The idea of learning how to use renewable energy as a substitute to fossil fuel should be taken as a challenge in science fairs in the Philippine publc schools. Science should become a tool not only in addressing people's needs but also in protecting our environment. Only we can say that we make science work for us if we rise to this pressing call.Wednesday, December 3, 2008
LET'S MAKE SCIENCE WORK FOR US
The idea of learning how to use renewable energy as a substitute to fossil fuel should be taken as a challenge in science fairs in the Philippine publc schools. Science should become a tool not only in addressing people's needs but also in protecting our environment. Only we can say that we make science work for us if we rise to this pressing call.
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Palm oil offers no green solution
By Julian Siddle Science reporter, BBC News
A major international study says palm oil plantations reduce plant and animal diversity, and do little to reduce carbon emissions.
Researchers say tropical forests are increasingly cleared to make way for palm oil crops, leading to a reduction in habitats for many rare species.
The problem is most acute in Malaysia and Indonesia which produce around 85% of the world's palm oil.
The report is published in the journal Conservation Biology.
Palm oil is a common vegetable oil, and is now regarded as a major source of biodiesel, however the researchers question whether it really offers environmental benefits over conventional fossil fuels.
Clearing land to start plantations involves burning huge tracts of forest, a process which produces large amounts of greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide.
The researchers estimate at least 75 years of biofuel production is needed from the plantations, to save on emissions anything like the amount of carbon dioxide produced by this burning.
The lead author of the study is Finn Danielsen of Denmark's Nordic Agency for Development and Ecology.
"Our analysis found that it would take 75 to 93 years to see any benefits to the climate from biofuel plantations on converted tropical forestlands," he said.
"Globally we don't want grasslands turned into palm oil plantations. Expansion is going to happen, saying no more palm oil is naive, expand where it will do the least damage and you may get a payback in terms of climate."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7758542.stm
WIND POWER
BANGUI, Ilocos Norte—Towering on a strip of shoreline along Bangui Bay are wind turbines that have started generating "dean power" for the province of flocos Norte under the Philippines' first wind farm.
The wind farm will feed an initial 7 megawatts (MW) to the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (Inec), equivalent to 40 percent of the province's power requirement.
A first in Southeast Asia, the wind power plant is composed of 15 turbines, each standing 70 meters or equal to the height of a 23-story building. The wind farm can generate a maximum capacity of 25 MW.
“Tapping abundant wind resources in the country’s vast coastlines is a significant stride in an environment-sensitive, clean-and-green energy program for the Philippines,” said Niels Jacobsen, a Danish investor and president of Northwind Power Development Corp. (NWPDC).
The firm’s officials led Philippine energy officials and national and local leaders in a ceremonial switch-on on Saturday of the Northwind Bangui Bay Project along a 3-km shoreline in Barangay Baruyen facing the South China Sea.
Luzon Grid
The turbines, all connected to the Luzon power grid, began delivering power to the Inec last month.
“As stated in our energy sales agreement, we will extend a 7-percent discount (lower than National Transmission Corp. rates) to Inec. This will reduce the power charges being paid by Ilocos residents,” said lawyer Ferdinand Dumlao, NWPDC chair.
Dumlao said the firm would put up five wind turbines next year to generate 8 MW of electricity and meet 50 percent of Ilocos Norte’s power requirement.
Inec, which has a total power requirement of 26MW, will continue buying its remaining energy demand from Transco.
http://northwindspower.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=70
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