in "Scaling renewables..." and "Replacing diesel".