Bad conversion drags down LPG-run cars

CEBU CITY – Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-fueled cars are becoming unpopular in the country because of misinformation and flyby-night conversion stations.

Loreto Moncada, senior research specialist at the Department of Energy (DOE), said the government has been pushing LPG as an alternative fuel for the transport sector which draws 33.5 percent of its fuel from imported oil and 10 percent from imported coal.

Moncada said DOE’s research shows that LPG, compared with other fuels, is cheaper by over R10 per liter and burns cleaner, resulting in practically zero tailpipe emissions.

He advised motorists to have their car’s fuel system converted at government-accredited auto-LPG stations.

Jorge Vincent Bitoon, another research specialist from the Energy Regulatory Bureau (ERB), noted that countries like Japan, Netherlands, and Hong Kong have been using autoLPG and encounter no problems with it.

DOE’s Energy Utilization Management Bureau wants alternative-fueled transport (AFT) vehicles mainstreamed by 2030 as part of its alternative transport fuels and technologies roadmap for the country.

Moncada said AFTs being prioritized today are electric vehicles, LPG, compressed Natural Gas, Liquified Natural Gas and hybrid electric vehicles.