“(T)he Renewable Energy Law will add 1,250 megawatts and save us at least $1.2 billion in ten years!”
by Ducky Paredes
The reports coming from the world front is grim. Hurricanes, heat waves, wild fires, cyclones, floods, drought, melting ice caps, increased greenhouse gas emissions, rising sea levels, rising prices for everything, increasing holes in our ozone layer, the end of cheap oil and even the total depletion of oil production in 40 years.
In the recent Group of 8 meeting in Japan, the best that the leading nations of the world could agree on was that they would try to lower the level of harmful gas emissions and that they would cut by half carbon emissions by 2050, 42 years from now. By that time, the reports from the world front will be even worse.
One has to realize that the whole world is in a bind. In fact, it is we – the whole world — who are the cause of all our problems. We, in this country, cannot rely on allies, friends and the charity of the world, We must meet the challenges we face on our own.
I am reminded of the stories of our uncles and fathers (grandparents to the younger readers) of how we coped with World War II in the Philippines. We had trucks that ran on charcoal or alcohol and we walked to wherever we were going. We developed food such as castaniyog – squares of coconut meat roasted like chestnuts. We added extenders to rice – corn bits, kamote bits and so on.
I was a young child during the war and was just six when it was all over but I know that my world did not want for anything, especially the love and nurturing of family. Thus, I really do not know the extent of what we did as a people but we survived. One realizes that we were then a sturdy and inventive people.
We have to be that – again. America, Israel and the rest of the western world must realize that they can no longer be the big bullies on the world stage – that when they react to the world, especially in the Middle East and Africa in the way that they have always done, this only makes matters worse and, in a sense, brings doomsday closer to reality.
We find ourselves having to rely on ourselves with very little help from the rest of the world.
The plan of the government to become self-sufficient in rice in three years makes it worthwhile to spend all that money on the project. Let us hope that the money is actually spent on planting the Asian food staple, without which the Filipino cannot survive.
We have two pieces of legislation – the Biofuels Act and the Renewable Energy Bill passed by congress but still pending in the Senate which would decrease the use of fossil fuels like coal and oil by promoting the use of renewable energy and alternative fuels – biomass, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and ocean energy. One might add that the use of hydrogen cells and even nuclear power to generate electricity ought to also be considered.
The National Power Corporation (Napocor) estimates that final enactment of the Renewable Energy Law will add 1,250 megawatts and save us at least $1.2 billion in ten years! After the US, we are the second largest geothermal energy producer in the world with 1,978 megawatts from the heat of our volcanic formations. Wind power is in use in North Luzon; biodiesel is in use and ethanol plants are under construction in our sugar areas even as we blend ethanol to our gasoline.
The Cagayan Electric Power Plant in Cagayan de Oro City has the biggest solar power plant in Southeast Asia. Natural gas from Malampaya is in use to power electric power plants and will soon be bottled as compressed natural gas (CNG) for household and automotive use. Many taxi firms have shifted to the cheaper Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG(, which incidentally has cleaner emissions than diesel or gasoline.
The larger enterprises – both private and government – are also pitching in. Napocor has been engaged in the management and conservation of most of the country’s watershed resources. These are essential for our hydroelectric plants to continue operating.
Napocor’s watershed management role assures us that our geothermal resources that contribute 28 percent of the country’s power supply and our hydroelectric power plants (23 percent) towards our total power requirements.
Mindanao is largely dependent on hydropower which is one reason for the lower electricity rate on the island.
Without proper management, our watershed could deteriorate. Rivers could silt up cutting off hydro from its power source. In heavy rainfall, floods and mudflows could destroy towns and villages,
The proper management of these watershed areas not only maintains the water resources that feed into the dams, it also preserves wildlife and enhances the quality of the air.
The EPIRA Law sources the funds (from the environmental charge fund in our electricity bills) that finance the watershed management expenses of Napocor, which must be approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
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“Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this Nation, and it can also be the standard around which we rally. On the battlefield of energy we can win for our Nation a new confidence, and we can seize control again of our common destiny. “ — Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States
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We simply must balance our demand for energy with our rapidly shrinking resources. By acting now we can control our future instead of letting the future control us.” – Jimmy Carter
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“The use of plant oil as fuel may seem insignificant today. But such products can in time become just as important as kerosene and these coal-tar-products of today.” — Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the diesel engine, which originally ran on peanut oil.
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“I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait ’til oil and coal run out before we tackle that.” – Thomas Edison (1847–1931)
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hvp 07.15.08)
One Comment
I am based in San Diego, CA. Your articles are very informative and interesting. Just to let you know that we publish some of your articles in the Filipino Press with your byline. I hope we can again do this with your permission this time.
Thank you.
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