Most of the electricity that lights our houses, runs our appliances, and power our factories come from power plants which produce energy by burning substances such as coal, bunker, and diesel.
But of these three traditional energy sources, coal is considered as the Philippines’ largest power source, comprising one-fifth of the country’s total energy mix--the total amount of energy produced regardless of its source--according to 2005 data from the Department of Energy, Gmanews reported.
Despite being considered as the cheapest yet dirtiest energy source, coal has reached record prices since China and Indonesia have cut its exports to secure its own supplies.
Even Australia, another coal-exporting country, has restricted shipments, helping boost prices of the commodity.
With surging prices of coal and oil, alternative forms of energy--previously considered as too expensive to develop--are becoming attractive, both to producers, users, and investors. Among these include water, wind, solar, and even organic waste.
“The country has a very big renewable energy potential. It’s clean and we can save money because we don’t have to import anything unlike in fossil fuel-fired plants,“ said Jasper Inventor, spokesman of environment group Greenpeace.
Experts agree that the Philippines, being rich in natural resources, can tap nature’s elements to come up with electricity from alternative and renewable sources.
For instance, electricity can be produced by the sheer force of water.
Turbines in hydro-electric power plants harness the force of water--running either vertically or horizontally--which produce electricity.
Using the same principle, the force of the wind can also be harnessed to turn turbines inside windmills.
Energy Capacity
At present, the total energy capacity of all wind-powered plants in the Philippines is around 25.5 megawatts (mW), according to Fortunato Sibayan of the Energy Department’s Renewable Energy Division.
The energy capacity is the amount of electricity that a power plant can produce at a given time. He said that the biggest of these wind-powered plants could be found in Bangui, Ilocos Norte. Items usually thrown away can also be burned and processed to produce electricity.
Called biomass, these domestic or agricultural wastes include wood, garbage, and rice hulls, corn cobs, and crushed sugarcane called bagasse.
When burned, these items are expected to produce steam from boiling water, which can eventually be used to run a generator.
The sun’s energy reaching the Earth can also be trapped inside solar panels. Once converted into heat, solar energy can be used to create steam which can run a turbine generator.
But the technology used to convert solar power into electricity--however clean--comes at a price.
Solar power costs range from P20 to P40 per kilowatt hour, discouraging companies such as Meralco from using this form of energy due to high rates.
In turn, high rates are brought about by expensive investments involved in establishing a renewable energy power plant.
Inflation-Proof Sources
In the long run, both Inventor and Sibayan agree that electricity sourced from renewable sources would at least remain constant over a long period of time and remain unaffected by inflation.
Power plants which rely on coal and oil are primarily affected by the prices of these raw materials, which may rise and fall depending on global inventories and demand.
As a result, electricity generated by these facilities increase whenever raw materials used by power plants climb.
“How will you explain that to the consumers when they complain even at the slightest hike),“ Sibayan said.
According to the energy official, the best thing to do is to grant incentives to power generation companies that utilize renewable sources.
He said the high costs of technology used by these companies can be cushioned by awarding them tax incentives.
Another crucial issue also involves formulating cost-efficient means of generating energy without compromising the environmental safety.
Fossil fuels, especially coal, emit several hazardous elements into the air when these are burned. For instance, coal, when burned, gives off the most carbon dioxide, which largely contributes to the climate change.
Studies have shown that people living within a 10-kilometer radius from a coal-fired power plant develop neurological, cardiovascular, and respiratory problems.
This gives the government more reason to harness the Philippines’ renewable energy potential.
