Cebu chosen as World Bank program pilot city

ByJujemay G. Awit
Cebu City is one of three cities in East Asia that were chosen to serve as pilot areas for the Sustainable Urban Energy Development (SUED) program of the World Bank.

CEBU CITY -- To complement the proposed Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system in Cebu City, the World Bank will help the City Government implement programs on energy efficiency in six sectors, including transportation and public lighting.

The two other pilot areas are Danang in Vietnam and Surabaya in Indonesia.

The program is seen to help the city reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in the city, which is pegged at 19,000 tons a year.Through a grant from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid), SUED aims to provide a sustainable program for energy efficiency and savings.

To start the program, proponents had to assess the greenhouse gas emission in the city.

An inventory of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions conducted by World Bank representatives and other partner agencies showed that at least 19,000 tons of greenhouse gases are emitted in the city every year, said Maricon Encabo of the City Planning and Development Office.

Around 8,500 tons are from public vehicles, while close to 2,000 tons are from solid waste.

Emissions from electricity were pegged at 9,000 tons, 6,000 tons are from streetlights and more than 2,000 come from public buildings. The rest are from waste water.

Data gathered from the inventory will be used in a workshop with representatives from Danang and Surabaya later this year.

The three cities will then discuss and work together to develop guidelines for a sustainable energy program.

The World Bank has identified six key areas for energy efficiency: transportation, buildings, water and waste water, public lighting, solid waste and electric power.

In transportation, World Bank plans to distribute global positioning system or GPS-enabled phones to taxis, public transportation and government-owned vehicles to collect real-time traffic flow and road condition data.

The data will help the City in the implementation of the BRT system, which is expected to operate by 2014.

“These data, which would normally require significant time and resources to collect, can be used to more effectively manage road assets, mitigate traffic congestion, and plan for fixed guide for transport systems, such as the proposed BRT,” the SUED program plan read.

The BRT is also one of the reasons why Cebu City was chosen as a pilot area for SUED in the Philippines.

In a presentation on the BRT early this month, the World Bank noted that Cebu City is already on track in upgrading its transportation system, as jeepneys are considered inefficient and contribute to pollution. (Sun.Star Cebu)

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Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on May 30, 2011.