Inside Science

By Dennis Posadas The cover story in the November issue of Scientific American contends that renewable energy can already theoretically power 100% of energy needs, and totally replace carbon emitting sources by 2030. The article authors, Stanford University Professor Mark Jacobson and University of California Davis researcher Mark Delucchi, charted a roadmap to shift the power and transport sectors to renewable energy by 2030. Jacobson, who heads Stanford’s Energy Program, and Delucchi say this is possible by combining wind, concentrated solar, geothermal, tidal, solar photovoltaic, wave and hydropower and linking them together in an intelligent manner, using information available from meteorological sources for example,. Both authors base their arguments on a 2008 paper published in the Journal of Energy and Environmental Science, arguing that shifting vehicles from liquid fuels to electricity and cutting energy losses would make possible a global energy demand reduction of 30%. Detractors argue that initial capital costs for some renewable sources are still expensive, and that some sources of renewable energy like wind and solar, are intermittent. The wind doesn’t always blow when you want it to and the sun doesn’t always shine, in a particular location, they argue. However, these issues are slowly being solved both financially and technically. Cost considerations are now being offset by financing mechanisms like the Carbon Development Mechanism (a.k.a. “carbon credits”) and incentives like the feed-in-tariff popularized in Europe and in Asian laws like the Philippines Renewable Energy Act of 2008, which seeks to grow renewable energy from 1% in 2008 to 10% by 2018. Technical intermittence issues are also surmountable with proper planning and coordination with weather forecasting agencies. Averaged over a large area and connected together through the grid, there is always a place where the wind and sun are available at any given moment. Storage mechanisms such as batteries, elevated lakes, and old salt caverns (through compressed air storage) can store excess energy for use when needed. Most intermittent renewable energy generators simply connect these power sources to the electric grid, and act as a source when available. Issues with connecting increasingly intermittent generating sources to the grid is increasingly being researched, along with the use of smart appliances with built in chips that can adjust their demand depending on the power situation at a given moment. But we all know that what is theoretically possible, even in the face of scientific argument, is not always what happens. Take the Beta versus VHS, or even the Windows versus Linux argument, there will always be advocates and detractors of a particular technology. Notwithstanding the fact that climate change skeptics still abound, on the question of large-scale adoption of renewable energy itself, the main barriers now are cost and practical considerations, whether these be technical or business related. To speak of 100% renewable energy is still to say the least, quite radical at this time, even among technologists. It is somewhat akin to John F. Kennedy’s challenge in the early sixties to the American scientific community, to send a man to the moon before the end of that decade. Theoretically possible yes. Practical? Maybe not for a while but if we make it a goal, it can be. We know where Kennedy’s gauntlet took us, and sometimes it simply takes the right challenge to go into a particular direction. Don’t get me wrong. Aiming for a 100% renewable energy future will be fraught with challenges, and will take a lot of money, time, energy, and will have many failures along the way. The electric grid itself has to evolve, from generation to transmission, to distribution, to even the appliances to become smart so that all become intelligent and talk to each other just like the Internet, before we can even consider this as a practical possibility. But let us begin. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Dennis Posadas is the Editor of Cleantech Asia Online, and the author of Jump Start: A Technopreneurship Fable (Singapore: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009). He is currently working on a new business fable on clean energy and climate change called Green Thinking.

DOST The Philippines makes history once again as it joins a review body that would set the science education policy of an international organization for the next seven years. The only ASEAN country to join the panel, the Philippines joins the big wigs in the international science education scene in reviewing the science education policy of the International Council for Science (ICSU), an international non-governmental organization devoted to international co-operation in the advancement of science. Deliang Chen, Executive Director of ICSU, said the organization has confirmed the nomination of Science Education Institute Director Dr. Ester B. Ogena by the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) to ICSU’s review panel. In a letter to Ogena, Chen said the panel would be meeting twice a year starting next year in Paris to start its deliberation on the policy directions on science education. According to Chen, the strategic review would include an assessment of ICSU’s past and current activities in relation to science education, a consideration of the broader context of science education and a recommendation on the future mandate for ICSU on science education. The review panel will be chaired by Dr. Roberta Johnson, the executive director of the National Earth Science Teachers Association in the United States. ICSU, formerly called the International Council of Scientific Unions, was founded in 1931 whose members include national scientific bodies, and international scientific unions, including the International Mathematical Union, the International Astronomical Union and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. ICSU was founded to bring together natural scientists in international scientific endeavors. As of 2007, it comprises 113 multi-disciplinary National Scientific Members, Associates and Observers (scientific research councils or science academies) representing 133 countries and 29 international, single-discipline Scientific Unions. ICSU also has 24 Scientific Associates. In response, Ogena expressed gratitude to the recognition given by the international to the Philippines. “We will put forward the interest of the Filipino people as well as our ASEAN neighbors as we join the strategic review panel of ICSU’s science education policy,” she said. Ogena said that it is the first time that the Philippines would be taking part in a science education policy review panel at the international level. “We hope to take science education at a different level that would be more relevant to the people and to the recent developments we are experiencing,” she said.

By Alexander Villafania INQUIRER.NET MANILA, Philippines – The campaign season is in full swing and so some of the public executives are in hot pursuit of getting voters' attention. This means many topics up for discussion are left unfinished, one of which is on nuclear power that was once hot topic among legislators especially with attempts to reactivate the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). Quietly, while everyone is busy with electioneering, a team of researchers from the Senate Economic Planning Office (SEPO) released their policy brief on the country's nuclear power capabilities. The policy brief entitled “Powering the Future: Are We Ready for Nuclear Energy” identifies the Philippines' current power resources and requirements, comparative power status with other countries, as well as the local and national regulations that the Philippines has to discuss and enforce before coming up with nuclear policies. The policy brief was prepared by Harry Pasimio, Jr. and Peter Turingan and finished last September. A downloadable version is found in the official website of the Philippine Senate. The brief uses reports from local and international reports as well. It identified that the Philippines' current power demand is pegged at about 9,700 megawatts for the entire country and continues to grow as the population grows. By 2017, peak power demand would reach at least 13,000 megawatts. Nearly 50 percent of this power is produced oil and coal based power plants. Another 21 percent is hydroelectric, 17 percent is from natural gas and 12 percent is from geothermal. However, even with about 30 percent of power produced is coming from renewable energy, the majority of the plants are using fossil fuel, which produces 4,078 metric tons of carbon dioxide per gigawatt-hour. Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is associated with the negative effects of climate change. The Philippine government has also been working to reduce carbon emissions. The increased power demand and plans to reduce ozone-depleting greenhouse gases are pushing options to look into cost-effective and environment-friendly power sources. Nuclear power thus became a major point of contention from legislators, scientists and environmentalists. In particular was the proposal by Congressman Mark Cojuangco to revive the BNPP, which drew criticism from some scientists who said that the interpretation of certain scientific results were skewed by Cojuangco to justify the dilapidated plant's reactivation. Given these situations, the policy brief made one conclusion: that the realization of the country's nuclear plans would take years to complete unless the government implements many measures to ensure that nuclear power is safely established, distributed, disposed and regulated. “Current efforts in both Houses of Congress to fast track the rehabilitation and operation of the BNPP are akin to putting the cart before the horse. Before the government can operate the BNPP or any other NPP for that matter, it must first undertake the preliminary business of getting its nuclear power program back on track by updating the scientific/technical, legislative, and regulatory frameworks that will guide the development of the country’s nuclear power industry.” The points raised by the SEPO policy brief already points to a problem that legislators must first act on before rushing into having nuclear power. Hopefully, these points will be remembered by the next set of legislators after next year's elections.

Department of Science and Technology Fourteen students, including two sisters, from 10 schools in the Philippines obtained the highest honors in the recently concluded 2009 Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC). Four students from the Philippines got AMC medals for their outstanding performance. They are Seanne Ng of Saint Jude Catholic School, Justrin Edric Yturzaeta of Jubilee Christian Academy , Julius Vincent Sy of St. Stephen’s High School and Amiel Sy of PSHS-Main Campus. Sy got a perfect score in the AMC. Sisters Audrey Celine and Czarina Lao, both from Saint Jude Catholic School, netted the AMC Prize Award, the highest award given to AMC competitors for being at the top 1 percent of the competitors. Other students who got the Prize Award are Lormes Pedeglorio of Butuan City Special Education Center, Miguel Lorenzo Ildesa of Parents for Education (PAREF)-Westbridge School, Adrian Sy of Saint Jude Catholic School, Aldric Cristoval Reyes of Chiang Kai Shek College, John Russel Virata of Gideon Academy, Alvin Uy Lim of Quezon City Science High School, Emiliano Tan of Philippine Science High School (PSHS) -Main Campus, and Jake Gacuan of University of the Philippines. Besides the 14 students who got top awards, 43 other students from different schools in the Philippines obtained High Distinction honors for being at the top 2 percent of examinees in their year level. Eleven students also obtained a Prudence Award for garnering the most number of correct answers from question 1 of the AMC. The AMC is a correspondence type exam, administered by the Australian Mathematics Trust, aimed at highlighting the importance of mathematics as part of the curriculum and discovering talents in mathematics. It is conducted in cooperation with the Mathematics Trainers’s Guild and the Australian Mathematics Trust. Six students also from different schools in Metro Manila obtained perfect scores in the 2009 Rio Tinto Big Science Competition. They are Johanna Wileen Go of St. Jude Catholic School, Henry Jefferson Morco and Richard Milante of Chiang Kai Shek College, Timothy Augustus Ong of Xavier School, Elvis Jeremy Ayroso of PSHS-Main Campus and Ariana Benipayo of St. Paul College-Pasig. All the winners of the AMC and the Rio Tinto were presented their awards today (October 19) at the Sofitel Hotel, Pasay City . Dr. Ester B. Ogena, Director of the Science Education Institute, expressed hopes that the students who obtained top marks in the said competitions would take courses in science and engineering when they go to college. “The recent typhoons that has been hitting our country and the devastation it has left us shows that we need more scientists and engineers to counter the onslaught it causes,” she said. Ogena said that besides encouraging math-inclined students to excel in international competitions, the SEI also provides help to students through science scholarships at the undergraduate and graduate levels.. “In the undergraduate level, we continue to provide scholarships to deserving students that help them to realize their dream of becoming scientists and engineers. Through the Advanced Science and Technology Human Resource Development (ASTHRD) and the Engineering for Research and Development Technology (ERDT) Programs, we provide enticing packages for students and graduates to pursue graduate studies in science and engineering,” she said.

by Dennis Posadas The recently held GTZ symposium on renewable energy held last October 8 at the Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street was an interesting example of how investors and the public are now interacting with our new Renewable Energy Act. The passage of the 2008 Renewable Energy Act of the Philippines has paved the way for an increase in investments in the renewable energy sector. One of the areas that have benefited is the wind energy sector. It is estimated that the Philippines theoretically has around 76,000 MW in wind energy capacity, based on studies conducted by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Philippines Department of Energy. It was reported in the Inquirer.net that the Department of Energy last September awarded three companies four new wind energy service contracts—Energy Development Corp. (PSE: EDC) for its planned 86-MW wind farm in Burgos, Ilocos Norte; UPC Asia Corp. for its 50-MW wind project in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte; and PetroEnergy Resources Corp., which bagged two contracts for a 30-MW project in Sual, Pangasinan and a 30-MW project in Nabas, Aklan. Also, Energy Logics Philippines Inc.’s pre-commercial contract for a 120-MW wind farm in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, was converted to a wind energy service contract. Several joint ventures between local businessmen and foreign companies and investors have also been announced in the local dailies, among those that have been reported include the Alterenergy Partners joint venture with Eurus Energy Japan and Korea East West Power Co. to identify projects in the 30 to 40 MW range; and the French wind turbine manufacturer Vergnet Group, said to be looking for joint venture partners. The rule of thumb given is that each megawatt of capacity costs around USD $2m to 2.5m dollars. At present, aside from small isolated micro-wind installations in remote communities, the largest one at present is the 33MW wind farm in Bangui Bay, Ilocos Norte run by the Northwind Power Corporation, which contributes only 0.21% of the total electricity generated in the country, that is when the wind is blowing. The 7,100 islands of the Philippines make it difficult to make electricity available in many areas, particularly those that are isolated from the main electric grid. Most large islands with large populations, such as Luzon, Panay, Cebu, Mindanao, and others have their own generation, distribution and utility companies to service their areas. However, smaller islands with sparse populations or mountainous areas are a particular challenge. In these cases, sometimes the only practical solution is to use renewable energy power sources (e.g. wind, solar, biomass) or diesel powered generators. Because wind, like solar, is an intermittent energy source, there has to be a means of storage to compensate for times when it is not generating power. In isolated off-grid areas, for smaller wind systems, this normally means a battery. In countries like the U.S., in the Texas Panhandle for example, T. Boone Pickens’s backup of choice is a natural gas turbine. But for the Philippine setting, the typical approach much like in most countries is to simply connect these large wind systems to the electric grid, and to simply sell power to the grid when it is generating. Anyway, just like in the U.S., the Philippines operates a spot market for electricity. In the case of renewable energy, a special spot market for renewable energy has been developed by the Philippine government to guarantee that there will be buyers for producers of renewable energy electricity. One concern of some investors is the limit on foreign ownership. It is defined in the Philippine constitution that in certain key industries/sectors, foreign ownership is to be a minority, with a slight majority going to a Philippine partner. For some investors, it is not an issue, but for some it is. As former Energy Secretary and now Alterenergy Partners CEO Vince Perez mentioned during the GTZ symposium, at the moment the only choice is to look for a trusted Philippine partner to work with. Another concern is in the way the public may perceive the Feed-in-Tariff, which is a key subsidy mechanism to attract investors to invest in renewable energy in the Philippines. During the Ramos administration, the government suddenly had to build power plants to meet a large capacity shortfall, and to do this, they had to entice investors with a ‘take or pay’ scheme meaning that even if the power was not being used, electricity utilities and therefore consumers had to shoulder part, if not all, of the cost of the unused generated power. There was such a big public outcry, especially in this country where the ‘cheapest power possible’ mentality rules, that it will sometimes if not always be difficult to pass measures that subsidize for example, renewable energy. Just like the personal computer and the semiconductor industry, renewable energy requires a steady market in order for private sector technologists to be attracted to constantly improve it. Unfortunately, the appetite for renewable energy seems to be correlated with the price of oil. If oil is cheap, the appetite for renewable energy disappears and vice versa. The Feed-in-Tariff hopes to counteract this tendency. Personally, most people would like to see renewable energy succeed in the Philippines. The severe flooding brought about by typhoon Ondoy has brought home more awareness of the need for low carbon energy sources. Supporters of renewable energy hope that electricity consumers will actually step up to the plate and pay a little extra for renewable energy through the feed-in-tariff, in order to increase the returns for the companies and investors that go into this sector, already saddled by high upfront capital expense costs for wind (currently $2.5m per MW) and solar (currently $2/watt for silicon based photovoltaics and $1/watt for less efficient thin film based photovoltaics) and the threat of cheap oil. Besides, electricity consumers in the Philippines already pay a foreign currency adjustment charge for imported oil used in power generation. There is no reason why they should not accept a feed-in-tariff adder, given that they will no longer need to pay the foreign currency charge for that portion of the electricity bill. Otherwise if consumers do not agree to pay the piper, then coal, the current king of the hill in terms of price, will really become entrenched as the power source of choice. _________________________________________________________________________________ Dennis Posadas is the editor of Cleantech Asia Online, and the author of Jump Start: A Technopreneurship Fable (Singapore: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009). He is is currently working on a new business fable on climate change and clean energy.

By Alexander Villafania MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines may be fighting China in its bid over the disputed Spratly Islands but the country may someday become part of the mainland. A scientist from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said the archipelago is moving towards the Asian mainland by approximately seven centimeters per year. However, it would take another 50 million years to reconnect with the mainland. The Philippine landmass is situated on its own tectonic plate, ostensibly called “Philippine Plate.” It is also surrounded by four other plates, the Okhotsk Plate to the north, Australian Plate to the south, the Eurasian Plate to the West and Pacific Plate to the east. The Philippines broke away from a super continent called Rodinia about 1.1 billion to 750 million years ago. Yumul explained that the breaking up of continents was due to a phenomenon called Super Continent Cycle where the Earth's continents alternately merge into a single supercontinent, the splits into numerous continents, then merge again. The Super Continent Cycle is estimated to span 300 to 500 million years. DOST Undersecretary Graciano Yumul, Jr. said during the recent Earth Sciences International Conference that the one of the indicators of the Philippines’ movement towards the west is the presence of an old submerged railroad off the coast of Cavite. Another is an old artesian well off the waters of Mindoro Island. “These scenarios corroborate our researches on tectonic movement since nobody would put neither a railroad nor a well into the sea,” Yumul explained. But while it may seem that the Philippines is moving towards the same country that is fighting for the Spratly Islands, Yumul still joked that with that happening, Filipinos would not need to have their own visa to visit China.

DOST-SEI EIGHT teams from seven schools in the Philippines are now gearing up to battle it out with over 1,000 students from 32 countries to conquer the 2009 World Robotics Olympiad to be held at Pohang City, South Korea. Forming the Philippine contingent are Philippine Science High School – Bicol Region and Science and Technology Education Center for the Regular Category – High School Division; Claret School of Quezon City and Grace Christian College for Regular Category – Elementary Division; Dr. Yanga’s College and Makati Science High School for the Open Category – High School Division; and Grace Christian College and First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities for the Open Category – Elementary Division. The said teams won in the recently concluded 8th Philippine Robotics Olympiad (PRO) held at SM North Annex Bldg., Quezon City. Science Education Institute Director Dr. Ester B. Ogena congratulated all the teams that joined the PRO as she expressed optimism that the winning teams would do great in the international competition. “Our students have shown their best and given more opportunities like these, we could tap more potential in the field of robotics,” she said. Ogena said SEI supports participation in competitions like the PRO and WRO to open up the students’ eyes to the world of science and encourage them to venture into careers in science and technology. “SEI will provide more support to our students who are joining these prestigious competitions so that they would acquire skills for robotics which could be tools for honing their talent in science and math,” she said. The students in the open category would be competing under the theme: “Artist Robots,” a synergy of artistry, ingenuity and scientific flair that would show their talent, especially in the field of Science and Technology. In the regular category elementary division, robots would be doing the Iron Robot Triathlon where a robot carrying one ping-pong ball from start area passes through the labyrinth and grey floors up to the base camp where the robot shoots the ball. In the high school division of the regular category, robots would be competing in the Robot Match wherein a robot follows the obstacle way till mission point and then gets as many ping-pong balls as possible and then travels back to the base camp following another obstacle course. The PRO is done in partnership with Felta Multi-media, Inc. and the Department of Education.

By Alexander Villafania INQUIRER.NET In the aftermath of perhaps the worst typhoon that struck Metro Manila in recent years, environmental groups are blaming climate change for the effects of “Ondoy” (international name “Ketsana”). In different statements, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Greenpeace warned that such a disaster could be repeated unless comprehensive measures are taken immediately. Greenpeace, in their statement , reiterated their call for industrialized countries to put in money to fund climate change measures especially in disaster-prone countries, including the Philippines. Greenpeace Climate and Energy Campaigner Amalie Obusan said in a statement that the disaster in the Philippines had to happen in between two international climate change meetings, the recently concluded G20 Summit and the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Summit. “While world leaders are pussyfooting on their commitments, countries like ours are left to experience the ravages of climate change,” Obusan said. In a separate statement, WWF-Philippines Vice Chair Jose Lorenzo Tan is calling for the reduction of fossil fuel consumption, which is being blamed for contributing to climate change. Tan said the country is not equipped to take the brunt of another similar disaster and so measures must be taken to help mitigate its effects. “Planning must start from scenarios of the future, rather than from the present. Collectively, we must identify 'next practices', because today's 'best practice' will no longer suffice. We must start small, learn fast and scale rapidly,” Tan said. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) reported that Ondoy dropped the heaviest rainfall in Metro Manila in recent history, a record 34.1 centimeters (13 inches) of water in less than six hours. The previous record was in 1967 with 33.4 centimeters of rainwater over the course of 24 hours.

By Dennis Posadas THERE are interesting developments in Chinese cleantech, and I will discuss some headlines of interest that have been reported recently. While I will continue to write about Philippine cleantech efforts in renewables and energy efficiency, it is also important to take note of what is happening in the region, and maybe some implications for us. The first is a news report in the New York Times that First Solar, a company that makes thin film solar photovoltaics, bagged a contract to build the world’s largest solar installation in Mongolia. The rated capacity of the solar plant will be 2GW (or 2,000 MW if you prefer), and will be built using the non-silicon technology of First Solar. Thin films like Cadmium Telluride are typically deposited on surfaces like glass, and do not require silicon. The upside of thin films is that you can make it into windows and basically coat a building with it, at a cheaper price. The downside is it is only around 7% efficient, as compared to 11% efficiency of silicon-based solar photovoltaics, which means you need more cells and you need more space (e.g. land). Another is that Cadmium is poisonous, and so while there is no danger of leaching for the active life of the solar cell, the cells have to be disposed of properly once these are past their useful life of around 25 years. The implication for us is that this particular project, because the winner was a thin-film solar technology (which we do not make here as far as I know) did not result in additional business for the local Philippine operations of SunPower and Solaria, which make silicon-based photovoltaics. However, if the 2GW China project is an indication of future opportunities, maybe it will be good for the industry as a whole. The second, featured in both in MIT Technology Review and the New York Times, is what the Chinese are doing with clean coal. It appears that most of the plants being built in China these days are advanced technology clean coal plants, which do not burn the coal directly (which releases carbon dioxide) but instead, using an old pre World War II process, converts coal into synthetic gas (similar to natural gas). China has the world’s third largest coal reserves, after the US and Russia. US Energy Secretary and Nobel Laureate Steven Chu has promised to prioritize its adoption in the US as well. It is important to stress that while the carbon dioxide emissions have been cut by a large percentage, these new plants still emit carbon dioxide. The Chinese have even built a small experimental plant to remove the carbon dioxide from power emissions, and use it for softdrinks carbonation. What a creative way to do carbon capture and storage! Store it in our bodies when we drink it. Of course, we will eventually release it back to the atmosphere. But seriously, the Chinese are also looking at Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), although I have not seen any major advances yet in China in this arena. The implication here for us is that if the Chinese can develop a better way, or an alternative to CCS that cuts carbon emissions of coal, then maybe coal can have a second life, particularly since we have a lot of it. But that is, in my opinion, still in the realm of research. I do not expect to see carbon capture and storage in the Philippines for a long time; it is still very, very expensive, unless someone comes up with a breakthrough. In wind, China has doubled its capacity in the past few years and will become the world’s largest market for wind equipment. Interestingly enough, India, through a company called Suzlon Energy (you may have seen their commercials on CNN) is now giving US and European wind players like GE and Vestas a run for their money. Locally, I think we should pursue the development of micro-wind and micro-hydro systems. In electric vehicles, Fortune recently did a profile on a company called BYD (Build Your Dreams) which Warren Buffett recently invested in. In solar photovoltaics, Suntech, a Wuxi-based company which was started by local government funds is now one of the largest solar cell manufacturers in the world. The key learning for us here is that Suntech was started by Chinese local government funds, not even national government funds. The figure mentioned in Fortune was $4m, which is doable even here. Maybe that is a learning we can use, but I am not sure if local laws will permit that. Finally, the UK Guardian recently reported that US President Barack Obama may be in China this November to sign a major US-China cleantech alliance accord, prior to the December Copenhagen climate summit. While it is hard to convince the US Senate, which has to contend with a strong oil, gas and coal industry lobby, to go green, it appears that the Chinese see green as a way, not just to improve their worldwide image in the climate arena, but to actually make some serious green (as in greenbacks) out of it. The question there is where does that leave us? __________________________________________________________________________ Dennis Posadas is the editor of Cleantech Asia Online, and the author of Jump Start: A Technopreneurship Fable (Singapore: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009)

By Dennis Posadas While I appreciate the enthusiasm that groups like Greenpeace and WWF about enabling as much clean/renewable energy as we can put into the system, given that we have a new renewable energy law, there are also a few mindset changes we need to put into place. I am all for renewable energy; however, as a trained engineer, I also realize that there are some hurdles that need to be overcome. First is, some renewable energy sources, like solar and wind, while abundant, are also intermittent. The sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow. On the other hand, cogeneration and biomass plants, which are clean sources, can be stable if enough heat or biomass material is forecast and planned. For solar and wind, if we want to use it for 24x7 use, we need to make sure that there is an energy storage mechanism of some type. The most common energy storage device is of course a battery. For bigger solar and wind systems, running in the megawatt range, batteries would have to be connected together, so it probably won’t be practical. Concentrated Solar Plants (CSPs) that employ banks of mirrors in the desert use some type of liquid like molten salt. Another possibility is to use pumped storage, like in Lake Caliraya. When power is available, it is used to pump water up an elevated lake. During nighttime, the lake water can be released to drive a generating turbine. Other schemes involve compressed air (in the US), or as in the case of some wind systems, natural gas turbines. But for many systems, the storage technique they employ is to simply connect the renewable energy system to the grid. Now as we increase the percentage of renewable energy systems that connect directly to the grid, we have to remember again that these are intermittent. You can’t exactly tell the sun to shine exactly at 6:00am, or the wind to start blowing at 9:00pm. So there has to be a way to prevent blowups of circuit breakers or fuses, a way to plan when each energy source will come on stream. There is a role for software and intelligent grid systems that work with meteorological information to determine that there is a high/low likelihood that the wind/sun will be available at a certain time. The grid itself, and components will have to be redesigned to take into account the higher occurrence of intermittent turn-on and turn-off of power sources, many of them being renewable. Appliances may need to have chips in them, telling them that the power at a given hour is mostly coming from renewable sources, or not. Meralco’s plan, for example, to offer Internet over broadband lines, is indicative of this. The common perception is that they plan to mainly utilize this to offer broadband services to the public through their power lines. Actually, it is not as simple as that. The Internet over power lines can also be used to command and control equipment, such as chillers in malls, to turn on or to idle at a certain time. The grid needs to be intelligent, to handle the intermittent nature of clean/renewable energy systems. There will be a lot of new capabilities, already being experienced in places like California and Europe, that we will soon have here. Our electric meters (“kontadors”) for example, will run backwards and forwards. So if we decide to install solar panels or wind turbines on our roofs, not only can we be consumers, we can also be mini power producers supplying to Meralco. The amount we sold, is then subtracted from the amount we consumed. The more citizens and private industry, as well as government, invest in these mini and private renewable energy systems, the less need there will be for big, and often carbon emitting power plants. In other words, power generation will be decentralized to many small renewable power producers, as opposed to a few large ones. Now who will pay for that? Some cities in the US consider solar panels as part of the house (roof) and allow citizens to simply add a little extra to their real estate tax, and amortize the solar panels over 25 years. The payment can actually be taken from the savings generated by the panels, so in effect a no-cash out scheme is feasible. Are we ready for that? We all want reduced carbon emissions. But we don’t get there by simply joining token Earth Hour or Earth Day celebrations. We also need to do some work, and take the time to educate ourselves. ___________________________________________________________ Dennis Posadas is the editor of Cleantech Asia Online, and the author of Jump Start: A Technopreneurship Fable (Singapore: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009)