Easy does it for Lotilla

The other day’s front page of the Philippine STAR carried a story of 24.75 megawatt windmills that are energizing homes and industries in the province of Ilocos Norte. The windmills were built by a Danish company.

Windmills are an alternative source of energy, and Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla is just aching to build some to replicate the Ilocos Norte government’s project that harnesses windpower instead of diesel fuel whose cost has been skyrocketing out of people’s financial reach.

Ideal – and romantic – that windmills seem, they require initial huge investments, but over time, savings in fuel costs can be realized, the secretary told me. There are a handful of existing 25-megawatt windmills in Batanes, and two more are going to be built in Marinduque province and Tablas in Romblon.

Windmills, however, essentially provide intermittent power; once there are no winds blowing, their wheels do not turn, and oil-based generators do the work of providing the clientele with electricity. So windmills actually complement oil-based power generation.

Secretary Lotilla was guest at the Bulung Pulungan sa Westin Philippine Plaza a couple of weeks ago, and there, he told editors, columnists and reporters that the Department of Energy is in constant search for alternative sources of energy.

He floated the idea to offer discounts for electricity consumption at non-peak hours, yet another volley in the Department of Energy’s arsenal of energy-saving measures meant to mitigate the impact of soaring oil prices.

EC does it, posits Secretary Lotilla – C for Enercon – setting the tone at the press forum, which tracked the relentless rise of Dubai crude from US$37.9 a barrel in January 2005 to US$56.54 in September – a mind-numbing 67 percent increase, and conjured up the specter of a likely US$80 per barrel by yearend.

"The first line of defense is conservation," he said, as he itemized more of the ways government aims to slash over-all consumption, lessen dependency on imported fuels, exploit indigenous sources of energy, and ease the burden on the beleaguered consumer.

Not only desperate housewives are covered in the nationwide call to conserve by the department’s EC program. It has unleashed enercops in public offices to monitor compliance with a mandatory 10 percent reduction in government offices’ electricity and fuel bills, imposed punitive tariffs and registration fees on 8-cylinder gas guzzlers, and called for shorter mall hours.

Another energy conservation program is up for implementation by the Metro Manila Development Authority. This is the Organized Bus Route ()BR) Program whereby buses are dispatched sequentially from the terminals based on demand. This may result in the reduction in the number of buses’ round trips from four to three, even down to two, a day.

With the operation of the OBR Program there is an expected 25 to 50 percent reduction in fuel consumption, which translates to potential savings of an average of 35 liters to 70 liters of diesel per bus per day (or P1,050 to P2,100 per bus per day), or a total of 105,000 liters to 210,000 liters of diesel per day (equivalent to P3.15 million to P6.3 million per day) given an estimated 3000 units of buses in Metro Manila. This is equivalent to around P1.14 billion to P2.27 billion potential savings in a year (or 37.8 million to 75.6 million liters of diesel). If round trips are reduced to two trips per day under the OBR Program, operators can save up to 50 percent in their operating costs. It is expected that with lower operating and maintenance costs, the operators would be able to realize at least the same revenues.

The OBR program s also expected to decongest traffic with the decrease in the number of buses as required by the demand. This will result in further savings in maintenance and operating expenses of other public and private vehicles due to improved traffic efficiency.

For the long-term, the department is targeting 60 percent energy self-sufficiency by 2010. The launch of the Philippine Energy Contracting Round in August and a second Wind Contracting Round before yearend, signals the intensification of government efforts to increase reserves of indigenous oil, gas and coal, and develop renewable energy sources to sustain an efficient supply and demand chain. The department is posting not modest gains:12 service contracts signed and a minimum of US$141 million in finances committed. Lotilla maintains the country can already expect to be a leader in geothermal and wind energy with the development of sites. Equally high up on his agenda is the utilization of alternative fuels and technologies that are home-grown and environment-friendly.

In an aside, he recounted how Brazil, unlike the Philippines, remained on an alcogas regiment after the second World War, and now runs its cars and airplanes on this plant fuel, once an artifact of our domestic lives in pre-war times and promptly, blithely discarded with the arrival of white appliances.

Lotilla also announced the imminent mobilization of CGN (Compressed Natural Gas derived from Malampaya) buses plying the Manila-Batangas- routes, building up to a fleet of 2,000 by 2007. Meanwhile, a time of use (TOU) scheme, in place for distribution to utilities and industrial customers, has already resulted in substantial savings. TOU, which encourages the use of electricity at off-peak hours with lowered tariffs — off-peak meaning 10 p.m. to 7 am, while peak hours are from 7 a.m.to 4 p.m., and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. - will hopefully include residential and low power load consumers (that’s you and me) in due time and we can look forward to some sorely-needed relief.

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Women’s Health Care Foundation observes its 25th year of founding with a series of activities on the theme, "WHCF at 25: Turning Links in Women’s Health Care from Silver to Gold" capped by the awarding and recognition of "Unsung Heroes in Women’s Health Care."

In this connection, a search for such unsung heroes – individuals or organizations – is being launched, with Oct. 30 as the deadline of submission of nominations. The nominees should have significantly contributed to women’s health care, in the field of research/education/training and service/advocacy, and demonstrated potential or emerging as new champions in reproductive health, and have not been nationally recognized. Twenty-five winners will be chosen, including those from radio, television, print, documentary and outstanding barangays.

Nominations should bear the nominees’ curriculum vitae, endorsement or nomination letter, and a 2x2 picture, and must be addressed to Dr. Marita Reyes not later than Oct. 30, at Women’s Health Care Foundation, 1589 Quezon Ave., Quezon City.

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The Liongoren Gallery will present an array of words and images from writer-artists Gilda Cordero-Fernando and Sylvia Mendez Ventura in two simultaneous and back-to-back exhibitions, respectively entitled Paraisong Gulo-Gulo and Bulaklakan.

The exhibition coincides with the book launches of "The Last Full Moon: Lessons of my Life" by Fernando and "A Literary Journey with Gilda Cordero-Fernando," a critique of her short fiction by Ventura on Oct. 22, 6 p.m., at The Lounge, The Podium, Level 2, ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City. The works will be on view up to the 26th of October at the Podium, and will be transferred for exhibition to the Liongoren Gallery (111 New York St., Cubao, Quezon City) October 27 to Nov. 27.

The exhibition and book launch are sponsored by the University of the Philippines Press, GCF Books, Liongoren Gallery, and The Podium.

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