Opposition MP Colm Imbert said a three-year proposal by the Government to spend $500 million to convert 17,500 vehicles from gasoline and diesel to compressed natural gas would be a waste of taxpayers' money.Imbert spoke in the House of Representatives yesterday during debate to confirm the Excise Duty (Compressed Natural Gas Order, 2013) by Finance and the Economy Minister Larry Howai.
Howai said the measure would effectively reduce the price of CNG, which would encourage drivers to convert to the cleaner fuel. The minister said that was a major initiative aimed at reducing the annual $4 billion fuel subsidy. The initiative also calls for the construction of several CNG stations across the country.
But Imbert said the plan was absurd and was not new, having been repeated by the Government for the past three years. Imbert said not one vehicle was converted to CNG and no new CNG stations were constructed since the People's Partnership Government came into office in May 2010.Minister of State in the Environment and Water Resources Ministry Ramona Ramdial dismissed Imbert's claim, saying three government vehicles have been converted to CNG so far.
Imbert said for the past several years attempts have been made to encourage drivers to convert to CNG but the majority seem uninterested, for several reasons. He said it may be appropriate to consider other alternative fuels, as the CNG plan has been a colossal failure.Imbert said the Government should instead seek to encourage the use of hybrid vehicles as they were more cost-effective than CNG. He said the typical vehicle gives an average of 25 miles to the gallon but a hybrid vehicle gives an average of 50 mpg.
"We need to look at encouraging the use of hybrids in T&T," Imbert told legislators.He said the use of hybrid vehicles (electric and gasoline) would go a long way to addressing the fuel subsidy issue, and suggested the import duty, the value added and motor vehicle taxes should be reduced to zero on hybrid vehicles.Imbert said the Opposition was "very suspicious" about the measure as there was the possibility of corruption.
What's a hybrid vehicle?
A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) combines a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) propulsion system with an electric propulsion system. The presence of the electric powertrain is intended to achieve either better fuel economy than a conventional vehicle or better performance. There are a variety of HEV types, and the degree to which they function as EVs varies as well.
The most common form of HEV is the hybrid electric car, although hybrid electric trucks (pickups and tractors) and buses also exist.
Source: Wikipedia