EUREKA!
Energy for today and tomorrow
By Queena Lee-Chua
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:53:00 09/01/2008
ENERGY IS A MOST pressing issue today. How do we harness it? How do we make it available at reasonable costs?
Last July at the Manila Hotel, the National Academy of Science and Technology, the nation’s highest scientific body, together with industry experts, wrestled with this problem.
Soaring prices
“There was never a time that Meralco increased its power rates without incurring the ire of the public,” said Francisco Viray of Trans-Asia Power Generation. With good reason.
“Price prevents access to commercial energy by the poor because they cannot afford it,” Viray said. What really makes prices soar? Viray listed many factors: capital costs, technology to minimize environmental and social impact, import and fuel costs, taxation.
The fact that energy systems are now in private hands has given rise to more efficiency. But we would need policy improvement, Viray said, in price regulation, subsidies, energy diversification, domestic capital, clean fuels, indigenous resources, and service to rural areas.
The rising cost of fossil fuels spurs scientists to look for alternatives, such as biofuels, plant-based substitutes for petroleum like bioethanol and biodiesel.
Bioethanol is a light alcohol from starch in plants. Cleaner than ordinary fuels, bioethanol can cut emissions of cancer-causing gases by more than half while boosting octane levels in cars. It is biodegradable, too.
Sugar cane
In our country, the primary source of bioethanol is sugarcane, as described by Jose Zabaleta of Bronzeoaks Philippines. Herald Layoen of Mariano Marcos State University reported on bioethanol efforts from sweet sorghum; Ernesto del Rosario of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) reported on cellulose; Algerico Mariscal of the National Rootcrops RD & E Network, on root crops.
Biodiesel is a renewable fuel from plant oils, and is a substitute for petroleum diesel. Our main source is coconut, as described by Dean Lao of Chemrez Technologies. Virgilio Villancio of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños talked about getting biodiesel from the jatropha plant.
Biofuels seem to be a dream come true, but there are concerns, particularly on food.
“The world in general, and the Philippines in particular, are already experiencing difficulties in producing sufficient food,” said UPLB agriculture professor Teodoro Mendoza. “Producing biofuel and producing adequate food require the same resources.”
Mendoza cited disturbing figures, such as 30 percent of cultivated lands in the country are already degraded. Do we have enough land to cultivate biofuels? Producing biofuels requires more water than producing corn or rice for food. Do we have enough water to do so? Biofuel production leads to huge wastes, and destroys habitats. Do we sacrifice biodiversity?
“We are in a difficult bind,” said Mendoza. “Last year, 100 million tons of grain [in the world] were made into biofuel. This year, the estimated deficit in food was 53 million tons. Food price increases have caused riots in 36 countries. The stomachs of the poor are emptied by the biofuel-powered cars of the rich. Many Filipinos are hungrier and feel poorer than ever.”
Other sources
Perhaps the ultimate answer lies in other energy sources. Vicente Perez of the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) pointed to the sun and the wind. We are near the equator, so we can use solar energy. In fact, the world’s largest solar project in 2005 was the PNOC solar home system in Luzon, which has been providing electricity to more than 2,000 households.
We are also on the Asia-Pacific monsoonal belt, so we can use wind. Studies by the World Wildlife Fund and UP pinpointed more than 1,000 wind sites in the country.
The Philippines is also an archipelago. Godofredo Salazar of De la Salle University discussed ocean waves and tides. Studies with Japanese scientists show that there are more than 15 potential areas for harnessing the power of the ocean.
Though controversial, nuclear power had been used in other countries for more than two decades, said Cyril del Callar of the National Power Corp. Nuclear energy is cheap, safe, and environment friendly.
Alice Reyes of the Department of Energy focused on coal, gas and oil; while Romulo Aggangan of the Department of Science and Technology discussed getting energy from farm wastes and wood.
Only with cooperation from various sectors can we make headway in meeting our energy needs.
For more information on energy research, contact Luningning Samarita of the National Academy of Science and Technology at 8387739 or secretariat@nast.ph.
E-mail Queena Lee-Chua at blessbook@yahoo.com.
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