By Digoy Fernandez

SOME friends of mine are sick of the daily fare as far as news is concerned, because of the incessant bombardment one gets about murder, mayhem, corruption in government, the decline in public and private morals, public and private scandals, and chicanery that businessmen often engage in. Probably, the comic pages remain as one of the few remaining redeeming features of the daily news. Today, we have people who would manipulate events — causing the loss of lives and the introduction of yet more misery to an already overburdened people – just to create scenarios that would keep them in power.

Oblivious to the stern justice they would have to face on the Day of Judgment, they go about their nefarious ways. One day, however, they will be called to account for every peso stolen, every life taken, every person made miserable, every law broken.

In many a good book, one learns that one reaps what one sows. Other faiths believe in the Law of Return, where one reaps a hundred-fold whatever good or bad he or she does in life.

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By Digoy Fernandez
Contributor

THE sense I get from my previous posts on the possibility of opening up the dialogue (again) to the possible use of nuclear energy elicited both strong feelings from those who favor its use and those who feel that nukes are a dead end option. Probably, one way out of the morass is to try and consider the fact that, at present, the world is making use mostly of a combination of fossil fuels, nuclear energy, geothermal plants, hydroelectric power, and the odd based wind farm or solar energy powered plant. Of the fuels mentioned above, it is probably proper to consider that fossil fuels like coal and crude oil and nuclear energy would form the bulk of what we could term as interim solutions pending the entry of more efficient and renewable sources of power.

The move toward electric cars — that still require an electric grid to draw power from — and those I mentioned a few blogs ago that are powered by air, water, or hydrogen probably spell the death knell of the fossil fuel industry. Applications for crude oil would be more limited in the not too distant future to industry as cars and other forms of transportation find ways to exploit clean and renewable sources of motivation.

In a very recent conversation I had with a classmate who just happens to be the Energy Secretary — no, I did not get the idea of going nuclear from him — he pointed out another possible source of energy that is best suited for countries located along the equator or in tropical areas: Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). I am still Googling the topic because it is so interesting. But essentially, the process makes use of the heat energy stored in the world’s oceans to generate electricity. An ideal situation would be for a differential of 20 degrees Centigrade, which is possible in the equatorial region where surface temperatures really differ from those of the deeper nether regions (We have many deep underwater trenches surrounding our archipelago!).

The OTEC process is still undergoing study and experimentation. But soaring oil prices should provide a suitable motivation for both governments and the private sector to take a long hard look at this almost infinite source of clean energy.

Thus, even if we do eventually succumb to the temptation to the need to utilize nuclear power, this would also be, at best, an interim solution as we plumb the other existing and new technologies for the best possible application on a massive scale.

By Digoy Fernandez

As expected, the nuclear energy option is one that continues to elicit passionate arguments from both sides of the fence. In fact, the only reason I have chosen to bring the topic forward for thought is the perceptible change in the views of many who were violently against the use of nuclear energy.

The United States seems committed to the addition of more nuclear power plants. France gets 80 percent of its power needs from nuclear plants. But the most telling change in attitude is that one taking place in Germany, where nuclear energy has been an anathema subject for the past decades. In fact, the few nuclear energy plants in the country are bound by an exit law that mandates that they be decommissioned in a few years. However, the practical Germans are now reconsidering this position, and are even mulling the addition of new plants.

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By Digoy Fernandez

AS A CERTIFIED Tree-Hugger and (laid back) environmental activist, this particular blog will probably strike most of my cohorts, and others besides, as nothing short of heresy. But in this particular time frame when fossil fuels have become particularly prohibitive and the rush to alternatives — e.g., biofuels; solar energy; geothermal, air, wind and water energy; and a host of hybrid and other technologies aimed at powering today’s and future automobiles — is going ahead full-steam, some serious thinkers are advocating a second look at nuclear power.

One of the more serious proponents of a second look at nuclear energy for power plants is none other than Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace, who now confesses to be a “born again environmental activist,” albeit with a different slant. Moving away from a confrontational and anti-technology approach which he accuses his former colleagues to be guilty of, he believes that nuclear energy’s positives far outweigh the negatives. And in the light of dwindling fossil fuel resources — which are great polluters, by the way — he feels that the world will just have to embark on putting up more nuclear power plants if it is to meet the needs of future development.

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By Digoy Fernandez

I THINK that the nearest most of us has ever gotten to an electric driven vehicle is the ubiquitous golf cart that one finds in upscale golf courses. One can even make a comparison between one driven by an electric battery or one motivated by a small internal combustion engine. One of the obvious shortcomings of the battery driven golf cart is if it runs out of juice right in the middle of the golf course, forcing you to carry our clubs and walk back to the clubhouse prematurely.

Battery operated cars have shortcomings that are just being addressed now. One is the obvious size and weight of the batter needed to run a vehicle for a reasonable distance.

The other is the length of time or distance that the car can run before running out of power. A third problem is making the batteries out of more environment friendly stuff so that one does not pollute the environment when the batteries have to be discarded. The old lead-acid battery technology is just getting a bit better these days, as battery companies are forced to take environmental considerations in hand in their manufacturing operations.

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