The Science Behind Hydro-power - A Renewable Energy Source - and How It Helps an Island Cope With Power Shortage

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Water is one form of renewable energy source and the power it produces is what we call as hydropower and from there it produces electricity which we are using in our homes, offices and factories.

Flowing water creates energy that can be captured and turned into electricity. This is called hydroelectric power or hydropower.

The most common type of hydroelectric power plant uses a dam on a river to store water in a reservoir. Water released from the reservoir flows through a turbine, spinning it, which in turn activates a generator to produce electricity. But hydroelectric power doesn't necessarily require a large dam. Some hydroelectric power plants just use a small canal to channel the river water through a turbine.

Another type of hydroelectric power plant - called a pumped storage plant - can even store power. The power is sent from a power grid into the electric generators. The generators then spin the turbines backward, which causes the turbines to pump water from a river or lower reservoir to an upper reservoir, where the power is stored. To use the power, the water is released from the upper reservoir back down into the river or lower reservoir. This spins the turbines forward, activating the generators to produce electricity.

Renewable energy business are steadily growing here in the Philippines as can be seen on the renewable energy investments coming from local private investors.

This form of renewable energy sources helps Sibuyan Island stabilized there supply of electricity which is scarcely supplied before by diesel generators.

Recent installation of the 900-kW hydroelectric turbines helps the locals improved their living by starting small businesses like hardware, food stalls groceries and  resorts catering to tourists. Not unlike when there is no stable supply of electricity when most people would only do farming and fishing.

As renewable energy business increase and more renewable energy investors continue funding projects like this, we can be sure that we are always moving on the right direction by creating jobs and addressing poverty issues.

source: renewableenergyworld.com and philstar.com

How Eco-Jeepney Program Will Impact Our Highways

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Below is the excerpt from philstar.com with regards to the Department of Energy project dubbed as eco-jeepney. 

"MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) has launched the Eco-Jeepney Program to help combat the rising cost of petroleum.

The DOE signed over the weekend a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Liga ng Transportasyon at Operator sa Pilipinas (LTOP), Makati Jeepeney Operators and Drivers Association (MJODA), Public Transport Workers Foundation (PTWF), Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations (ACTO), Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (FEJODAP), Pasang Masda, Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (ALTODAP) and United Transport Coalition (1-UTAK) for a program that promotes the use of auto-liquefied petroleum gas (auto-LPG) and/or compressed natural gas(CNG)-fed engines." visit philstar.com for the entire article

The future really must be on clean energy. Imagine if a large portion of our major transport system especially jeepneys will be replace by auto-LPG, it would literally be a breath of fresh air for all of us which as of now depends on pollution emitting diesel fuel. There would also be few of us covering our nose every time a jeep overtakes us.

It would be a relief to the daily commuters, motorists and pedestrians to see a road partially free (if not totally free) of smoke coming out from darkened tailpipes which was forgotten to be clean by their masters.

This is also a way of combating the non-stop oil price hike (they do stop for a while) which is one of the reason why we have the ever increasing prices of basic commodities.

We should support this program since it is the environment and the future generation's interest which is at stake, and let it became our inspiration as a Filipino to strive for a better tomorrow.

Ayala Corporation Joins Renewable Energy Development

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Ayala Corporation joins renewable energy industry based on the following article.

Ayala Corp., which has just gone into the renewable energy business, will participate in the new projects of NorthWind Power Development Corp. in Aparri and Pamplona towns in Cagayan province.

NorthWind chairman Ferdinand Dumlao told reporters the company was confident of putting up new projects with the recent partnership with the Ayala conglomerate.

Michigan Power Inc., a wholly-owned unit of Ayala, last week acquired a 50-percent stake in NorthWind for P512 million, plus an additional payment depending on certain performance indicators.

“Like any developer, we are awaiting the approval of the feed-in tariff. The development of our expansion projects hinges upon approval of a viable feed-in tariff, which we hope that the petition will be filed on or before March 31 by the National Renewable Energy Board with the endorsement of the Energy Department,” Dumlao said. Continue reading the whole article here manilastandardtoday.com

More and more sectors now wants to be involved in developing the renewable energy sources. This is a good indication in terms of energy development since we should not be dependent on the supply of energy coming from exhaustible sources like petroleum and coal where most of our energy sources came from.

The northern portion of the Philippines were really blessed with the abundant supply of non-stop winds all year round which evident in the Bangui wind farm facing the South China Sea up to Aparri and Pamplona towns in Cagayan province facing the Pacific Ocean.

One reason that there are several renewable energy developer emerging today is the feed-in tariff (FiT) which basically as what the news said "is the electricity charged to every renewable energy source and guarantees payment to renewable energy developers".                                                                                          


We just hope that this kind of trends in terms of renewable energy development will continue as the future demands of electricity continue to increase.

FACTBOX - Geothermal Energy

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The following are some key facts on how geothermal energy works. Geothermal energy is one kind of renewable energy.

March 24 (Reuters) - The crisis at Japan's quake-battered Fukushima nuclear power complex raises questions about the costs and risks associated with nuclear power, and has rekindled interest in safer and cleaner renewable energy sources such as geothermal.

Countries from the United States and the Philippines to Iceland and Indonesia use geothermal energy to generate electricity, helping reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. 

Geothermal can be a viable alternative to nuclear power, industry experts say. 

Following are some key facts about geothermal energy: 

* The amount of heat within 10,000 meters (about 33,000 feet) below the earth's surface contains 50,000 times more energy than all the oil and natural gas resources in the world.

* Naturally occurring geothermal resources are found in regions with active or geologically young volcanoes. One study puts the world's geothermal potential at 2,841 gigawatts (GW), more than half the world's current power demand.

* However, many geothermal-rich sites are in national parks and forests where development is prohibited, limiting the use of the resource to bathing in hot springs and heating homes and buildings.

* The most common way to capture the energy from geothermal sources is to tap into naturally occurring hydrothermal convection systems -- where cooler water seeps into the earth's crust, is heated up and then rises to the surface.

* When this heated water is forced to the surface, it is relatively simple to capture that steam and use it to drive electric generators. Geothermal power plants drill holes into the rock to more effectively capture the steam.

* The leading companies in this sector are in North America, led by Ormat Technologies and Magma Energy Corp . Both have invested in projects in Asia and will benefit from growth in the region. Ormat is involved in all aspects of the geothermal business.

* In Asia, companies with investments in geothermal include Philippines' Energy Development Corp , Panax Geothermal , Origin Energy , Tata Power and Idemitsu Kosan .

* Japan's Mitsubishi Corp , Toshiba and Fuji Electric supply 70 percent of the steam turbines and equipment used at geothermal stations worldwide.

* Geothermal heat occurs everywhere under the earth's surface, but the conditions that make water circulate to the surface are found only in less than 10 percent of the earth's land area.

* To tap the earth's full potential, companies such as Google are investing in a technology that will capture heat in dry areas, known as enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) or "hot dry rock."

* The hot rock reservoirs, typically much deeper below the earth's surface, are first broken up by pumping in high-pressure water. More water is then pumped through the broken hot rocks, where it heats up, returns to the surface as steam and powers turbines to generate electricity.

* Australia's Geodynamics is a leader in this market in Asia. 

Source: Companies, Union of Concerned Scientists (Created by Leonora Walet; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott)




Source: af.reuters.com