Adianto P Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian government will exhibit its eco-friendly public transportation to the international community during the upcoming climate change conference in Bali.
However, since most of the country's public transportation vehicles are still powered by fossil fuels, the government will swap the engines of the vehicles to be put on display in Bali with ones that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) first.
"We will send the three-wheeled pedicab bajaj, the Metro Mini public mini-buses and CNG taxis to Bali from Jakarta on Dec. 2," Mangisara Lubis, in charge of site events for the Bali meeting, told reporters Friday.
"The display will become part of the site events at the Bali conference."
He said about a hundred businesses related to renewable energy and green products would also exhibit products.
Mangisara, also an adviser to the environment minister, said the vehicles would have to travel with their own supply of CNG for refueling since filling stations along the route to Bali wouldn't have any.
"We hope this will push world leaders, including Indonesia's, to promote lower emission fuels such as CNG for the sake of climate change," he said.
Indonesia will host the 13th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from Dec. 3 to 14 in Bali.
Over 10,000 delegates will attend the conference to discuss ways to combat climate change.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an independent group of experts tasked with assessing scientific aspects of climate change, reported that the use of fossil fuels including in transportation and industry was the main contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
High concentrations of greenhouse gasses generate climate change.
Mangisara said the government would conduct vehicle emissions testing along the route of a parade to feature public transportation vehicles in Bali.
"We will doing tests on ... private and other vehicles at 13 gas stations along the route as an effort to boost public awareness of climate change," he said.
To improve air quality, the government ordered all public transportation to switch to CNG, effective 2005, as part of its Blue Sky program.
Although the pilot program is in Jakarta, CNG-fueled public vehicles in the city are limited to busway coaches and 250 bajaj pedicabs.
The organizer of the Bali conference earlier said all motor vehicles entering Bali's Nusa Dua area during the conference had to be powered by biofuel.
Mangisara said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would dispatch a group of cyclists from Jakarta to Bali on Tuesday as a welcome brigade for the conference.
The 15 cyclists will pedal the 1,433-kilometer route to Bali in 20 days.
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