On March 16th, within the framework of the CALAC+ Steering Committee 2023, the authorities representing the member countries of the CALAC+ Programme – Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and Peru – as well as the SDC’s Director of International Cooperation in Peru and the Andean Region, Anton Hilber, and Rafael Millán, Regional Programme Officer, met in Santiago de Chile.
The goal of this Steering Committee was to present the project results for the year 2022 and the plan of activities for the year 2023. Highlights in 2022 included the technical support to authorities in Chile and Colombia on their way to the introduction of green hydrogen buses, technical inputs for the future operability of electric buses in Peru, the updating of the Mexican inventory of non-road mobile machinery, and the holding of two events: Technical vehicle inspections (OBD) for transport as well as hydrogen and electric machinery.
Among the technical assistance activities planned for 2023, actions in public transport were highlighted, such as: i) financing models for clean buses, ii) bus emission standards, and iii) technical inspections for diesel, electric and hybrid buses. Regarding assistance for machinery, the following activities are planned: i) capacity strengthening in electric machinery, ii) emission standards and plans for the reduction of machinery emissions, iii) promoting the use of the HEMAQ tool for data automation, and iv) feasibility of using green hydrogen.
Implementation of diesel particulate filters in construction machinery
The delegation visited the machinery yard of the Chilean Ministry of Public Works (Ministerio de Obras Públicas de Chile – MOP), where they could see the country’s progress in the use of machinery filters. Jorge Guerra, head of the Machinery Subsection, presented machinery reconditioned with Diesel Particulate Filters, which trap and then eliminate approximately 99% of particulate matter emissions from diesel combustion engines, thus contributing significantly to the reduction of environmental pollutants that are harmful to health.
© CALAC+ Project Photos
STP Santiago Electro-Terminal and Metbus
On Friday 17th, the delegation visited the electro-terminal El Conquistador, where two operators (STP and Metbus) shared with the delegation their experience electric buses’ operation. Two different charging systems were shown.
© CALAC+ Project Photos
Source: Programa CALAC+
