Over the past ten years, studies and action plans have been made to improve Metro Manila's air quality. From fuel to vehicle to transport planning and modeling, various government and private entities strive to attain cleaner air. On the road to cleaner air, there are remaining issues that require prudent decisions. Data generated over the last decade have been showcased in various meetings and conference, however, questions still remain on how these data where used for policy formulation and implementation. How do the target sectors and other agencies benefited from these research? How do scientists and institutions maximize the use of their data? Or is there room for data sharing? These and other concerns can be highlighted in the discussions.
The forum was organized by the Transportation and the Environment Group of UP-NCTS. It was co-organized by the Clean Air Initiatives for Asian Cities and the Partnership for Clean Air, and supported by the Asian Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The participants represented government agencies, research institutions/academe, car industry associations, vehicle manufacturers, oil industry, auto part makers and suppliers, and development and funding agencies.
The event will hopefully promote better coordination and cooperation among government agencies, academe, and private institutions for vehicle emissions reduction action planning and implementation.
The Integration of Transportation and Environment Data for Air Pollution Reduction forum formally opened with opening remarks from Patrick Giraud, Director for Southeast Asia Infrastructure Division of Asian Development Bank, and Corazon Bautista-Cruz, Asst. General Manager for Planning of the Metro Manila Development Authority who discussed the Metro Manila Air Quality Improvement Sector Development Program (MMAQISDP).
The forum, being the first of a series, aims to:
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Assess available data on transport emissions and air quality
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Improve transport emissions inventory
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Promote collaborative research among academic, government and private institutions
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Improve and sustain data collection, and identify the data which agencies and institutions need for their research and policy direction
With mobile source emissions as its focus, the forum aims to make people aware of the need for experts, scientists, and researchers to work in close coordination with each other and in a less fragmented manner. This lack of coordination results in duplication of effort because studies are sometimes conducted on similar topics. There are government and private entities that generate data on a regular basis but the information is sometimes not accessible to all. This results in work delays, inaccurate information used in studies, and in some cases, forces the data end-user to make assumptions in the absence of reliable data.
The presentations started with a regional perspective of vehicle pollution abatement with ADB presenting the Indicators for Sustainable Urban Transport Planning in Asia. The shift from regional to local standpoint of air pollution abatement was presented by the Transportation and the Environment Group of the University of the Philippines-National Center for Transportation Studies (UP-NCTS).
The local air pollution abatement technology, pollutant measurements, actual vehicle emission monitoring, impact of diesel fuel and instrumented engine emissions measurement techniques were also presented by other speakers. The importance of emission factors used in developing vehicle emissions forecasting for policy development was discussed. The different scientific researches, how these were conducted, and how these activities collected existing information or developed new knowledge, were showcased. However, there are still data gaps that needs to be filled if we are to fully address the growing problem of pollution from in-use vehicles. With the scarcity of data and limited funding to advance the course of filling the information gaps, collaborative efforts and increased cooperation among institutions and experts are necessary.
Many issues were raised during the open forum. The issue of moving to EURO II vehicle emissions standards, in order to maximize the benefits of improved diesel fuel quality was raised. Transport Organization for Clean Air presented their problem on the quality of fuel and their vehicle fleet being not attuned to Euro II should these standards be adopted in the near future. Fuel quality was highlighted by Chemical Engineering professor from UP as one of the issues to deal with.
Another issue raised in the forum was the market share of the locally manufactured buses being only 12%. According to them these buses are very competitive in quality compared to the imported ones (Truck Manufacturers Association). The UP College of Engineering, Chemical Engineering Department emphasized that the vehicles and even old engines that can never meet Euro standards are being exported to the country, and with this situation there should be a local action plan to explore ways to address this problem. The same scenario also applies for fuel.
These efforts undertaken by different groups were also mentioned:
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De La Salle University’s in-house research on catalytic converters for local application as well as experiments on fuel from their M.E. group.
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Technical Committee TC44 was formed by the Bureau of Product Standards to study the adoption of ECE Regulations on vehicles introduced in the Philippine market
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Sub-Committee SC22 was formed to do parallel study on motorcycles
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Sub-committee SC28 was created to study the adoption of ECE Regulations to local indigenous vehicles.
Dr. Ricardo G. Sigua, Director of UP-NCTS, in his closing remarks committed to lead the effort to ensure that similar meetings and forums will continue and that a formal group should be formed to ensure continuous collaboration among the institutions present in the forum. For future meetings, other groups involved in the field of transportation will be tapped to share their knowledge. The UP-NCTS expressed willingness to host the repository of information, should the need arise.
 | Forum Overview
[.pdf, 138.6Kb]
| Manny Camagay, University Extension Specialist, National Center for Transportation Studies
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vehicular emissions reduction planning, Metro Manila |
