ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 05 Feb) - Pryce Gases, Inc. is investing at least P6 million for the construction of three liquefied petroleum gas refilling stations in the Zamboanga Peninsula this year.
It is also expected to introduce the first “Autogas” product and refilling station here in March.
"From cooking gas, LPG is now gearing up to become a major transport fuel in the country," said Richard Nagac, Pryce’s assistant vice president and regional executive officer.
He said the company will build at least three refilling stations for the rest of the yearwith probability of setting up more, depending on the market demands."Eventually our plan is to put three refilling stations in Zamboanga City and another one in Dipolog City, however, we are yet to monitor the demand before we venture out to fully capture the untapped market in Zamboanga Peninsula," he said.
Each refilling station will cost around P2 million.
Pryce Gases has at least 12 existingAutogas refilling stations in Cagayan de Oro City and in Davao City, while Visayas has 9 and Metro Manila with five. Nagac said they aim to establish additional refilling gas stations in the country in line with the implementation of the 1999 Clean Air Act.
"We are confident that many motorists will now shift from using fossil fuel to alternative gas, particularly Autogas," he said.Pryce is presently maintaining a depot here, which has the capacity of about 200,000 liters of LPG. Autogas is among the alternative fuels the government is promoting toreduce the country's dependence on expensive oil imports.
Recently, President Gloria Arroyo signed the Bio-fuel law, which mandates the use of other alternative fuels, such as coco-biodiesel and bio-ethanol from sugarcane.
Autogas, however, has higher-octane levels, which increase acceleration and combustion of motor engines.Balbinito Elma III, Pryce’s marketing associate for Zamboanga Peninsula operation, said Autogas has a simpler chemical composition, which means cleaner combustion and less air pollution.
"As gaseous form, it burns more efficiently than gasoline or diesel when it enters the combustion cylinder. It also releases fewer deposits that build in car engines. And thus it will run smoother and can last longer," he explained.
He said Autogas is a mixture of 70 percent propane and 30 percent butane. "When it is pressurized, it becomes liquid and it is in this form that is pumped into the vehicle's fuel tank."
Elma said motorists can save as much as 40% in fuel costs and 50% less for vehicle maintenance."The performance is relatively the same with gasoline-run vehicles and environmentally beneficial too, because there is no carbon emission, no smoke and less noise in the engine. Simply, what differs is the price. Gasoline is about P 40 per liter, while Autogas is just less than P 28 per liter," he said.
The use of Autogas has become popular in some major cities in the country, particularly those in the public transportation sector, Elma said, but added that there is a need to address the huge market of tricycles used mostly as a mode of transportation in Zamboanga Peninsula.
"We are right now on a stage of designing devices and machineries for tricycles since many areas in Zamboanga Peninsula still used tricycles rather than taxis. This will serve as our pilot project," he said. (Darwin Wee)
Great way to save the planet.
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