Fort Collins, CO - Envirofit International Ltd., a Colorado non-profit corporation developing and commercializing environmentally friendly and energy efficient technologies in Asia, today announced that it has signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding with the Philippine city of Vigan (in the northern province of Ilocos Sur). The MOU outlines the parties’ agreement to retrofit Vigan’s entire fleet of approximately 3,000 two-stroke engine powered tricycle taxis with Envirofit’s direct injection retrofit technology. Funded in part by the Swiss Embassy in the Philippines and developed in cooperation with the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities, the project will significantly reduce carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon pollution in Vigan. Envirofit also plans to add approximately 20 new employees in Vigan, providing a major boost to the local economy. Vigan’s city government will in turn provide low-cost loans to tricycle-taxi drivers to cover the cost of an individual retrofit. Drivers will be able to repay these loans within one year from savings resulting from increased fuel and oil efficiency. According to Envirofit CEO Brock Silvers, "The agreement between Envirofit and the city of Vigan reflects a new public-private business model designed to alleviate the primary main cause of air pollution in Vigan, and to do so in a cost-effective manner vigorously supported by all stakeholders. This project will also have clear implications for the rest of Asia’s urban centers, where abysmal air quality is often attributed in significant measure to two-stroke engine emissions." Vigan City Mayor Ferdinand Medina further adds, "We believe this project will result in significant benefits to the local environment and economy. Tricycle taxi emissions are a serious problem, and this project presents a solution that is both cost-effective and easily accepted by local drivers."
Envirofit also announced today the final results of its direct injection retrofit field tests in Manila, Philippines. Incorporating data from three small fleets of tricycle-taxis covering roughly 65,000 km, the tests show a 75% reduction in carbon monoxide emissions and an 88% reduction in hydrocarbon emissions. Retrofitted engines also exhibited an increase in fuel and oil efficiency of 30% and 50%, respectively. Envirofit CEO Brock Silvers states, "These tests clearly demonstrate that Envirofit’s application of direct injection technology to the two-stroke engine retrofit market will yield truly significant environmental benefits. Given that there are over 50 MM such units operating in Asia, and up to several million in the Philippines alone, Envirofit looks forward to having a tremendously beneficial impact in those areas." Full field test results are available through Envirofit’s website at www.envirofit.org.
Media Contact:
Jacque Lind
Associate – Finance & Development
Envirofit International
(970) 491-4788
jlind@envirofit.org
About Vigan ( www.vigancity.gov.ph ):
Vigan is located at the northeast tip of the Philippine island of Luzon, was founded in the 16th Century as a Spanish colonial outpost. The city rose to prominence in the 18th and 19th Centuries as part of a network of Asian trading cities, and was settled in large measure by affluent families of mixed Chinese-Ilocano origin. Vigan is the last urban area in the Philippines that has maintained the architecture and urban planning as established during the Spanish colonial era. The result is a traditional Spanish checkerboard street plan closely lined with buildings containing lower level shops, offices, or warehouses surrounded by thick stone walls and upper level residences made entirely of wood. The resulting town center possesses such unique beauty and historical importance that it was officially declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.
About Envirofit ( www.envirofit.org ):
Envirofit International is a U.S. tax-exempt, Colorado-based non-profit corporation formed in 2003. Envirofit develops and commercializes technologies that reduce pollution or enhance energy efficiency in developing countries, with a particular focus on Asia. Envirofit hopes that its efforts will promote environmental benefits, improve public health, foster economic growth, and alleviate poverty throughout its areas of operation. The company is currently focused on commercializing clean, direct-injection two-stroke engine retrofit technology in the Philippines.
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