A proposal as part of the World Band Mooc on Financing for Development

1. CREATING A SOLAR RUN TRANSPORTATION
SYSTEM MODEL FOR A COSTA RICAN CITY
Jane Segleau janesegleau@asirea.org

2. The following presentation is a digital artefact, presented as part of the activities of the MOOC Financing
for Development course, organized by The World Bank. April, 2017.
It is designed for the general public and is the synthesis of a proposal that integrates solar transportation
systems, solar carts for short distances and solar bicycles for a city in Costa Rica.
This is directly aimed to cover several development goals such as job creation because this new system
shall create new jobs in vehicle sales and maintenance. The environmental benefits will promote better
heath, a better city and access to solar energy.
Several finance systems are proposed. It is totally based on local resource mobilization since Costa Rica has
a National Development Bank which can help initiate the project, but we hope for crowd investing since
many people can invest in the transportation coop we propose.
We also hope that investment by the local government in bicycle lanes and the planning of solar bus
transportation can unlock many businesses tailored to bicycles and solar vehicle maintenance.
Finally, we hope for private finance, in public transportation services.

4. FOR SOME OF US THE DISCUSSION OF
CLIMATE CHANGE IS OVER.
IT IS TIME TO TAKE ACTION.

5. The problem is clear
WHO: In 2012 around 7 million people died - one in eight of total
global deaths – as a result of air pollution exposure.
• In: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-
pollution/en/

6. • . “Air pollution is a major cause of disease and death. It is good news
that more cities are stepping up to monitor air quality, so when they
take actions to improve it they have a benchmark,” says Dr Flavia
Bustreo, WHO Assistant-Director General, Family, Women and
Children’sHealth.
• http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/air-pollution-rising/en/

7. “Air pollution is the fourth highest risk factor for death globally and by far the leading environmental risk
factor for disease,” said Michael Brauer, a professor at the University of British
Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health in Vancouver, Canada.
“Reducing air pollution is an incredibly efficient way to improve the
health of a population.“
http://www.healthdata.org/news-release/poor-air-quality-kills-55-million-worldwide-annually

8. Costa Rica, a country with 4.3 million inhabitants, there are over 1.2 million vehicles, with
592,000 in San José- the capital. As a result, some parts of San Jose- including where two
of the main hospitals of the country are (El Hospital de Niños y El San Juan de DIOS) have
more tan 40 ug/m3 (microgramos por metro cúbico), of NO2.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/la-contaminacin-del-aire-en-costa-rica-supera-los-lmites-de-la-oms-
HODL357624

9. “The International Energy Agency recently calculated that more than a billion
(1,000,000,000) electric vehicles are needed by 2040 to live up to the Paris climate
agreement. That means adding an average of more than 40 million electric vehicles (EVs)
every year for the next 24 years, or about half of global vehicle sales”.
“A large portion of these EVs will need to be deployed in emerging economies, since this
is where most people live and car ownership is quickly expanding market”.
From: http://elbil.no/pura-vida-driving-smart-electric-mobility-in-costa-rica/. 2016
THE SOLUTION?????

10. Last year, in the USA solar increased by
21.8 percent, adding up to 31,000 new jobs
in 2014 and bringing the total number of
solar-related jobs in the U.S. to 173,800.
That's an increase of 86 percent since
2010.
See>http://www.ecowatch.com/solar-is-
creating-jobs-nearly-20-times-faster-than-
overall-u-s-economy-1882000346.html

11. .
AND THERE ARE SOLUTIONS VERY CLOSE TO HOME!
The development of a photovoltaic car is working at the Costa Rican University EARTH : two 245 W solar
cells were installed on the golf cart instead of a plastic roof, along with an adapted battery system. The solar
car has been driven around 20 kilometers every day for the past three and a half years without needing to
be connected to the electricity grid.
https://www.international-climate-initiative.com/en/news/article/driving_using_solar_energy/

12. Only 20 minutes away from EARTH, we have bustling Guápiles,
with over 36,000 inhabitants and too much traffic.
A good place to start an experiment.

13. WHAT IF…….
We improve public transportation with private in- put to local bus
companies to invest in solar?
We introduce electric cars sale or rental for short distances of local
people looking for convenience to get to their jobs and run errands?
We improve bicycle lanes and promote more bicycles?
We create companies with car rentals for with longer trips (to the
capital for example)?

14. Benefits of new local Green
Businesses and relationship with
Sustainable develpment goals
• Improved transportation systems (SDG 11,13)
• Reduce air pollution of the city (SDG 3,11,13)
• More businesses: bicycle sales and reparations; electric car
rentals, sales, reparations, solar systems, car rentals (SDG
1)
• More family savings to re-invest in health, education,
recreation..i.e. more local businesses! (SDG 1)
• More job opportunities in Green economy
• Access to sustainable energy (SDG 7)

15. Developing a model
• This experience will be a model that/ once implemented and
evaluated by measuring its impact, it can be used in other cities in
Costa Rica.

16. Here is an example of an opportunity for public and private finance
in total alignment with the sustainable development goals. We
propose the following financing strategy:
1.We will create COOPETRANSPORTE GUAPILES for car rentals, sales and cart rentals and sales.
The Costa Rican development bank and crowd investing will finance COOPETRANSPORTE
GUAPILES. Priate ar owners can sell their cars and invest in Coopetransporte, knowing that they
will be able to rent or buy an electric cart for short distance travel, i.e. from home to work; and
have extra cash for special trips to San Jose where a larger car would be rented.
2. The local municipality will invest in bycicle lanes, help create necesary regulations and plan
public transportation in a way that it is efficient for users and economically viable for the
companies.
4. Local bus companies will recieve loans from local Banks to buy electric buses.

17. 5. Other local Banks will be able to offer loans for the adquisition of solar panels, bicycles, to families.
6. INA will give mechanics training in the new technology.
7. The Costa Rican Development Bank together with a national University should do the feasability study.

18. COST PER ELECTRIC CAR $ 5100 (usado) $7000 (Nuevo)
MAINTANANCE $47 per month
COST PER BUS $23,000
DATA
1. In rural areas of Costa Rica, people only earn $864, a month, where food is 21,4% ;
$184 dollars and transportation represents 15.6%, in other words, an average of
$134 per family per month. (INEC, 2014), see:
http://www.centralamericadata.com/es/article/home/Encuesta_de_Ingresos_y_Ga
stos_de_los_Hogares_de_Costa_Rica
2. The population of Guapiles is 36,469 people, making it the second largest
population in the Limon Province. (Wikipedia)
3. A golf cart can last up to between 30-40 years or longer for the various
manufacturers (http://golfcartsplus.com/wp
content/uploads/2014/11/golfcart101.pdf)
Data from Bert Kohlman and Mildred Linkemer, EARTH UNIVERSITY

19. So, using a conservative position, of a solar golf cart, that we would replace every 10 years,
This is a cost of $700 dollars a year plus maintenance costs , giving us a monthly expense of $95 dollars,
Lowering transportation costs from $134 for a family down to $95 in case of buying the cart .
On the other hand, for a company, the cart cost and maintenance is only $3.2 a day, making it also a viable
per day renting option for a population that does not use a car everyday. For example, a person who needs the car
for shopping or errands, or even Monday to Friday work transportation. Costs could be even lower if there were
Multiple renting stations, so a person could rent close to home and drop off the car near work and use it later on
On a per hour basis. This is becoming very popular in the United States where people are sharing transportation costs.
Simple apps can indicate where there is a cart near me.
In this way each family can optimize transportation costs; combining the use of solar public transportation,
Bicycles or carts and normal gasoline cars when necessary.
Guapiles could transform into a city with high efficiency in transportation, with lower costs per family, and much less
pollution.

20. POTENTIAL CHALLENGES
This project will be presented to the local Municipality for analysis.
Possible obstacles could be people’s desire to own a car as a status
symbol- although the financial benefits can weigh more-so there must
be a good promotional plan.
It is a very innovative project- so although it is urgent in Costa Rica,
sometimes it is hard to implement new projects considered high risk.
A final decision must be made once the feasibility study is done.