Cabiao, Candaba set to grow sweet sorghum for food, fuel

By Tonette Orejas Central Luzon Desk CANDABA, Pampanga, Philippines—Test farming of sweet sorghum in the last six years showed crop production in the Philippines to be 50 percent higher than in India, increasing the crop’s potential as a source of food, fodder and fuel in local communities, according to a top crop scientist. Dr. Belum Reddy, principal scientist of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat), said research done through linkages with universities and colleges in Ilocos Norte, Central Luzon and South Cotabato showed that sweet sorghum can be “planted throughout the year in major islands of the Philippines.” It can also be grown during the rainy months, he said. Icrisat, a nongovernment and nonpolitical institution based in India, promotes the cultivation of sweet sorghum for various uses. The institution is headed by Dr. William Dar, former secretary of the Department ofAgriculture. In the Philippines, Icrisat works in communities through local governments and national agencies, like the Department of Science and Technology. The DOST has helped some villages produce vinegar, sweet syrup, juice, bread and snacks from sweet sorghum. “The grain is food for people, fodder for animals, the stalks for ethanol fuel and the bagasse for biocompost,” Reddy said in a presentation made for Mayor Gloria Congco of Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, and Mayor Jerry Pelayo of Candaba, Pampanga. The towns are neighbors, both within the 32,000-hectare Candaba Swamp. “Food security is number one [priority]. Food securitymust not be sacrificed,” Reddy told the Inquirer. Congco said the Cabiao government started growing sweet sorghum last year, initially using 10 hectares. “While the yield showed to be good, we don’t have the equipment to process the crop. Also, our farmers need marketing support. That's where the partnership must focus on,” she said. Pelayo said that he wants sweet sorghum to be cultivated after rice is harvested. This means a window of three months for farmers wanting to fully utilize their lands. Growing sweet sorghum takes three months while planting and harvesting sugarcane, a major source of ethanol, lasts 10 to 11 months. Agricultural lands in Cabiao span around 7,000 hectares while Candaba has almost 18,000 hectares. Reddy said trial productions indicated that ethanol production from sweet sorghum is “cost-effective,” with a ton producing 40 liters of biofuel. He said the crop has high water use efficiency. It can be propagated through seeds and the hybrid technology for it is in place. Among the five varieties being tested locally, SPV422 showed good results, Reddy said. “[The production of sweet sorghum] ensures both food and energy security and clean environment,” Reddy said. “This is a win-win situation for farms and industry.” Candaba has set aside two rooms at the Miss Earth Park’s training center for an extension campus of the Pampanga Agricultural College, through which Icrisat will assist local farmers. Also last week, Icrisat met with officials of the First Philippines Sweet Sorghum Corp. (FPSSC), a consortium of companies Pemdas Energy, Bapamin Enterprises and Full Advantage. Pemdas Energy, chaired by Patrick Pelayo, the mayor’s son, has been growing sweet sorghum in the last three years in parts of Central Luzon. With low crop production, Pemdas churns out 700 liters of ethanol daily through a distillery. “The bottleneck is in the harvest,” the younger Pelayo said. The lack of equipment for biofuel production makes the Philippines still dependent on imported ethanol, mostly from Brazil, he said. This happened although the Philippines has enacted the Biofuels Act of 2006 (Republic Act 9367) and the government has mandated the blending of ethanol with gasoline, he said. Reddy said Icrisat is ready to work with the consortium in terms of seed production and establishment of demonstration farms. FPSSC estimates that investments may cost $1,000 (P43,250) per hectare. Source: Phlloippine Daily Inquirer

The Philippines leads in alternate energy sources

A Global View

By Dr. Beth Day Romulo

April 13, 2011, 10:02pm

MANILA, Philippines – Fortunately for the Philippines, investment in alternate sources of energy began years ago. The Mak-Ban geothermal plant, which helps supply Manila’s energy needs, was constructed in 1979. Today, the Philippines get 17% of its power from alternate sources of energy such as geothermal, which makes it the leading developer of alternate energy in Asia, second only to the United States in the world in the development of geothermal energy sites.

Basic Energy Corp. recently announced plans to develop a 20-megawatt geothermal energy project in Batangas. Feasibility studies are under way to determine the best drilling locations; 60 prospective geothermal sites have already been identified. In addition to the actual production sites, feasibility studies must also include proximity to adequate infrastructure, transmission lines, and regional power demand.

Food and beverage giant San Miguel, which has expanded into power generation, is bidding for five geothermal and hydro power plants in Leyte which are being privatized by the government.

In Mindanao, the Energy Development Corp., in partnership with the Worldwide Fund for Nature, announced three new geothermal projects.

And the Delgado Group of companies’ energy arm, Energy Logics, is looking into the feasibility of both solar and wind projects in Ilocos Norte.

Studies of the Ilocos Norte area revealed that the site selected for four projected wind farms could also support solar power facilities. The distances between the wind turbines is so great, and the sunshine in that region is so reliable that solar facilities can be constructed on the same property along with the wind farms.

Power generation is expected to come on line within two years.

Switch to alternative fuel gets boost

By ELLSON A. QUISMORIO

April 8, 2011, 5:37pm

MANILA, Philippines -- Admitting it does not see oil prices dropping soon, the Department of Energy (DoE) said it will now push for a shift to alternative fuels, particularly in converting diesel and gasoline-fuelled vehicles.

The DoE said it is finalizing its Fueling Sustainable Transport Program (FSTP), which will serve as the key component in its “Alternative Fuels Roadmap.”

Currently being drafted by the agency’s Energy Utilization Management Bureau, the roadmap will serve as the fundamental policy framework on diversifying fuels for transport use in the Philippines.

Under the FSTP, the DoE will convert private and public utility vehicles running on conventional fuel so they can switch to compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and even electricity.

“It is a timely opportunity for the country to shift to alternative fuels. Alternative fuels have become a cost-effective option. Since these alternative fuels are cheaper, we will be able to confront the dynamics of oil price volatility,” the DoE said in a statement.

Through the FTSP, the government hopes to reduce the carbon footprint of road transport which accounts for around half of the total air pollutants in the country.

“Furthermore, these alternative resources are cleaner than conventional diesel and gasoline and thus significantly help in reducing our carbon footprint,” the agency noted.

The raging conflicts in Northern Africa and the Middle East, China’s increasing fuel consumption, the improving US economy and uncertainties in demand for the rehabilitation efforts in tsunami-ravaged Japan were some of the factors noted by DoE in forecasting the continued surge in pump prices.

The DoE said its roadmap is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). With it, the FTSP is advancing the pilot phase of the electric tricycle program, even as the department eyes the launch of pilot run of electric and LPG jeeps by the end of the year.

According to the DoE, demonstration runs of electric buses and cars will

 

BoI okays P5.2-B Negros ethanol plant

By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT

March 17, 2011, 11:55pm

 MANILA, Philippines – Canlaon Alco Green Agro Industrial Corp. is investing P5.192 billion for the establishment of a bioethanol plant and production of by products in Bago, Negros Occidental.

The project has been approved by the Board of Investments (BoI) with pioneer status entitling it to six-year income tax holiday because it is producing non-conventional product. It is among the big ticket items registered with the agency in the first two months this year.

The proposed facility has an annual capacity of 52.2 million liters of ethanol. It will employ 160 people when it starts commercial operation in December 2012.

The project has been certified by the Sugar Regulatory Authority that its 2,302 hectare sugar plantation in Bago, Negros Occidental as production areas for feedstock for bio-ethanol while the purified carbon dioxide by-product would be supplied to beverage firms for the production of food grade products.

The project is owned by several businessmen with Jose de Jesus as majority owner.

In granting pioneer ITH for this domestic-oriented project, the BoI said the country has a huge requirement of ethanol because the BioFuels Act of 2006 has required a 10 percent blend to gasoline starting 2011. It will require 500 million liters of ethanol, 7,143 million tons sugar cane and 120,000 hectares planted to sugar cane.

Projected total demand for ethanol by 2012 is expected to hit 849 million liters as against projected domestic production of only 193 million liters or a deficit in local supply of 656 million liters.

This means, the government will continue to encourage more production of ethanol projects because to bridge the huge supply deficit, which is being augmented through imports.

Source: Manila Bulletin

Big cities toxic to raising kids

By DJ Yap Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, Philippines—About 70 percent of the world’s population is expected to be living in cities by 2050. Some experts are concerned that as cities continue to grow and prosper, they become less and less habitable for families. For some reason, people stop marrying and having children in places that are too urban, too congested or too expensive. “There’s something really strange that’s going on right now,” said Joel Atkin, an internationally recognized expert on global economic, political and social trends. “What’s happening to many cities is that they are no longer attractive to families,” he said at the closing plenary of the World Cities Summit held in Singapore last month. The summit was a meeting place for leaders to discuss the best ways and practices to make cities more livable. Rich big cities like New York are witness to this phenomenon, and so have rich mid-sized cities like Singapore, Atkin said. Metro Manila Even Metro Manila, which has 11 million residents, does not seem to be an ideal place anymore for growing a family as it grapples with the same issues that beset many big, densely populated cities of the world: congestion, pollution, crime and poverty. “Something in the way we’re building our cities and our society, but cities in particular, is making it toxic for the formation of families and raising children,” Atkin said. “That’s why we have things called suburbs. That’s why people start off in Manhattan, get married and they move up to the Hudson Valley or they go to New Jersey, and they raise a family,” he said. High cost, little space Which is not to say most New Yorkers don’t want to stay in the city. “(But) they can’t afford to stay. They can’t have enough space to stay. And this seems to be the same thing that we’re hearing from people in Singapore—that they may stay but they never have children,” Atkin said. The same could be said for Metro Manila. As people start to raise a family, they move to a neighboring province, like Rizal, Cavite, Laguna or Batangas where land is cheaper and the cost of living is much lower. The question, then, is how do governments create dense urban spaces that can accommodate families? “(We have to know) how we can do that because what we’re building now is certainly not encouraging,” Atkin said. This is probably the single biggest issue that cities must face down the road, in 10, 20 or 30 years “when our cities are overwhelmingly made up of people who are in their 60s, 70s and 80s,” he added. Liu Thai Ker, chair of the Center for Liveable Cities Advisory Board and the master planner of Singapore, admitted that density was a big problem, especially for a city-state like Singapore, which has one of the thickest populations crammed into a tiny space. Singapore has 5 million people and a land area of 702 square kilometers. (Metro Manila is about 636 sq m.) But it is a problem that is not without a solution, he said. Sociologists Liu cited the experience of Singapore’s public housing sector, which had been planned with input from sociologists to determine what was best for the welfare of the families that would live there. “When we started public housing, we had to plan ahead of people’s aspirations. Because in those days, all people wanted was a roof over their heads, nothing more. But we felt that that would be setting too low a standard, and it’s not good for the long term development of Singapore,” he said. “We decided that we would not be building houses, we’re building communities. So that means we had to study what makes a community. What kind of territorial size should we devote for people to have a sense of belonging to this piece of land,” Liu said. Singapore precinct After a lot of surveys, it was determined that the smallest community unit was to be the precinct, which should be somewhere between three and five hectares, and the population should be around 700 to 1,000 families, he said. The rationale was to make sure “you have enough variety of people there,” he said. In fact, Singapore’s public housing estate has a population that roughly approximates the national proportions of ethnicity, that is, the number of Chinese, Indians, Malays and other races in each building must correspond to the national average. On top of that, each estate must only have one entry point. “Because these are urban people, they don’t really go out of their way to make friends with the neighbors, so what we tried to do was, in each precinct, we have only one entry point,” he said. “So at least you can recognize their faces even if you don’t talk to them,” he added. Liu said the sociologists also told him that people stop talking to each other with more than eight families in a block. So what they did was to put partitions in the corridor for every eight families. “Six months later, I went to visit the families (in one block). I went to the first family, Chinese, all the other kids, Malay, Indian, followed into the living room. I went to another one. I went in—all other kids followed me. In fact, some of the neighbors followed me,” he said. “My point is, even in sociology, there’s a possibility to look at a problem, analyze the problem, and find solutions, not just through design, (but) through a variety of means,” Liu said. Intergenerational mixing Atkin said another important feature that must not be absent in cities was intergenerational mixing. “We must bring back multigenerational families, which have been the backbone of urban life from the very beginning. How can we get the older people and younger people together and have multigenerational neighbors?” he said. Most cities want to build neighborhoods where everybody is 30 years old and stays out at 3 in the morning. “Then they’re gonna build senior housing so that all the old people are together,” he said. “That, I think, is very socially destructive both for the old people and the young people,” Atkin said. One good example of an intergenerational neighborhood is the community where his mother lives, he said. “In this (New York) neighborhood, they did a very good job. They have the inner core, which is quite a few single people and elderly, and a lot of houses surrounded with families. You have, during the daytime, a lot of the elderly around, then at night, the kids are out. Then on weekends and Sundays, the families are out. So the same spaces are being used over and over again,” he said. He recalled asking his mother, who was 87 years old, if she wanted to move to Florida with her sister and other people her age. His mother replied: “Oh, that’s for old people.” Preschool, senior center Citing another example, in Los Angeles, he said a preschool sits right next to a senior center. “That breaks down the sense of isolation (among the elderly). I think it’s unnatural for young people not to be with older people, and for older people to be deprived of young people,” he said. But in the future, there may just be fewer and fewer young people in the most successful cities. Stress, low fertility Singapore has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world, something Atkin finds ironic, considering government efforts to make sure it can provide for families. Housing in the city-state is heavily subsidized. Education is practically free and health services are universally accessible. “So I asked myself, why aren’t the citizens making children? Were people so stressed, so busy and so competitive? (These are) all the things that made Singapore a great city, and many other cities like New York or San Francisco, a great city. But now it is producing a very strange effect—people are not having children,” he said. “At this agency I was at, they couldn’t even get Singaporeans to date,” he said, eliciting laughter from the audience. Atkin’s observations did not sit well with his hosts. After all, the summit, in some ways, was intended to celebrate urban lifestyles as much as it was to find solutions to the ailments that cities faced. Mah Bow Tan, then Singapore’s minister for national development, said Atkin’s points were too simplistic, and that there might well be other sociological explanations for Singapore’s low birthrate. “In cities like Singapore, and in many cities in Asia, I think high-density living is a necessity. Suburbs are a luxury and we get to make the best of them,” he said. “If you look at the case of Singapore and visit a public housing estate, each town has about 200,000 people. In the town, there are schools, places of worship, work, transportation, shops and sports. Name it, we have it,” he said. “Within this community of 200,000, we start to build flats, apartments which are comfortable, which can house a family of four, five people, three bedrooms, dining hall, and so on. And in each block, there are common spaces. The ground floor is open. Children can play. Where you can hold a wedding. If there’s a demise in the family, you can have a funeral. Or you can hold a concert, or put a child care center, you can put an elderly care center as well,” Mah said. It is quite possible, he insisted, “to have livable, sustainable cities which are high-rise and high-density.” Melbourne Melbourne Mayor Robert Doyle pointed out that something was being forgotten in the debate: “We begin with people, but we very quickly move to buildings and densities, and these sorts of things.” “You know,” he said, “when we think about our cities, the question we have to ask ourselves is why would a family come into the center of our city other than to lose and enjoy themselves?” He said it was the role of city leaders to “activate” their city and make it attractive for all kinds of people to come visit and, perhaps, even move there to raise a family. Comedy festival In Melbourne, he said they are trying to accomplish this through festivals. “Whether it’s a comedy festival, or the arts festival or music festival, we actually pay extra money so that they can put on family-friendly and alcohol-free activities, like in the evening at 10:30, 11, midnight, 12:30, 1 in the morning,” he said. “We often think about the buildings. To me, the important part is the fine grain. The important part is what happens on our streets, what happens when the buildings kick the footpath or the sidewalk, as somebody would say, and the activity that we generate there. That’s what will bring the people in,” he said. Century of culture Doyle said this is the “century of culture.” “It is the century of people, and that’s what we should be serving. So what we try to do is make it very attractive for families to come in. And you can actually plan for this.” In the mid-1990s, Melbourne had only 400 dwellings in the central business district. “And the city decided, ‘we want people in our city, we want families in our city.’” But the property developers were reluctant. “They said, ‘No, no, you can’t sell apartments to families in the middle of the city,’” Doyle said. Residential flats So, he said, the city took a commercial building, converted it into residential flats, and sold them to show the developers that they could have a commercial residential proposition in the middle of the city. “And I believe Melbourne today, from that 400 dwellings in the middle 1990s, we now have 17,000, and that’s in the CBD, right in the center of the city,” Doyle said. “So my answer just keeps coming back to people,” he concluded. “Why would people want to come to the center of your city? It will be different for all of us. But if you get them in there, I’ll tell you what, ‘you get a more vibrant city.’” WORLD'S MEGACITIES MEGACITY POPULATION(in millions) 1 Tokyo 35.68 2 New York-Newark 19.04 3 Mexico City 19.02 4 Mumbai 18.98 5 São Paulo 18.84 6 Delhi 15.92 7 Shanghai 14.99 8 Kolkata 14.79 9 Dhaka 13.48 10 Buenos Aires 12.80 11 LA-Long Beach-Santa Ana 12.50 12 Karachi 12.13 13 Cairo 11.89 14 Rio de Janeiro 11.74 15 Osaka-Kobe 11.29 16 Beijing 11.11 17 Manila 11.10 18 Moscow 10.45 19 Istanbul 10.06 Source: UN-HABITAT 2008; Data from UN Population Division, World Urbanization Prospects 2007; LAWRENCE DE GUZMAN, INQUIRER RESEARCH

Campaign to focus on car aircon refrigerants

By MARVYN N. BENANING

August 31, 2010, 6:15pm

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will be running after vehicles that use ozone-depleting refrigerants starting this month.

Government Strategies to Phase Out Ozone-depleting Refrigerants

To show just how serious the department is, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said all DENR vehicles will be checked to determine if they still use substances that ruin the ozone layer and contribute to global warming.

September is celebrated as the Ozone Month, with all countries mounting campaigns to mitigate climate change.

Overall, the Philippines contributes less than one percent to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), long tagged as the culprit behind the El Niño and La Niña weather phenomena.

Celebrations will kick off this Wednesday, September 1, with Paje leading DENR officials and those from partner agencies in having their service vehicles’ mobile air-conditioners (MAC) tested for ozone-and climate-friendliness.

The tests will be conducted by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) at the DENR compound in Quezon City.

Paje has committed to reduce pollution levels in the metropolis by 30 percent this year, noting that it can be done since 80 percent of GHG emissions come from ancient motor vehicles.

“Fighting air pollution will simultaneously improve our people’s health and reduce global warming,” he said. “Let us show to the world how Filipinos are taking concrete steps to address the issues of global warming and climate change.”

All car owners are likewise urged to have their own vehicles’ MACs tested for free at the DENR grounds on September 1, or during the simultaneous nationwide roadside MAC testing on September 16.

As signatory to the Kyoto and Montreal Protocols, international treaties which both aim to reduce GHGs in the atmosphere to slash global warming, government has required owners of vehicles with models prior to 1999 to use environment-friendly refrigerants in their MACs before renewing their annual registration.

EMB Director Juan Miguel Cuna said MAC servicing is the largest consumer of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a GHG believed to be harmful to the ozone layer.

Energy efficient alternatives to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) a research needs assessment : final report (SuDoc E 1.19:30115-H 1)

MAC servicing consumes as much as 933 tons of ozone depleting potential (ODP).

“Using ozone-friendly MACs will definitely reduce the amount of CFC released into the atmosphere,” he said.

The EMB’s Philippine Ozone Desk will also sign on the same day a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) for the printing of commemorative stamps depicting the 25th anniversary of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer

Handbook for the International Treaties for the Protection of the Ozone Layer: The Vienna Convention (1985), the Montreal Convention (1987).

Around 49,000 stamps are set to be issued in the last quarter this year.

On September 13, the DENR will sign a contract with Delsa Chemicals and Multi-Products, Inc. as the former launches the “Collection, Transport and Storage of Recovered Refrigerants from Service Shop Voucher Grantees and Chiller Owners under the National CFC Phase-out Plan (NCPP) Project.”

Under the contract, Delsa Chemicals will undertake the collection, transport and storage of refrigerants recovered from machines provided in 2007 by the NCPP’s voucher system to over 2,500 service shops.

With the celebration of International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer on September 16, an Annual Forum on the Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) Phase-out Program will gather representatives of partner agencies, dealers and importers to discuss the status of ODS in the country.

This year’s theme is “Ozone Layer Protection: Governance and Compliance at their Best.”

Published in Manila Bulletin August 31, 2010.

Drive launched vs ozone-depleting substances

Campaign to focus on car aircon refrigerants

By MARVYN N. BENANING

August 31, 2010, 6:15pm

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will be running after vehicles that use ozone-depleting refrigerants starting this month.

Government Strategies to Phase Out Ozone-depleting Refrigerants

To show just how serious the department is, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said all DENR vehicles will be checked to determine if they still use substances that ruin the ozone layer and contribute to global warming.

September is celebrated as the Ozone Month, with all countries mounting campaigns to mitigate climate change.

Overall, the Philippines contributes less than one percent to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), long tagged as the culprit behind the El Niño and La Niña weather phenomena.

Celebrations will kick off this Wednesday, September 1, with Paje leading DENR officials and those from partner agencies in having their service vehicles’ mobile air-conditioners (MAC) tested for ozone-and climate-friendliness.

The tests will be conducted by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) at the DENR compound in Quezon City.

Paje has committed to reduce pollution levels in the metropolis by 30 percent this year, noting that it can be done since 80 percent of GHG emissions come from ancient motor vehicles.

“Fighting air pollution will simultaneously improve our people’s health and reduce global warming,” he said. “Let us show to the world how Filipinos are taking concrete steps to address the issues of global warming and climate change.”

All car owners are likewise urged to have their own vehicles’ MACs tested for free at the DENR grounds on September 1, or during the simultaneous nationwide roadside MAC testing on September 16.

As signatory to the Kyoto and Montreal Protocols, international treaties which both aim to reduce GHGs in the atmosphere to slash global warming, government has required owners of vehicles with models prior to 1999 to use environment-friendly refrigerants in their MACs before renewing their annual registration.

EMB Director Juan Miguel Cuna said MAC servicing is the largest consumer of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a GHG believed to be harmful to the ozone layer.

Energy efficient alternatives to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) a research needs assessment : final report (SuDoc E 1.19:30115-H 1)

MAC servicing consumes as much as 933 tons of ozone depleting potential (ODP).

“Using ozone-friendly MACs will definitely reduce the amount of CFC released into the atmosphere,” he said.

The EMB’s Philippine Ozone Desk will also sign on the same day a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) for the printing of commemorative stamps depicting the 25th anniversary of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer

Handbook for the International Treaties for the Protection of the Ozone Layer: The Vienna Convention (1985), the Montreal Convention (1987).

Around 49,000 stamps are set to be issued in the last quarter this year.

On September 13, the DENR will sign a contract with Delsa Chemicals and Multi-Products, Inc. as the former launches the “Collection, Transport and Storage of Recovered Refrigerants from Service Shop Voucher Grantees and Chiller Owners under the National CFC Phase-out Plan (NCPP) Project.”

Under the contract, Delsa Chemicals will undertake the collection, transport and storage of refrigerants recovered from machines provided in 2007 by the NCPP’s voucher system to over 2,500 service shops.

With the celebration of International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer on September 16, an Annual Forum on the Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) Phase-out Program will gather representatives of partner agencies, dealers and importers to discuss the status of ODS in the country.

This year’s theme is “Ozone Layer Protection: Governance and Compliance at their Best.”

Published in Manila Bulletin August 31, 2010.