Green Technology Philippines

Wind, water, steam as energy sources in the Philippines

2010-01-18T23:29:00.001-08:00

Via Malaya That's a lot of wind in 29 locations that will produce 629 megawatts at a cost of P3.285 billion. That's a lot of water that will produce 555 MW that will cost P3.602 billion. That's a lot of steam that will generate 1,224 MW at combined investments of P50.245 billion.

These are the renewable energy projects approved by the Department of Energy last year. These do not include eight other proposals whose capacities are "to be determined" (tbd). Continue reading here http://www.malaya.com.ph/01182010/busi1.html

Sleek, lightweight e-bike Gaining a Toehold for the E-Bike

2010-01-16T15:24:00.000-08:00

Via NY Times January 16, 2010 TECHNOLOGY has eliminated many of life’s milder physical demands, like getting off the couch to change the channel, or going to the store to buy a book.

Sanyo has introduced its Eneloop Hybrid bike, priced at $2,300, in the United States. Pressing a handlebar button causes a 250-watt motor to gently kick in.

The latest exertion to be conquered: biking uphill.

Electric bicycles — a regular pedal-driven bike with a motor for steeper slopes and an optional extra boost — is an idea that has been around for more than a century. But while e-bikes have caught on in certain parts of the world, particularly China, where tens of millions are sold each year, they have never quite captured the imagination of auto-obsessed Americans.

That may be about to change. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month, Sanyo, the Japanese electronics maker and a major producer of car batteries, showed off a sleek, lightweight e-bike called the Eneloop Hybrid Bicycle. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/business/17ping.html?ref=technology

YouTube - Noel Cabangon sings about climate change

2009-12-27T14:18:00.001-08:00

Noel Cabangon, whose new Album "BYAHE" is doing well and should be in your collection, does a song for Greenpeace.
Great video.

http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=Cmxm2-Z- ILw

Attention Shoppers: Solar Panels, Now on Aisle 5 & Australian Firm Hopes to Cash In by Giving Away Light Bulbs

2009-12-21T21:26:00.000-08:00

Click the headlines below to read more

Attention Shoppers: Solar Panels, Now on Aisle 5

Australian Firm Hopes to Cash In by Giving Away Light Bulbs

They are also doing that here to cut down on energy use its a great idea

Eight Philippine firms get green awards

2009-12-17T15:34:00.001-08:00

Environment Secretary Joselito Atienza has named two firms in the metropolis and six others in neighboring provinces as models in the country’s campaign against pollution.

Continue reading here http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideMetro.htm?f=2009/december/17/metro1.isx&d=/2009/december/17

Philippine Solar Car

2009-12-17T15:32:00.000-08:00

Homegrown. Following the success of Sinag, the country’s first solar car, the Philippine Solar Car Society launched Sikat, above, which was also designed and built by a group of faculty members and students from the Mechanical Engineering and
Electronics and Communications Engineering departments of De La Salle University-Manila. LINO SANTOS

Read more here Second solar-powered car built by students hits the road

Green living with eco-friendly lights in the Philippines

2009-12-13T15:17:00.001-08:00

Let there be more light and less energy consumption: Firefly CFLs are available in hardware stores and retail chains.

The Philippine Star December 12, 2009 MANILA, Philippines - In the midst of climate change, your home's lighting fixtures can make significant contributions to the increasing global clamor to help save the environment. Having economically friendly or "eco-friendly" lamps and light fixtures is key to help save energy and protect the environment.

Continue reading here
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=531702&

Read where you can buy these cheap CFL's at my blog bargain of the day

http://daybargain.blogspot.com/2009/11/5-cfl-energy-saving-bulbs-p100-deal-of.html

Pint-size Windmills Could Become a Big Source of Power

2009-12-12T03:00:00.001-08:00

A surge in demand for small wind-power systems is likely to build mightily over the next three years. Continue reading here http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/12/10/pint-size-windmills-could-become-a-big-source-of-power/

9 Inspiring Green Tech Projects in the Developing World

2009-12-09T20:41:00.000-08:00

from the Sherweb blog: Other projects on the agenda will include: clean water, malaria prevention, solar power and lighting for the six homes in his family compound; a deep-water well with a solar-powered pump for clean water; and a drip irrigation system. Watch his TED talk ... The Philippines is the largest consumer of electricity through geothermal energy, and second only to the U.S. for geothermal energy production in the world. Geothermal energy is the heat energy from within the earth. ... Continue reading here
Sherweb - http://blog.sherweb.com/

Philippines harnessing small-scale wind power & Cities promote scooter commuting

2009-12-09T00:22:00.000-08:00

Click the headlines below to read the complete article

Ride your talk, adopt an e-Jeepney

Philippines harnessing small-scale wind power

Pioneering solar-powered plane makes airborne hop

Cities promote scooter commuting

Geothermal As A Green Energy Source

2009-12-08T23:35:00.001-08:00

From the ecolake website: Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 We have the technology to do a lot of things and one of these is to tap the earth’s energy. This is exactly what we do when we decide to use geothermal which happens to be a green energy source.

Geothermal energy is energy obtained by tapping heat from the earth itself. This comes from magma and the radioactive decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium.

The downside to geothermal energy is the fact that it is expensive to build. On the other hand, because the earth’s crust continuously decays replenishing the heat, it is still a renewable source of energy.

There are three types of geothermal plants around. These are namely dry steam, flash, and binary.
Continue reading here http://ecolake.org/geothermal-as-a-green-energy-source.html

Other news from the Ecolake website

9 Inspiring Green Tech Projects in the Developing World & More-efficient TVs can help limit energy consumption

2009-12-06T15:31:00.000-08:00

READ INTERESTING HEADLINES BY CLICKING THE LINKS BELOW

9 Inspiring Green Tech Projects in the Developing World

Elusive Goal of Greening U.S. Energy

More-efficient TVs can help limit energy consumption

Solar-Powered Mobile Phone Samsung

2009-12-04T15:58:00.001-08:00

Read the headline below to read the complete article

Solar-Powered Mobile Phone Samsung

Basics to a GREEN Enterprise

2009-12-04T15:56:00.001-08:00

Click the headline below to read the complete article

Basics to a GREEN Enterprise

LED Bulbs Save Substantial Energy, a Study Finds

2009-12-03T01:41:00.001-08:00

READ INTERESTING HEADLINES BY CLICKING THE LINKS BELOW

LED Bulbs Save Substantial Energy, a Study Finds

In Greenland, warming fuels dream of hidden wealth

2009-12-01T15:16:00.003-08:00

In Greenland, warming fuels dream of hidden wealth

Click the above headline to read the complete article

Govt urged to look at generating ‘green jobs’ from zero-waste programs

2009-12-01T14:48:00.001-08:00

Govt urged to look at generating ‘green jobs’ from zero-waste programs

click the headline above to read the article

Makati offers free rides on e-jeepneys

2009-11-30T15:08:00.000-08:00

Makati, Manila Philippines shows off its green efforts and using battery powered mini golf cart type vehicles with free rides read all about it here by clicking the title
Makati offers free rides on e-jeepneys

Earth-friendly gifts a hit for Christmas...

2009-11-26T15:15:00.001-08:00

Earth-friendly gifts a hit for Christmas...
click the title above to read the complete article

Top 10 Extreme Eco-Friendly Homes

2009-11-25T16:04:00.001-08:00

Elizabeth Johnson who writes for Construction Management Degrees would like to share to us this particular post on cutting-edge green house designs. from the pinoygreenacademy blog.

With the increasing importance and responsibility of saving the planet and all its natural resources, some individuals as well as companies have been thinking out of the box and creating innovative solutions to housing problems and the impact they have on our environment once constructed. Eco friendly or green homes have come a long way in just a short time frame. From wind-powered electric turbines to solar panels and geothermal heating systems, these homes are not surprisingly becoming a favored universal trend. This current style of dwelling will not only diminishes the carbon footprint a home leaves behind but has also has influenced some to design some of the world’s most extreme eco friendly homes. Below is a list of our top ten. Continue reading here http://pinoygreenacademy.typepad.com/pinoy_green_academy/2009/11/top-10-extreme-ecofriendly-homes.html

8 weird ways to save the Earth & Global survey lists top eco-friendly retailers & OTHER HEADLLINES

2009-11-25T15:58:00.000-08:00

CLICK THE HEADLINES TO READ MORE

Shop green? Global survey lists top eco-friendly retailers

Basics to a GREEN Enterprise

8 weird ways to save the Earth

Philippine Solar-powered Christmas lantern launched & A long way to go for electric mobility & more

2009-11-24T15:59:00.001-08:00

Click the headline to read more

Hydrogen-powered car still improbable

Makers of electric cars address shortage of recharging station

Solar-powered Christmas lantern launched

A long way to go for electric mobility

CFL energy saving bulbs to save power, lessen bills

2009-11-24T15:41:00.001-08:00

From The Freeman November 20, 2009 CEBU, Philippines - The Visayan
Electric Company says the use of Compact Fluorescent Lamps would save not
only substantial supply of energy for Cebu but it would also lessen the
monthly electric bills in each household.

VECO will initially be distributing 250,000 CFLs for Cebu consumers. One
incandescent bulb would be equivalent to one CFL and each household could
trade a maximum of six incandescent bulbs.

Aboitiz explained further that 250 thousand incandescent bulbs in exchange
for CFLs would already be equivalent to the total demand of a big mall in
Cebu City.

Kyamko said that other than the different advantages brought about by the
use of CFL, the Philippines would also be saving almost $120 million every
year of P6 billion for the amount used to pay for fuel import which some of
the energy suppliers are still using for their operations.

The distribution of the CFLs in Cebu will take place in three VECO branches-
SM, Talisay and Consolacion. Continue reading here
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=525044&publicationSubCategoryId=108

Check out the Philippine Bargain of the day
CFL light bulbs 5 for P100 or in that range Cebu but in China town and malls in Manila the same price http://daybargain.blogspot.com/

White is the new green for HP

2009-11-24T14:50:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, 24 November 2009 From Business Mirror
It seems that the green bandwagon is stopping by HP’s doorstep, as well.

Proving that environmental awareness and technology can coexist in a notebook, Hewlett-Packard (HP) unveiled on Thursday the limited-edition HP Mini by Studio Tord Boontje.

“In the past, we have had products that met fashion and technology,” said Bernadette Nacario, HP country manager. “Today we want to prove that technology can also merge with the environment.”

Following a collaboration with fashion designer Vivienne Tam, HP tapped the talents of award-winning Dutch industrial designer Tord Boontje to underscore HP’s message of environmental awareness. Continue reading here http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/life/18895-white-is-the-new-green-for-hp.html

Read more about Philippine Computers and Laptops here http://laptopsphilippines.blogspot.com/

How to Give Green X-mas Gifts

2009-11-24T13:49:00.000-08:00

With the economy the way it is, money seems to be extremely tight. The holidays are hard enough financially, especially now when the economy is in the shambles. So instead of spending a lot of money on lots of gifts, try making something for your friends and family.

How to Give Green X-mas Gifts
Christmas isn't red anymore, it's green starting now. If you are looking for some exciting items to get your friends for a green holiday, look no farther than Mother Earth. Here's some popular ideas for your holiday! copy and paste the link below in your browser to see more
http://www.ehow.com/how_4534430_give-green-xmas-gifts.html

Low Cost Christmas Gifts You Can Make at Home
As Christmas approaches, it is time to consider what you will give to your loved ones as gifts. For many gift givers, while the gifts must be meaningful, they also need to be inexpensive. Here is a list of low cost Christmas gifts you can give.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2361604/low_cost_christmas_gifts_you_can_make.html

10 Inexpensive Coworker Christmas Gift Ideas
you should know about some great, inexpensive coworker Christmas gifts that you can get this year, without looking cheap this holiday season. Here are some ideas to get you going.
http://www.infobarrel.com/10_Inexpensive_Coworker_Christmas_Gift_Ideas

How to Give Inexpensive Coworkers Christmas Gifts
http://www.ehow.com/how_5604510_give-inexpensive-coworkers-christmas-gifts.html

How to Select the Best Low-Cost Christmas Gifts If You're On a Tight Budget
http://www.ehow.com/how_5528049_select-gifts-youre-tight-budget.html

Inexpensive Christmas Gifts Frugal Giving: 10 Low-Cost Present Ideas
http://homemanagement.suite101.com/article.cfm/budgetfriendly_christmas_gifts

Homemade & Low-Cost Christmas Gifts
http://www.brighthub.com/money/personal-finance/articles/18876.aspx

Christmas Gifts For Guys
http://www.popularchristmasgiftsideas.com/Christmas-Gifts-For-Guys.html

Giving Christmas Gifts on the Cheap
Cheap Christmas Gifts: Why Not Start a New Tradition?
http://stress.about.com/od/shoppingstress/a/cheap_gift_idea.htm

How to Give Christmas Gifts on a Budget
http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-give-christmas-gifts-on-a-budget

Low cost christmas
http://www.hnzc.co.nz/hnzc/web/about-us/news/top-stories/low-cost-christmas.htm

MORE NO AND LOW COST CHRISTMAS GIFTS 2008
has a collection of other sites also offering more good low cost gift ideas
http://soulight777.googlepages.com/morenoandlowcostchristmasgifts2008

Inexpensive Christmas Gift Ideas for Friends
Give Personalized, Budget-Friendly Christmas Presents to Coworkers
http://personalbudgeting.suite101.com/article.cfm/inexpensive_christmas_gift_ideas_for_friends

A Do-It-Yourself Christmas: 34 Great Gifts You Can Make Yourself
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/11/13/a-do-it-yourself-christmas-34-great-gifts-you-can-make-yourself/

The Top 5 Gifts Under $5

Online Christmas Gifts for Under 25 Dollars

6 Creative and Inexpensive Christmas Gift Wrap Ideas

Compact, efficient homes are the way to go

2009-11-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

From the Philippine Star These are green-conscious times where terms like “energy efficiency” and “carbon footprint” have become increasingly important to consumers. Seeing that outsized mansions have high electrical and water requirements for upkeep, more and more people recognize the advantages of living in smaller, well-organized spaces. They see that apart from doing their share to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, living spaces sized just right are actually cheaper to maintain, leaving more savings or extra income to spend on luxuries. Continue reading here http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=525283&publicationSubCategoryId=85

Shop green? Global survey lists top eco-friendly retailers

2009-11-23T16:27:00.001-08:00

ABS-CBN news Nov 24, 2009 SYDNEY - Eco-friendly managers and staff are the key to making a retailer go green, according to a study listing 15 of the world's top eco-friendly retailers in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. Researchers in Canada, Scotland, Japan, Spain and France interviewed 200 retailers to look at best environmental practices and help the industry in adopting sustainable practices that can also enhance their bottom line.

Eco-Friendly Shops
Mountain Equipment Co-opCanadaSells gear for climbing, water sports, cycling, snow sports, hiking, and camping
IKEA CanadaCanadaSells home furnishings and accessories
Walmart CanadaCanadaDiscount department stores selling apparel, electronics, furniture, sports equipment, toys, jewelry, and food
Home Depot CanadaCanadaRetailer of homebuilding or construction products and services, home appliances, and tools
H-E-B (short for Here, Everything is Better)United StatesSells fresh meat, produce, seafood, and other grocery selections
LUSHBritainFresh, handmade natural cosmetics like soaps, shampoo, and other bath products
Marks & SpencerBritainClothing, furniture, homeware, flowers, gifts, wine, and snacks
Alliance BootsBritainPharmaceutical wholesaler selling skincare products, herbal products, healthcare items, and cosmetics
MonsoonBritainMonsoon Stores Ltd sells fashion accessories, lingerie, children's wear, and home accessories
TescoBritainInternational grocery and general merchandising retail chain for food and non-food products
Musgrave GroupIrelandFood wholesaler
MonoprixFranceFrench supermarket chain selling both food and non-food items
CarrefourFranceFrench hypermarket chain selling both food and non-food items
AeonHong KongRetailer of food, fashion, household, and electrical merchandise
WoolworthsAustraliaSupermarket and retail chain that sells fresh food, apparel, and homeware products

Continue reading here http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/11/23/09/shop-green-global-survey-lists-top-eco-friendly-retailers

Green cooling in the metro Philippines

2009-11-22T15:40:00.001-08:00

from The Philippine Star November 20, 2009
MANILA, Philippines - As concern for the environment
grows, more and more people are living “green”. There are plenty of ways to live a green-friendly lifestyle but there is also common belief that green-friendly products equal lack of comfort.
Behind the scenes of our modern urban environment,- our homes, office buildings, schools, and malls, green technology

is slowly getting its place. Green technology can make a huge difference in the carbon footprint of such buildings. Among the most effective of these technologies are energy efficient air-conditioning systems or those that use renewable energy. Continue reading here http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=524899&publicationSubCategoryId=76

Finding the money to green your business

2009-11-22T15:02:00.000-08:00

From the Business Mirror Contrary to popular misconception, environmental initiatives often don’t raise costs, they lower them—and fast. Leading companies continue to find large savings in shockingly simple actions, such as changing lighting or using outside air to cool a data center.

But even for the most obvious eco-friendly changes, companies still need to find the capital to buy the new bulbs. And even if they see these initiatives as investments, not costs, there will still be competition for dollars. So what to do?

Solar Car Philippines

2009-11-22T14:42:00.000-08:00

A solar car is presented at the global warming and climate change show during the Green Technology Fair and Parade at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City last Saturday. Image via Philippine Star

Continue Reading here http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=526034&publicationSubCategoryId=63

Philippine Solar-powered Christmas lantern launched

2009-11-22T14:20:00.001-08:00

Watch the video here

Solar-powered Christmas lantern launched

Parade of environment-friendly vehicles in QUEZON CITY PHILIPPINES

2009-11-21T15:28:00.000-08:00

CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO READ THE COMPLETE STORY

from the Philippine Inquirer MANILA, Philippines – A colorful assortment of tricycles, jeepneys and cars – all powered by environment-friendly fuel –paraded around the Quezon Memorial Circle on Saturday in a bid to raise awareness of the ill effects of climate change and global warming especially in underdeveloped countries.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20091121-237582/Parade-of-environment-friendly-vehicles-in-QC

Profits in Solar? Reaping Returns in Wind?

2009-11-21T15:20:00.000-08:00

CLICK THE HEADLINE TO READ THE COMPLETE STORE

Profits in Solar? Reaping Returns in Wind?

Solar cellphone handsets that don't quit

2009-11-20T15:53:00.000-08:00

Intivation – which is headquartered in the Netherlands – is the brains behind solar-powered cell phone handsets that keep the battery fully charged even under heavily shaded lighting conditions.

ZTE and Foxconn are already selling $30 solar handsets using Intivation’s technology. Foxconn is selling them under the Commtiva brand in the Philippines and Indonesia. Continue reading here http://www.telecomasia.net/content/solar-handsets-dont-quit

Dipping Into Green Investing for your Finances

2009-11-17T15:33:00.001-08:00

From a CMBC report, link is at end of article If you’re looking for ways to apply your environmental passion to your investment portfolio, there’s more than one way to get your green on.

Mark Lennihan / AP

Those with the right stomach for risk can bet on individual stocks of companies at the cutting edge of solar, wind and biofuel research, putting all their eco-friendly eggs into one basket.

Those looking for more stability, on the other hand, can opt instead for funds that focus on clean energy stocks, letting professional managers chose the front-runners for them.

Green exchange traded funds, ETFs, and mutual funds, for example, provide average investors an easy entrée into the nascent and sometimes volatile world of carbon
conscious investing.

In many ways, eco-friendly ETFs and mutual funds are similar—both contain a specialized basket of investments from companies engaged in alternative energy research, those that promote environmental stewardship, or those that stand to benefit from the growing demand for clean fuel.

Yet, such funds also have some important differences that investors should be aware of. Here's a quick primer. Continue reading here http://www.cnbc.com/id/33535018/

Read Green News around the world

2009-11-17T15:31:00.001-08:00

Mobile Power Plant
Mashing three thoughts together. 1. The idea of a paintable photovoltaic has been around for awhile; Tomeka Witherspoon reports solar ink is maybe five years from being commercially viable. 2. The third generation Prius has an optional solar roof (it... Read more http://news.discovery.com/tech/mobile-power-plant.html

Coming Soon to a Car Lot Near You: The E-Car http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/gettingaround/articles/chevy_volt_review.html

Power the Planet with Renewables
If we could tap into renewable energy, really tap into it (overcome politics and naysayers), we could reduce global power demand by 30 percent and be totally green by 2030. So say civil and environmental engineering professor Mark Jacobson of ... Read more http://news.discovery.com/tech/power-the-planet-with-renewables.html

Green School Becomes a Teaching Tool
Reporter Tomeka Weatherspoon visits the Missouri Military Academy in Mexico, Mo., where energy efficiency improvements are not only saving money, but becoming part of the school's curriculum. Read more http://news.discovery.com/tech/solar-power-military-school.html

Solar Powered Plane Rolls Out in Switzerland
You want ambitious? How about this: Bertrand Piccard wants to fly a plane around the world in 2012. No biggie, right? Well, now consider this: the plane he wants to fly around the world will be powered solely by solar ... Read more http://news.discovery.com/tech/solar-powered-plane-rolls-out-in-switzerland.html

Fool's Gold a Golden Opportunity for Solar
Fool's gold, or pyrite, could be a real gold mine for the solar panel industry. Read more http://news.discovery.com/tech/fools-gold-solar-power.html

Keep up with all the renewable green news here http://news.discovery.com/tech/?page=2

GREEN ENERGY IN THE PHILIPPINES, ELECTRIC MOTORBIKES P20,000

2009-11-17T15:24:00.000-08:00

For those interested in going green transport and saving the environment or saving pesos, I found a store in downtown Cebu offering electric motor bikes at P20,000. Just the right solution for doing local errands. I am sure they are available all over the Philippines, check the Ebay and Sulit classified ads in the link below.

CONTINUE READING THE WHOLE ARTICLE AND OTHER PHILIPPINE BARGAINS OF THE DAY, CLICK HERE http://daybargain.blogspot.com/

electric motor bike cebu philippines

China pushes solar, wind power development, India to Boost Funding for Solar Power

2009-11-17T14:08:00.000-08:00

CLICK THE HEADLINES BELOW TO READ

China pushes solar, wind power development

India to Boost Funding for Solar Power

TO BE SEPARATED ENERGY ARTICLES 1

2009-11-11T16:13:00.001-08:00

12 electric jeepneys hit the road in Makati City

MANILA, Philippines — The first 12 electric jeepneys (e-Jeep) rolled off the charging station at Makati Fire Department on Tuesday morning, and plied routes to Salcedo Village and Legazpi Village from the Landmark Mall.

Makati electric care philippines

The 12-seater vehicles will offer free rides to commuters on weekdays during rush hours from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

They look like ordinary jeepneys with their flashy murals. However, they don’t emit smoke. They don’t wait for passengers for long at jeepney stops. Some eJeepneys bore texts “Rebolusyonaryo (Revolutionary)” and “Sakay na (Take a ride).”

“We are making the climate solutions of tomorrow available for Filipinos today,” said Red Constantino, director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC) at the launch of the project dubbed as the eJeepney Makati Green Route.

Through its major funder the Stichting Doen, a Dutch foundation, the iCSC put up the project to help reduce carbon dioxide emission of transport vehicles.

According to the iCSC, the climate change-inducing carbon dioxide emission levels are expected to triple in Asia in the next 20 years. The rise is mainly attributed to the transport sector.
Constantino said his group would like to make eJeeps free for commuters for a long time, by relying on the income they generate from business partners’ advertisements.

The three-year-old project has garnered worldwide praise and recently bagged the top award in the Discovery Channel’s Ecopolis program. It was touted as a new transportation technology that can transform modern cities today.

The Pinoy-style eJeepneys were manufactured by the Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines in cooperation with the National Center for Transportation Studies at the University of the Philippines, Philbio, the British Embassy, Oxfam Great Britain, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, and the Foundation of the Philippine Environment.

Former beauty queen Miriam Quiambao, supporter of the iCSC, drove one eJeepney from the charging station to the Landmark Mall where the eJeepney stop sign was unveiled.
As the eJeepneys took to the road, commuters’ heads turned and eyes watched.

“Soon, eJeepneys will be a common thing on the road. And, it’s here to stay,” Constantino said. REad the original article here http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20091110-235370/12-electric-jeepneys-hit-the-road-in-Makati-City

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged manila makit philippines electric jeeps green 23 hours, 52 minutes ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

100% Renewable Energy

The cover story in the November issue of Scientific American contends that renewable energy can already theoretically power 100% of energy needs, and totally replace carbon emitting sources by 2030.

The authors, Stanford University professor Mark Jacobson and University of California Davis researcher Mark Delucchi, charted a roadmap to shift the power and transport sectors to renewable energy by 2030. Mr. Jacobson, who heads Stanford’s Energy Program, and Mr. Delucchi say this is possible by combining wind, concentrated solar, geothermal, tidal, solar photovoltaic, wave and hydropower and linking them together in an intelligent manner, using information available from meteorological sources for example.

Both authors base their arguments on a 2008 paper published in the Journal of Energy and Environmental Science, arguing that shifting vehicles from liquid fuels to electricity and cutting energy losses would make possible a global energy demand reduction of 30%.

Detractors argue that initial capital costs for some renewable sources are still expensive, and that some sources of renewable energy like wind and solar, are intermittent. The wind doesn’t always blow when you want it to and the sun doesn’t always shine in a particular location, they argue.

However, these issues are slowly being solved both financially and technically. Cost considerations are now being offset by financing mechanisms like the Carbon Development Mechanism (a.k.a. carbon credits) and incentives like the feed-in-tariff popularized in Europe and in Asian laws like the Philippines Renewable Energy Act of 2008.

Technical intermittence issues are also surmountable with proper planning and coordination with weather forecasting agencies.

Averaged over a large area and connected together through the grid, there is always a place where the wind and sun are available at any given moment. Storage mechanisms such as batteries, elevated lakes, and old salt caverns (through compressed air storage) can store excess energy for use when needed. Most intermittent renewable energy generators simply connect these power sources to the electric grid, and act as a source when available. Issues with connecting intermittent generating sources to the grid is increasingly being researched, along with the use of smart appliances with built-in chips that can adjust their demand depending on the power situation at a given moment.

But we all know that what is theoretically possible, even in the face of scientific argument, is not always what happens. Take the Beta versus VHS, or even the Windows versus Linux argument, there will always be advocates and detractors of a particular technology.

Notwithstanding the fact that climate change skeptics still abound, on the question of large-scale adoption of renewable energy itself, the main barriers now are cost and practical considerations, whether these be technical or business related. To speak of 100% renewable energy is still to say the least, quite radical at this time, even among technologists. It is somewhat akin to John F. Kennedy’s challenge in the early ’60s to the American scientific community, to send a man to the moon before the end of that decade. Theoretically possible yes.

Practical? Not yet but if made a goal, it can be. We know where Kennedy’s gauntlet took us, and sometimes it simply takes the right challenge to go into a particular direction.

Don’t get me wrong. Aiming for a 100% renewable energy future will be fraught with challenges, and will take a lot of money, time, energy, and will have some failures along the way. The electric grid itself has to evolve, from generation, transmission and distribution and even to the appliances to become smart so that all become intelligent and talk to each other just like the Internet. Read the complete article here http://beta.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=1143

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged 100% Renewable Energy 1 day, 1 hour ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

SolarCity aims to make solar power more affordable

FOSTER CITY, Calif. — Lyndon Rive, a former member of the U.S. National Underwater Hockey team, didn’t have a mother who doted on him.

Enlarge By Noah Berger for USA TODAY SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive with solar panels atop his Belmont, Calif., home on Nov. 4. He says company revenue will grow 40% this year.

She worked until 11 p.m. most nights and didn’t go to his boyhood sporting events.

Yet, Rive considers her the “best mother in the world” and not because she retired at age 45 as a millionaire. “She always supported me in whatever I wanted to do,” Rive says.

-
That turns out to have been a good choice.

Rive, 32, is now CEO and co-founder of SolarCity, which in three years has grown to become a leading residential solar installer in California, the nation’s largest solar market.

-
Perhaps more important, California-based SolarCity has emerged as one of the top consumer brands in solar at a time when green is hot and President Obama makes solar and other renewable energy sources front-page news.

Last year, SolarCity helped pioneer a way to bring solar to the masses and remove one of the biggest hurdles to its widespread adoption: costs of $15,000 or more for homeowners to go solar. With a SolarCity residential lease, customers can lease a system at no money down, and in many areas, save 10% to 15% a month on their combined electric and lease-payment bill, SolarCity says.

-
While other companies offer similar financing options, SolarCity has “created the first brand in solar for consumers,” says Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com, an online trade publication. “They were very smart and creative in an industry that had been plodding along.”

On any day in San Francisco, chances are good that you’ll spot a green SolarCity van en route to an installation. The company claims 4,500 residential and commercial customers in California, Arizona and Oregon, including eBay and Intel.

Rive says SolarCity’s revenue will grow 40% this year – despite the recession – and 250% next year, given orders on the books. SolarCity employs 450 and plans to add 180 workers in the next quarter, he says. It also aims to expand to at least five states in the next year. Rive, while not releasing revenue for the privately held SolarCity, says it turned its first profit in the recently finished third quarter.

“Our trajectory is on fire,” Rive says.
That’s not a new phenomenon for him.
At age 17, Rive raked in thousands of dollars a month in his native South Africa as a distributor of natural cosmetics. The business ate up so much time, Rive never went to high school, and faced expulsion. His mother told him to “solve this problem,” Rive says.

Armed with his financial statements, Rive met with the principal, who then agreed to let Rive skip school but take the exams. Rive graduated and never set foot in college.

Still, he was a millionaire at age 30, he says, thanks to the sale of his second company, PC-monitoring firm Everdream, to PC giant Dell in 2007. At age 18, he was able to buy himself a two-seater plane and a ski boat. He now drives an electric Tesla Roadster; retail price: $100,000.

-
While Rive enjoys the perks of his success, business comes first. Lunch on a recent afternoon amounted to a bagel eaten while the 6-foot-2-inch Rive loped two steps at a time up an escalator to get to a meeting.

“Lyndon is a classic Silicon Valley entrepreneur,” says John Fisher, managing director of venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, which invested in Everdream and SolarCity. “He’s savvy, gutsy, ambitious, fearless and driven.”

Too good to be true?
Rive will need all those attributes in the competitive solar market.
Nationwide, hundreds of solar companies and installers vie for business, especially in SolarCity’s key market, California. Competitors, such as REC Solar, Akeena Solar, GroSolar, SunPower and others, are also building successful brands.

To date, solar provides 1% of the USA’s energy. Despite the push by the Obama administration for more use of renewable energy, many states still lack strong enough incentives and laws to move broad solar adoption, says Matthew Woods, vice president of sales for REC Solar.

Financing and incentives can also be touch-and-go. Earlier this year, some SolarCity customers had to wait six months to get installations done after financing options dried up following last year’s financial market meltdown. SolarCity has since solved that problem with the creation of a $100 million fund by US Bancorp to finance its lease deals, it says. Other companies got caught in the same credit crunch, SolarCity spokesman Jonathan Bass says.

-
Still, one of Solar City’s biggest challenges is overcoming homeowner skepticism that its lease deal is too good to be true.

“We hear that a lot,” Rive says. “But we do save you money, and it doesn’t cost you a cent to go solar.”

SolarCity’s leases run for 15 years. The company designs, installs and maintains the system. SolarCity owns the system and gets the accompanying federal tax credits and state incentives. Homeowners pay SolarCity for the lease and the electricity they use. That’s typically about 15% less than their traditional monthly electric bill, SolarCity says.

Lease rates go up each year by up to 3.9%, no matter how much or how little electric rates move. And people who don’t use a lot of electricity aren’t likely to see savings, SolarCity says. In California, for instance, that’s anyone with electric bills under $150 a month.
Given federal tax credits, homeowners with available cash may also do better financially to buy a system, says REC’s Woods. SolarCity, as does REC, also offers outright sales, as well as leases or leaselike options.

But for those without cash or the gumption to maintain their solar systems, leasing is a “pretty good deal,” says Paula Mints, analyst at research firm Navigant Consulting.
The too-good-to-be-true thought crossed the mind of Los Angeles architect Colin Summers, 43.
“It felt a bit like subprime loans,” Summers says. He contacted SolarCity after spotting a Prius blanketed in the SolarCity logo.

Summers signed up for a SolarCity lease for his 2,000-square-foot Santa Monica home last year. The impetus? He likes being green. He loves technology. And his electricity bills had jumped to more than $300 a month.

Summers now pays about $200 a month: $80 for electricity and $120 for the lease. If he sells his home, Summers can transfer the lease to the new homeowner or pay it off.

Given the lure of green living among Santa Monica residents and the financial savings, Summers expects solar to be “more of a selling point than a problem.”
Underwater hockey ’showed drive’

Some big names have bet on Rive and his elder brother, Peter, SolarCity co-founder.
SolarCity has raised $80 million in venture capital funding, including from Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

-
Lyndon Rive was 22 when the venture capital firm first invested in him. One thing that impressed Fisher was Rive’s underwater hockey skill. The sport is played with lead pucks, pushed along the bottom of the pool by short sticks. Players wear fins and snorkels.

At age 18, Rive joined South Africa’s men’s open division team. In 2004 and 2006, he played for the U.S. team. In 1998, he first came to the U.S. as part of the South African team. Shortly thereafter, he sold his South African company and followed a brother to Silicon Valley.
“The notion of playing hockey underwater while holding your breath showed me Rive had extra passion and drive,” Fisher says.

Another SolarCity investor is Elon Musk, co-founder of online payment system PayPal, co-founder of electric carmaker Tesla Motors and CEO of rocket-maker SpaceX.

-
To say that Musk and Rive go way back is an understatement. Not only are they cousins, but their mothers are twins, and their fathers share the same birthday.
It was on a road trip with Musk to the Burning Man art event in the desert of Nevada that Rive first started thinking of solar.

Musk had invested in Everdream, too, and asked Rive what they were going to do next. Musk tossed out the idea of solar.

Rive and his brother, Peter, who is so green he catches his rainwater, vetted the idea. While technologists at heart, the Everdream co-founders decided the market didn’t need a new solar panel or something else technical as much as it needed a new brand that made adoption easier.
Currently, about 65% of SolarCity’s new residential customers choose to lease vs. buy a system, SolarCity says. The key to SolarCity’s future success, Rive says, is getting every homeowner-customer to feel like a VIP – whether they lease or buy.

“If we can do that, we’ll have a working formula,” he says. Read the original article herehttp://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/entre/2009-11-09-solarcity09_CV_N.htm

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged cheap solar power, Rive,SolarCity 2 days, 12 hours ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Perez-led Alternergy bags 6 wind power projects

MANILA, Philippines – Alternergy Philippines Holdings Corp. (APHC) has signed six service contracts with the Department of Energy (DOE) for its proposed wind projects worth an estimated $85 million.

With a $14.1-million project cost each, the wind power facilities will be put up in Pilillia, Rizal; Kalayaan, Laguna; Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro; Sta.Ana, Cagayan: Sta Praxedes and Cagayan and Pagudpod, Ilocos; and Aparri, Cagayan.

Two of the wind farm projects will run on 40 megawatts (MW) capacity while the capacities of the other four have yet to be determined.

The wind power projects of APHC, headed by former Energy Secretary Vincent Perez, form part of the over $300 million worth of wind power service contracts that were signed by the DOE recently.

-
Perez is a staunch supporter of renewable energy use and actively participated in the passage of the law in Congress.

After his stint in the Energy Department, Perez formed Alternergy, a renewable energy company for emerging Asia.

APHC aims to have strong presence in at least six countries in the Asia Pacific Rim in the next five years, with more than 500 megawatts in generating capacity from wind, small hydro, biomass, biogas, geothermal and solar resources.

APHC has investments on the 33-MW Bangui Bay wind farm in Ilocos with NorthWind Power Development Corp.

-
In September this year, APHC entered into a joint venture with Eurus Energy Japan Corp. and Korea East West Power Co. (EWP) to develop renewable energy projects in the Philippines. Both companies will invest a total of $100 million into the company.

EWP is a subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) while Eurus Energy is a subsidiary of Eurus Energy Holdings Corp. of Japan which, in itself, is owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. and Toyota Tsusho Corp.

EWP has prior experience in energy generation as it owns six power plants in Korea generating 9,500 MW. Eurus Energy Holdings, meanwhile, owns and operates wind and solar renewable energy power plants worldwide. This original item can be found here http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=521563&publicationSubCategoryId=66

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged $86 million contracts 6 service contracts, Alternergy Philippines Holdings Corp, Cagayan, Cagayan: Sta Praxedes and Cagayan and Pagudpod, former Energy Secretary Vincent Perez, Ilocos; and Aparri, Laguna; Abra de Ilog,Occidental Mindoro; Sta.Ana, Philippine Department of Energy,Pilillia, Rizal; Kalayaan 2 days, 12 hours ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Philippines eyes $2.5bn geothermal investment

Volcano-rich nation to award contracts for projects totaling 620MW in capacity

The Philippines, the world’s second-largest developer of geothermal power, plans to award contracts for 19 geothermal power plants that could attract more than US$2.5bn in private investment, according to a senior official.

In the next five months, the government will issue tenders for the development of 10 geothermal sites, with a further nine deals under direct negotiation with various companies, Alejandro Oanes, division chief for geothermal energy at the Philippine Energy Department, told Reuters yesterday.

=
He said Icelandic geothermal project developer Geysir Green Energy and the Philippine’s biggest producer of geothermal power, Energy Development Corp, were among the companies bidding for contracts.

Officials estimate that more than 620MW of geothermal energy could be generated from the 19 sites, which include two volcanoes: Mt Isarog in Camarines Sur province, with a potential capacity of 70MW, and Mt Labo in Camarines Norte, which may yield up to 65MW.

Geothermal resources have also been identified in the provinces of Benguet, Cagayan, Palawan, Oriental Mindoro, Surigao del Norte and Laguna.

The Philippines is located within the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire – an area encircling the Pacific Ocean and parts of the Indian Ocean where active earthquakes and volcanoes are concentrated along tectonic plate boundaries. Most of the region’s richest geothermal sources are located within the area.

The country generated 17 per cent of its electricity from its 2GW of geothermal capacity last year, according to government data. By 2020, it hopes to raise the figure to 4.5GW as part of a broader goal of doubling its renewable energy capacity over the next decade.

The federal government is also offering tax breaks and tariff exemptions for renewable power projects in a bid to attract investors. Earlier this month, it awarded 87 contracts to 18 companies for the development of alternative energy sources that include solar, hydropower, wind and tidal power. Read the complete article here http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2252667/philippines-eyes-5bn-private

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged Energy Development Corp,Geysir Green Energy, philippines geothermal 4 days, 16 hours ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Ayala Corp still keen on renewable energy, Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – Ayala Corp. remains interested in the renewable energy business as well as in highly extensive investments like mining, the company’s top officials said yesterday.

In a roundtable discussion with reporters, the conglomerate’s chairman and chief executive Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said while the mining and power sectors remain attractive to them, the group’s commitment to sustainable development and innovation would play a stronger role and should have a greater impact on the decision-making process.

“There’s renewable power. We just can’t say we don’t want to venture into this industry because we need all these resources for the betterment of the people. There’s a better way of doing them. Our partners or the companies we plan to bring in are also demanding it,” he said.

He said the company is still open to exploring opportunities in the renewable energy business. “ That’s actually very interesting. It’s something we like to do if given an opportunity.”

Fernando Zobel de Ayala, Ayala Corp. president and chief operating officer, said the company’s goal of achieving sustainable development could have resulted in limited investment choices but believes those are “tough choices we need to make” to do business more responsibly.

The Ayalas have long been trying to enter the energy sector, particularly in clean and green energy. Earlier reports said they were interested in investing in the Lopez family’s geothermal crown jewel, Energy Development Corp. (EDC).

It was earlier reported that the conglomerate had long been trying to break into the energy sector, but did not want to acquire coal-fired power plants, which were the ones mostly on the government’s auction block.

Analysts said the Ayala Group is in a good position to acquire assets in a tough business environment. But unlike other moneyed groups, the conglomerate has just been very quiet and focusing on its existing businesses over the past years.

Today, it is one of the biggest, most respected, and most widely diversified conglomerates in the Philippines, with leadership positions in real estate development, banking and financial services, telecommunications, electronics and information technology, water infrastructure development and management, and car dealership. Read the complete article here http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=520363&publicationSubCategoryId=66

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged Ayala Corp still keen on renewable energy, Philippines 6 days, 20 hours ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

China Rising To The Solar Challenge

Earlier this year, the Obama government announced its federal-level energy policy to simulate demand for renewable energy. As a result, solar power is no longer the luxury it once was. In addition to federal programs, there are state incentives which together help reduce installation costs by 40% to 90%. New Jersey, for instance, offers up to 90% incentives for home solar panel installation through federal tax credits, a cash rebate, and a funding program through PSE&G. According to a recently released study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, panel prices fell 31% over the ten-year period from 1998 to 2008. Analysts expect a further 8% to 10% reduction in prices in the coming years. But even though falling prices have spurred demand, the leading equipment manufacturers’ results weren’t all sunny. With Chinese manufacturers flooding the market, American companies are trying to respond by better managing their offshore Asia manufacturing operations. Like all other manufacturing businesses, solar power is also seeing China and Asia becoming critical to companies’ scaling and competition strategies.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR), the largest manufacturer in the United States, saw revenues slide from $520 million last quarter to $480 million. Revenues grew 38% over the year but missed the market’s expected revenues of $528.8 million. EPS of $1.79 managed to exceed the market’s expected $1.74 target. Read the complete article herehttp://www.sramanamitra.com/2009/11/03/china-rising-to-the-solar-challenge/

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged China Rising To The Solar Challenge, green philippines, solar philippines 1 week ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Philippine Contracts Worth $2.2 Billion Awarded for Renewable Energy Projects

The Philippines Department of Energy has awarded 87 new contracts worth a combined $2.2 billion in the renewable energy sector to 18 companies. The contracts entail the development of biomass, geothermal, hydropower, ocean, solar and wind energy resources, with a total power generation potential of 4,042 megawatts. This development is being touted as the largest number of contracts awarded in a single day.

Of the 87 contracts signed, 65 pertain to the development of renewable energy projects. The remaining 22 are conversions of existing agreements and service contracts into renewable energy contracts: 17 for hydropower projects and five for geothermal projects.

The contracts were awarded pursuant to the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, also known as Republic Act 9513, which calls for investments of about $8.5 billion to be made in harnessing renewable sources of energy over a period of 10 years. The projects are expected to result in cost savings that will be passed on to consumers. According to earlier estimates, about 1,636 MW of renewable energy projects are expected to be commissioned in the next five years. This number is likely to increase, as new projects get under way.

The DoE aims to increase renewable energy generation capacity from 4,500 MW to 9,000 MW during 2003-13, targeting about 40% of the country’s primary energy requirements to be serviced by renewable sources. Targets set for this period include the addition of:

* 1,200 MW of geothermal energy generation capacity, to reach 1,931 MW

* 2,950 MW of hydropower generation capacity, to reach 5,468 MW

* 417 MW of wind power generation capacity

* 131 MW of biomass, ocean and solar power generation capacity.

The Philippines is considered to be the world’s second-largest producer of geothermal energy and Southeast Asia’s largest developer of wind energy.

In July this year, the DoE announced plans to establish a $2 billion renewable energy trust fund to help develop renewable energy sources and promote the use of renewable energy in the country. In September, the DoE awarded seven renewable energy contracts, with a combined value of about $1 billion, to six companies for the development of 379 MW of wind power generation capacity. At the time, the DoE indicated that about 70 renewable energy projects were in the pipeline, including 50 mini-hydropower and 20 wind power projects, and one ocean energy project.

The National Renewable Energy Board is expected to release soon an incentive package for investors in the Philippines‘ renewable energy sector. Under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, investors and project developers are offered several fiscal incentives, including tax-free carbon credits; exemption from tariffs; exemption from import duty on machinery and equipment for the first 10 years of operations; income tax holidays for the first seven years of operations; and exemption from value-added tax on power generated from renewable sources of energy. Non-fiscal incentives include mandatory utilization and priority dispatch of power from renewable sources in the grid. http://www.breakbulk.com/content/?p=1004

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged Philippine Contracts Worth $2.2 Billion Awarded for Renewable Energy Projects 1 week, 2 days ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

GE Puts Wind Converter to Work for Solar

As utilities start to build large solar projects and solar power makes up an increasingly larger portion of the electricity mix, integrating this energy into the grid will be a challenge. Solar, like wind, is intermittent — power from the sun fluctuates when clouds pass overhead and wind doesn’t blow consistently. Now General Electric, which has been a major player in helping to integrate wind into the world’s power grids, wants to do the same for solar.

The company has turned a 1.5 MW wind converter into a new, 600 kW solar inverter for utility projects, Rick Robertson, an inverter program manager at GE, told us at this week’s Solar Power International. The inverter, pictured above, is targeted at multimegawatt solar projects with multiple installations on a single site, he said. GE is now taking orders for the inverter, which was introduced at the conference, and plans to ship its first units by the end of this year, he added.

The inverter is another sign that GE sees solar as “the next wind.” It said last month that it plans to grow its solar production next year, and has also invested in technologies that could make solar cheaper.
To modify the inverter for solar, GE changed the way it connects to power projects, because solar panels generate direct current, which must be turned into the alternating current used by most appliances, whereas wind turbines generate alternating current, said Minesh Shah, a product line leader for renewables systems. GE also modified the software to enable utilities to monitor and control the solar power plants, he added. And the inverter had to be packaged with a new skin suitable for outdoor installations, as wind inverters are usually kept inside the towers, while solar inverters need to be able to survive the elements, said Tony Galbraith, an inverter program manager for GE.

When it comes to the hardware, however, GE says it hasn’t changed much, with the idea being to leverage its experience — and volume — in wind converter manufacturing. The conglomerate already makes 4,000 wind converters annually, and keeping the hardware similar will allow it to simply add new solar volumes on top of that, according to Robertson. GE also believes its reputation and track record with the wind converters will give investors confidence in its solar inverters, as it has 12,000 wind turbines in the field with 175 million operating hours at this point, Robertson said.

One of GE’s main advantages in this space is the company’s understanding of what utilities and power plant operators are looking for, so that it can make solar projects look similar to other power plant interconnections, Shah said. “We know how to turn a 30 MW system from just a collection of panels and modules into a power plant.” The software that comes with the inverter presents information about solar projects in the same way that utilities and power-plant operators are already familiar with viewing power plant data, he said, and it also enables the same level of control to manage the voltage of the electricity output so that it can be smoothly interconnected with the grid.
GE’s move into utility solar is a sign that big companies are starting to see solar as a potentially significant part of the energy mix. But in order to make that happen, the industry needs to start preparing to integrate solar into the grid now, Shah said. “In the solar industry today, people are not thinking about these types of issues,” he said. While other companies are working on smoothing the load from variable renewables, it’s true that the work at the utility level is just beginning.

Jenny Chase, head of solar research for London-based New Energy Finance, said she’s seeing a growing number of companies working on integration. With the world’s largest solar projects underway, “it’s probably quite a good thing that people are thinking about this now,” she said. You can expect to hear more about it soon. Hundreds of megawatts of utility projects are already underway in the U.S., with more announcements expected as utilities work to meet state renewable energy standards. Original article here http://www.nytimes.com/external/gigaom/2009/10/30/30gigaom-ge-puts-wind-converter-to-work-for-solar-60755.html?pagewanted=print

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged GE Puts Wind Converter to Work for Solar 1 week, 3 days ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Taiwan Asia Green Energy, Green Growth

Solar panels installed on Kaohsiung’s World Games Stadium. The government’s plans for developing the green energy industry include a strong focus on solar energy and LED lighting. Taiwan is playing its part in APEC’s drive to promote more efficient energy use and slow global warming.

Taiwan decided to target the green energy industry as one of the island’s six flagship industries for future development.

The government has earmarked a budget of NT$45 billion (US$1.36 billion) for the green energy industry with a strong focus on the development of solar energy sources and power-saving LED lighting, along with wind power generation, biofuels, hydrogen-based energy sources and fuel cells.

The industry’s production value is expected to increase from NT$160.3 billion (US$5.09 billion) in 2008 to NT$1.16 trillion (US$35.15 billion) in 2015.

In addition, according to one of the conclusions reached at the National Energy Conference in Taipei in April this year, the central government plans to create two low-carbon communities in each of Taiwan’s 16 counties and seven larger cities within two years. Six of the larger cities are expected to achieve low-carbon designation within five years. To assist in this effort, in June this year the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) established the Office of Eco-community Promotion Program, which is responsible for working out carbon reduction measures in five areas: renewable energy, energy conservation, resource recycling, green architecture and green transportation.Read the complete article here this is only a summary http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=69656&CtNode=1337&mp=1

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged along with wind power generation, Asia green energy, biofuels, hydrogen-based energy sources and fuel cells, Taiwan solar energy sources and power-saving LED lighting 1 week, 5 days ago

OLD 2

2009-11-11T16:12:00.001-08:00

Energy-Generating Pavement: An Untapped Renewable?

From the neat new things department: An emerging startup called Pavegen has just installed squares of energy-generating pavement in London. Usually, when you think of converting kinetic energy into electricity, wind turbines and hydroelectric dams spring to mind. But people’s steps — thousands upon thousands of them a day — utilize and channel kinetic energy too.

That’s the idea behind Pavegen’s flagship product, a slab of concrete that harnesses kinetic energy whenever it is stepped on. This energy, created by 5 millimeters of flex in the material, is then either stored by lithium polymer batteries contained within the slabs or transmitted immediately to streetlights and other electronics located close by. The current model, made from stainless steel, recycled car tires and recycled aluminum, also includes a lamp embedded in the pavement that lights up every time a step is converted into energy (using only 5 percent of the energy generated).

In an effort to keep the production of the pavement as green and sustainable as possible, Pavegen is partnering with Ryburn Rubber Limited and Advanced LEDs (which has also invested in the idea) to make sure that its components create as small an environmental impact as possible. Launched in July of this year, the company spun out of a project at Loughborough University. It is actively looking for investors.

The average square of pavement produces about 2.1 watts of electricity per hour. And according to Pavegen, any one square of pavement in a high-foot traffic area can see 50,000 steps a day. Based on this data, only five units of Pavegen pavement can be enough to keep the lights on at a bus stop all night. The company, led by 24-year old founder Laurence Kemball-Cook, says it eventually wants its slabs to power automatic doors, ticket machines, neon signs, and even computers and major appliances.

Pavegen isn’t targeting its product exclusively at municipalities. One of its big ideas is to have stores located on busy sidewalks install them in front of their locations to power their signage or any internal electronics. To encourage this adoption, the company says it will brand its slabs for its commercial customers.

The slabs just installed in East London happen to be green — appropriate as a cleantech solution — but they come in a variety of colors. The company believes the embedded lamp is important to inform passersby of their contribution to the clean energy movement. Kemball-Cook believes this will not only help educated the public about the need for innovative energy solutions, but also make them think more carefully about their energy use.
The startup plans to roll out more Pagevgen units in the United Kingdom in the next year, but it envisions installing them one day in Times Square in New York — think of all the electronic displays it could help power there — and other frequented locations in the U.S. One of the ideas pitched on its web site is to install slabs in subway turnstiles where thousands of people — about 36,000 per hour — walk a day to power station electronics. The patent for this application of the technology is still pending.

VentureBeat is hosting GreenBeat, the seminal executive conference on the Smart Grid, on Nov. 18-19, featuring keynotes from Nobel Prize winner Al Gore and Kleiner Perkins’ John Doerr. Get your discounted early-bird tickets before Oct. 31 at GreenBeat2009.com.

http://www.nytimes.com/external/venturebeat/2009/10/29/29venturebeat-energy-generating-pavement-an-untapped-renew-91229.html?pagewanted=print

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged hot pavement energy generating?, kinetic energy into electricity, pavegen, renewable energy source, untapped resouce roadways 1 week, 5 days ago

— Edit This

Comments (1)

Personal Investment in Solar Energy For Home Use

Solar energy is power generated from the heat of the sun. The sun illuminates and provides heat and warmth on the surface of the earth. Technologies that capture and store solar heat for an extended period of time can be applied to benefit homes, offices, and factories. They can transform solar energy to run devices that provides warmth and lighting during night time or during cloudy days.

You can make use of solar energy yourself by learning how. Solar energy as a resource is free. However, the cost of materials and equipment you need to tap that resource ranges from high to low, depending on what suits your needs. The good thing about it is that, unlike oil or gas heaters for which you pay every month, you spend less and less for energizing and heating your home with solar energy. Without ill effects on the environment, solar power can cool, heat and ventilate your home.

If you are thinking about having your own solar power for any particular use, it would be easier if you try to find a solar collector first. A solar collector is any material such as clear plastic or glass that can attract and capture the energy brought on by the heat of the sun in concentrated quantities. An example of a trapped or captured heat is when a car that has sat out in the warm sun all day has become exceedingly hot so that you need to open your windows in order to let the warm air escape from your seats and compartments and allowing the car to cool inside. A greenhouse is another example. It has the same effect as its glass or clear plastic walls and roof can attract the heat of the sun and trap it inside to keep the needed amount of heat for the plants to grow normally and efficiently.

Also, tapping solar energy for home use can offer you optimum benefits if you familiarize yourself about what an active and a passive home means. These are two types of solar homes which give homeowners choices on which part of the homes they want energized or what equipment they want run by solar power. Solar energy can be used to warm your home, heat your water, as well as generate electricity for lighting at night. Consequently, you will need to consider the cost which a particular type of solar home entails when you choose the type of solar home you want.

Passive homes do away with special facilities or materials for heating. They merely use their windows for maximized entry of sunlight. The sunlight gets stored by having the doors totally closed during the warmest hours of the day and keeping the heat trapped inside. In the evenings, thick curtains can be used on the windows to keep this heat concentrated inside the home. This allows the natural heat of the sun to warm your home without using any special or elaborate equipment and materials.

Active homes, on the other hand, use equipment such as blowers and pumps. Substitute heating sources also need to be used when the sunlight captured during daytime is not enough for the heat to circulate inside the house. Active homes use specially-designed boxes placed outside to attract sunlight and store the heat, thereby providing more supply of energy to heat the homes. These boxes heat water or air inside pipes and ductwork which in turn facilitate the circulation of heat inside the homes.

In the long term, solar energy is cost-effective. It can heat our homes without spending for artificially-generated heat. Solar energy does not harm the environment and can be found anytime and wherever the sun shines. Read the original article here http://pricelessinvestments.com/investing/personal-investment-in-solar-energy-for-home-use

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged cost effective solar energy,passive solar home energy, solar collector cheaply, solar energy at home 1 week, 5 days ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Green buildings seen to boost competitiveness

Singapore: Going green is benefiting Singapore’s competitiveness as it compensates for the island-nation’s reliance on imported energy sources and lack of natural resources. “[Promoting green initiatives] is a way for us to remain competitive. We import everything. If we are not efficient, we will have a problem of supply,” Tan Tian Chong, technology development division director of Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA), told The Manila Times.

Tan said that about 80 percent of the country’s energy source comes from gas, while the remaining 20 percent is from fossil fuels, both sourced abroad.

Because of this, Singapore aims to reduce energy intensity in 2030 by 35 percent from 2005 levels.

Among the country’s first green initiative was a rating system called the “BCA Green Mark Scheme” that was introduced in 2005. Through this, buildings were encouraged to adopt green building technology and design to improve their energy efficiency.

Singapore government data showed that in 2005, buildings make up 31 percent of the country’s total energy consumption, next to the industry sector, which was at 43 percent.

The Green Mark Scheme rates buildings based on their energy and water efficiency, environmental protection, indoor environmental quality, and other green and innovative features that contribute to better building performance.

In 2006, Singapore created its “First Green Building Masterplan.”

The government gave incentives and cash grants to those new buildings that gained Green Mark ratings.
But the Singapore government later deemed that existing buildings should not be left behind in its greening endeavor, so it started giving government buildings a green facelift.

Later, Singapore mandated that all existing government buildings should all have a Green Mark “Gold Plus” rating by 2020.

In April this year, the government improved this scheme by allocating 100 million Singapore dollars for a “Green Mark Incentive Scheme for Existing Buildings.”

Through this, the government will help shoulder the private sector’s cost in transforming their buildings into “green” up to 35 percent, or up to 1.5 million Singapore dollars, whichever is lower, Tan said.

The BCA official, however, said that “green” materials are often expensive since many of these are imported. There is also a learning curve before owners and constructors can fully grasp green technologies.

Because of these, building owners had some initial apprehensions on turning “green,” but financial assistance from the government helped in generating a positive response, Tan said.

The government expanded this initiative last year by unveiling the Green Mark scheme for infrastructure, office interiors and parks.

This year, Singapore came up with its “Second Green Building Masterplan,” which aims to make the island-nation one of the most livable cities in Asia. It also targets that about 80 percent of buildings in the country must garner at least a Green Mark “Certified” rating by 2030.

Through the newly formed Singapore Green Building Council, the country would be coming up with effective certification for green building and consumer products, Tan said. Read the complete original article here http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/business/4904-green-buildings-seen-to-boost-competitiveness-

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged Green building makes competitive 1 week, 6 days ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Philippine Government gives perks to green investments

BY dangling tax holidays, the government is now prodding businesses in the Philippines to take the green route—be it in the multibillion-peso renewable-energy projects or in the simple retrofitting of offices and plants to make them energy-efficient.

Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments (BOI) managing head Elmer Hernandez said the green pitch is evident in the agency’s landmark policy of granting income tax holidays (ITH) to revenues earned by companies from their carbon credits.

Through this, Hernandez said even the projects that are not qualified for ITH under the annual Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) will still get government support and become viable.

This, Hernandez said, will show to the world that the Philippines is no longer just after any type of investment. The country is now particularly after the green projects.

Milestone: Carbon-credit sale income
“WE are aggressively promoting investments in green projects. One evident support is our policy on providing incentives to carbon credits. Take note that it was only late last year when the Board decided to consider income generated from the sale of carbon credits for purposes of tax holiday. That is a milestone in so far as BOI policy is concerned,” he told the BusinessMirror.

Carbon credits are being paid by rich countries to companies in developing economies as a way to “atone” for their sins in the past when their rapid industrialization contributed largely in the degradation of the environment.

The commerce of carbon credits, Hernandez said, has enhanced the viability of green projects even if it veers away from the traditional concept of revenue generation.
Manufacturers earn from the goods they produce and services providers get their income from services rendered. The carbon credits, Hernandez said, is like an intangible asset.

Two angles in carbon credits

IN providing ITH to carbon credits, Hernandez said the BOI considered two angles—the investment and the environmental points of view.
In power generation, for example, Hernandez said the country is facing an acute supply shortage by 2013. However, the oil- and coal-based power plants are also the main culprits in the degradation of the environment.

With this, Hernandez said the BOI included in the IPP the renewable-energy projects sector, in order to qualify it to a host of incentives such as ITH and duty-free importation of capital equipment. At the same time, the carbon credits to be earned by these projects, even if they did not come from traditional sources, will not be taxed.

He noted that green-energy projects such as hydro, geothermal, wind and solar are expensive investments so they need every support that they can get.

“Considering our country’s archipelagic nature, renewable energy could best suit our conditions in providing cheap clean energy for our island provinces, especially those areas not connected to the national grid.

This also opens up opportunities for small hydroelectric powered plants for small communities,” he said.

Existing offices and manufacturing facilities, he noted, can also avail themselves of carbon credits when they cut down on energy consumption through retrofitting.

He said companies can design their offices and plants in such a way that natural lighting will be maximized. They can also shift to the energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs).

“I’ve seen some companies that already redesigned their manufacturing facilities to allow natural lighting. One example is the Procter & Gamble warehouse. In daytime, they don’t use lights at all without distracting work. We also have the smart buildings of the business processing outsourcing,” he said.

In granting ITH to carbon credits, Hernandez said the green component has become an integral part of the government’s investment promotion efforts.

Positive investor reaction
And the investors have reacted positively. Hernandez said South Korea and Germany have given their commitment to support renewable energy projects in the country.

A group of Filipino-American businessmen has also expressed interest in putting up the first CFL manufacturing plant here.

A foreign firm has also talked to the BOI for the supply of energy sources using liquid natural gas to power air-conditioning units and other office equipment and household appliances.

China’s Zongshen is looking at establishing an assembly plant here for electric bikes that are suited for use in the communities instead of tricycles.

“While we are pursuing investments that are consistent with the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan, we are now giving more focus to the green projects,” Hernandez said. Read the complete article here http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/economy/17842-government-gives-perks-to-green-investments.html

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged carbon credits philippines, CFLs,hydroelectric, liquid natural gas, philippine government gives perks to green investments 1 week, 6 days ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Green living makes a difference

Sure, “going green” around the home makes us feel good about the environment, but does it actually do anything? The answer is yes, according to research published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In the study, scientists found that even small actions around the house can reduce U.S. carbon emissions by more than 7% over the next decade, even before low-carbon energy technologies are developed and national cap-and-trade regimes for emissions are enacted.

According to study lead author Thomas Dietz of Michigan State University, household energy consumption accounts for 38% of the USA’s carbon dioxide emissions and 8% of global emissions.

Dietz and his colleagues pinpointed several actions that Americans can take immediately that will make a difference, including home weatherization and routine vehicle and equipment maintenance. Specific actions ranged from one-time tasks such as installing better insulation and lowering the water heater temperature, to ongoing tasks like using the clothesline instead of the dryer and improved driving habits.

“I’ve seen many analyses that make wild assumptions about how hard or how easy it is to get people to change their behavior, without any basis in science,” Dietz said. “Our analysis is based on science. We look at what has been feasible in bringing about changes in energy consumption behavior.”

Reducing the USA’s carbon output by 7% over the next 10 years would be the equivalent of France’s total carbon output, or of total emissions by the U.S. petroleum refining, steel and aluminum industries combined. Read the original article here http://blogs.usatoday.com/sciencefair/2009/10/green-living-makes-a-difference.html

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged green carbon reduction 1 week, 6 days ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. is poised to become the country’s largest wind energy resource producer

Listed firm poised to become country’s largest wind energy maker Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. is poised to become the country’s largest wind energy resource producer after securing the nod of the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop several sites across the country. Trans-Asia, through its wholly owned subsidiary Trans-Asia Renewable Energy Corp. (TAREC), recently bagged 10 wind energy service contracts from the Energy department.

With an aggregate wind capacity of 227 megawatts, the service contracts represent the largest ever given by the Energy department to any single energy producer in the country.

Fransisco Viray, TAREC president and chief executive officer, said in an interview that securing the wind contracts is part of the company’s thrust to aggressively pursue being the pioneer and leader in renewable energy resources, particularly in wind resource development.

“After studying the best wind sites in the country, we went for the most. We are just glad that the DOE saw the merits of our proposals and awarded the contracts to us,” he added.

The 227-megawatt wind capacity from the 10 contracts is already more than half of TAREC’s targeted 400-megawatt production of wind power in different locations all over the country, mostly in the Visayas and Luzon.

The TAREC official said that the company will finish its proposed work program for the service contracts within a span of three years before putting up its facilities.

The company’s first batch of wind projects will be put up in Guimaras, which will have a total capacity of 54 megawatts. The project will be done in phases, with the first 8 megawatts to be implemented in 2012.

Besides the said project, Viray said that TAREC is also in discussion with interested local and foreign partners to realize its 400-megawatt wind power target with a total projected cost of $1 billion. Each megawatt of wind power requires about $2.50 million in investment.

Trans-Asia’s shares closed flat on Tuesday at P1.12 per share. Read the complete article herehttp://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/nation/4811-listed-firm-poised-to-become-countrys-largest-wind-energy-maker

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged energy philippines, Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp, wind energy producer philippines 2 weeks, 1 day ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

US, Philippines to partner in biofuel research

Manila, Oct 27 (IANS) Visiting US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has said his government is seeking partnership with the Philippines in biofuel research.

Speaking at a press conference Monday, Vilsack said both countries recognise the need to cooperate more intensively in energy security, especially in the development of renewable energy resources and alternative fuels, Xinhua reported Monday.

‘We are looking at a relationship and partnership with the Philippines in terms of research on biofuels. We recognise and appreciate that you’re faced with the same challenges we’re faced with. You don’t want to be reliant on one form of energy,’ Vilsack said.

The Philippines is the world’s second largest user of geothermal energy, which provides 27 percent of the country’s total electricity production. It is also developing alternative energy sources such as solar and wind energies.

At present, the Philippines is advancing the development of biofuels such as coco-diesel and ethanol blended fuels.’That’s one relationship that we can get at, the biofuel business and I’m
sure that we’ll continue to share information, knowledge and discoveries,’ Vilsack said.

As to American investments in the Philippines, Vilsack said he is optimistic that the Philippines can attract more investors from the US.

‘The reason being is that if we can see investment here, chances are good that there will be resources, services, goods, and essentially benefit US companies,’ he added.

Meanwhile, Vilsack also announced that the US government is providing $8.5 million worth of food assistance from his department for victims of the two storms that affected tens of thousands of people in Central and Northern Luzon, including Metro Manila.

The food assistance, he said, will be in the form of rice, biscuits, and dried milk that will feed about 438,000 people for 60 days. Read the original article here
http://trak.in/news/us-philippines-to-partner-in-biofuel-research/17310/

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged biofuel research philippines,green energy philippines 2 weeks, 1 day ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Grandma’s greener than you

For all the hype about being eco-conscious today, seniors could teach the young about walking the walk rather than just talking the talk.

Until I learned about feed-sack dresses, I thought I was living a green life.

Let me explain: Like many Americans, I try to be environmentally conscious when I can. My family’s fall cuisine has centered on the apples we picked at a local farm and, out for a celebratory dinner recently, I ordered a grass-finished steak. While my flirtation with chlorine-free diapers was short-lived, my new baby does own organic cotton PJs.

Then I read 85-year-old Gail Lee Martin’s recent memoir, My Flint Hills Childhood. During the Great Depression, she reports, companies began selling feed and flour in colorful sacks, knowing full well that cash-strapped consumers would turn the material into children’s clothes. In her Kansas town, “we traded sacks with our neighbors and relatives until we had the required yardage” for dresses, she writes.

Hers was far from the only family reusing what was possible — not because recycling was hip but because the family lacked the means to do anything else. Nonetheless, the result was the same: a lower-impact lifestyle than most of us buying organic pajamas can fathom. Indeed, as the current economic doldrums spark interest in tales from other downturns, I’m learning that anyone who lived through the Great Depression saying “use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without” has far more green credibility than the rest of us. We could learn a lot from these heroes for the planet in America’s senior centers — though the economy would be in deeper trouble than it is if too many of us lived as they lived.

Green solutions For all the dire predictions coming out of the Great Recession, few doubt that the 1930s had a sharper effect on people who lived through them. Unemployment hit 25% in 1933, compared with 9.8% now. Such widespread poverty forced people nearly out of the cash economy. As the late Benjamin Roth of Youngstown, Ohio, wrote in his recently published The Great Depression: A Diary, “In most cases the people moving to the farm feel they will at least be sure of plenty of food for their families.”

Talking to older Americans, though, I’m struck by an irony: Living as frugally as possible during lean times, they often concocted green solutions that we now spend good money trying to approximate.

To wash my newborn’s clothes, for instance, I’ve been eyeing Caldrea’s sweat pea laundry detergent made with “plant-derived surfactants” — allegedly easier on skin and the water supply. Louise Lovison, 79, on the other hand, tells me that as she was growing up in the 1930s in Chicago, “there were chemicals to use for housecleaning, but who could afford them?” So her family improvised, collecting scraps of soap in metal nets, using vinegar instead of bleach, adding water in which potatoes had been cooked to the laundry to starch clothes, and using laundry rinse water to water the plants.

To clean up spills, I recently bought Seventh Generation paper towels, made from recycled paper. But Leah Ingram, author of the forthcoming Suddenly Frugal, reports that “I didn’t even own paper towels until I went to college.” Her “ultimate Yankee mother,” who grew up in limited circumstances (albeit post-Depression) in Maine, constantly saved cloth to use as rags. She also repurposed everything else in her kitchen: Velveeta cheese boxes became drawer organizers, and jelly jars became drinking glasses.

Moving on to the refrigerator, I tend to feel good about shelling out the extra $2 per dozen for organic, free-range eggs. But I’ve got nothing on Depression-era folks who raised their own chickens and otherwise ate the ultimate low-impact diet: vegetarian, because they couldn’t afford meat.

While the federal government is urging Americans to pay for energy efficiency upgrades to their homes, the family of Cornelius Votca, 94, of Mankato, Minn., closed off the upstairs bedrooms and the front parlor in their home during winter months to save heat from the coal or wood stove. It had to be dark before anyone could turn the lamps on, and with no radio or TV, no one was using electricity late into the night. You don’t need a carbon tax when people lack the funds to pay the going rate for energy anyway.

This idea of wasting nothing is tough for modern Americans to get our heads around. Raised in a consumer economy in which every problem requires a product, we tend to think “going green” means buying something. Indeed, marketers have found that people will pay more for green products, and so “green” has become synonymous with luxury. Think the Rafael Pelli-designedVisionaire condos in Manhattan,rather than, as Valarie Swanson reports of her late grandfather, Lou Reichel, who was born in 1919 in Columbus, Ohio, building an entire house — from the door knobs to the cabinets — out of materials he got at a swap meet. As her grandfather would say, “Old doesn’t mean trash.” It meant clean it up and use it again.

Buying our way through life Of course, with the average American family spending annually $6,443 on food, $1,801 on apparel and services, $8,604 on transportation and $2,835 on entertainment, the economy as we know it would tank if consumers lived as “green” as our grandparents did. And so it behooves us to believe that an eco-trip to the Galapagos Islands is more environmentally conscious than that oft-mocked American habit of not owning a passport and staying put, or that driving a Prius gives you green cred when the greenest option is not to own a car. But we shouldn’t fool ourselves that we’re doing better by the earth in this enlightened, relatively abundant age. Between feed-sack dresses and organic PJs, I think the sack fashions carry the day.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/10/column-grandmas-greener-than-you.html

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged frugal living, green living, make it do or do without, use it up, wear it out 2 weeks, 1 day ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Philippine Green company aims to tap ‘ocean power’ DOPPI

LOOKING at tapping the temperatures of the oceans that surround the Philippines, Deep Ocean Power Philippines, Inc. (DOPPI) initially plans to put up several power plants producing 10 megawatts (MW) and 20 MW in Panay Islands.

“The Philippines is one of the premier locations within the world for our technology due to the extreme thermal difference between the warm surface water and the deeper cold water because those are the two required elements for our technology,” Derek Murray, DOPPI vice president, told reporters.

He added that tidal energy works on the flow of the ocean’s current, while DOPPI’s technology works on the thermal gradient difference between the temperatures of the ocean.

Murray said it will take three years to complete their initial project in Panay. “But we’re still in the process of finalizing the study, which will be complete in 6 months,” he added.

“Apart from Mindoro and Panay, we’re looking at 34 sites which we will continue to study. We feel that the oceans here are the oil of the Philippines and so we hope to locate them, the oceans temperatures to help reduce the cost of energy and that’s our goal over the next several years,” Murray added.

-
He also noted that they could also increase the capacity up to 100 MW over the next several projects or in maximizing and using all the 36 sites.

Murray further stated that investment costs will be similar or a little higher than that of wind and solar project, which costs around $2.5 million per megawatt. “Everything is still indefinite with regard to investments, but the final numbers will be made available upon completion of the design,” he added.

DOPPI was one of the energy companies the Department of Energy (DOE) awarded their renewable energy contracts.

On Friday, the DOE awarded a total of 87 contracts to 18 companies for the development of biomass, geothermal, solar, hydropower, ocean and wind energy resources pursuant to Republic Act 9513, otherwise known as Renewable Energy Act of 2008.

The new contracts involve conversions of five existing service contracts/agreements on geothermal and 17 on hydropower.

New RE projects compose the remainder of the contracts, which are anticipated to generate a total of 4,042 MW of electricity, of which 1,257 MW constitute additional power capacity. The projects entail investments in the total amount of approximately P90.4 billion.

Conversions from existing geothermal agreements with foreign contractor Chevron Geothermal Philippine Holdings Inc. were also initiated and endorsed to the Office of the President for approval.

Apart from DOPPI, companies that have been awarded contracts include Trans-Asia Renewable Energy Corp.; Constellation Energy Corp.; Century Peak Energy Corp.; PNOC-Renewables Corp.; Energy Development Corp.; First Gen Bukidnon Power Corp.; Luzon Hydro Corp.; Lucky PPH International, Inc.; First Gen Mindanao Hydro Power Corp.; AV Garcia Power Systems Corp.; Benguet Electric Cooperative Inc.; Alternergy Philippine Holdings Corp.; Deparment of Science and Technology-Industrial Technology Development Institute; and Hedcor Inc.

The companies were issued RE registration certificates on the day of the contract signing.
From the effectivity of RA 9513 in January this year, the total additional power capacity from new RE projects envisioned to be installed within the next five years now run at 1,636 MW. Some 379 MW will come from the seven contracts issued to six RE developers in September.

-
On the biofuels sector, the San Carlos Bioenergy, Inc. was the first to be registered under RA 9513, while Chemrez Technologies, Inc., Golden Asian Oil International Inc. and Leyte Agri Corp., were issued full accreditation under the Joint Administrative Order 2008-1 of RA 9367 or the Biofuels Act of 2006.

Under the said order, Cavite Biofuels was also granted certificate of registration with notice to proceed with its bioethanol project in Magallanes, Cavite which will bring the country’s total annual bioethanol capacity to 73.3 million liters once its ethanol production facility becomes operational.

Read the original complete article here

http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/17717-green-company-aims-to-tap-ocean-power.html

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged biofuels, Inc.; First Gen Mindanao Hydro Power Corp.; AV Garcia Power Systems Corp.; Benguet Electric Cooperative Inc.; Alternergy Philippine Holdings Corp.; Deparment of Science and Technology-Industrial Techn,Philippine Department of Energy, Philippine Green company aims to tap ocean power DOPPI, Trans-Asia Renewable Energy Corp.; Constellation Energy Corp.; Century Peak Energy Corp.; PNOC-Renewables Corp.; Energy Development Corp.; First Gen Bukidnon Power Corp.; Luzon Hydro Corp.; Lucky PPH 2 weeks, 3 days ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Negros villages get ‘green’ electricity

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines—Resident of remote villages of Negros Occidental now have electricity to run rice, corn and coffee mills to process their crops, to provide lights for their children to study at night, and to watch television to keep abreast with what’s happening elsewhere.

This was made possible by 14 renewable energy and livelihood projects worth $1.5 million funded by a grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction that was managed by the Asian Development Bank. The projects have finally been completed.

Last Friday, these projects were formally turned over to participating communities at rites held at the provincial capitol in Bacolod City.

Yongping Zhai, of the Asian Development Bank, turned over to Gov. Isidro Zayco the 14 Renewable Energy and Livelihood Development for the Urban Poor in Negros Occidental (Renew) projects implemented by Winrock International.
Turnover
They were then, in turn, handed over to the participating communities, who launched the Renewable Energy and Livelihood Development Foundation to ensure the sustainability of their livelihood programs, said Jim Orprecio, Winrock International project director.

The projects have so far benefited about 2,000 families, Orprecio said.
A revolving fund of $350,000 will also be turned over to the foundation for the continued implementation of livelihood projects in the communities, he added.

The livelihood loans that residents can avail themselves of are for multi-function mills, vegetable farming, backyard animal-raising, trading, handicrafts-making, grains processing and marketing, marine products processing and marketing, he said.

Less poverty
The goal of Renew is to reduce poverty by providing and promoting the efficient use of sustainable, renewable energy supply to promote livelihood systems for poor local communities in off-grid areas, he added.
Turned over Friday were three micro-hydro systems meant to boost agriculture-based livelihoods in the sitio (sub-village) of Balea, Barangay La-gaan in the town of Calatrava, in Barangay Baclao, Cauayan, and sitios Vergara and Magtuod in Toboso.

The other projects are hybrid renewable energy systems that use biomass and solar power for fish drying that were set up in the island communities of Sipaway, San Carlos City and Sagay City; hydraulic ram pump systems in Cauayan and Murcia towns, Kabankalan City and Himamaylan City; a solar lantern-charging station in Sagay City; and two hydropower systems in Murcia and Cauayan.

The Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation Inc. is handling the implementation and management of the Renew Fund, Orprecio said. Read the original article herehttp://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20091025-232084/Negros-villages-get-green-electricity

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged Negros villages get ‘green’ electricity, philippine Negros villages get ‘green’ electricity 2 weeks, 3 days ago

— Edit This

OLD3

2009-11-11T16:11:00.001-08:00

The good ideas forum: Technology

Several readers focused on energy sources and our continuing dependence of foreign oil. Baguioboy suggests a widespread Waste Energy project. “I process used cooking oil or waste vegetable oil into biodiesel. This biodiesel is used by the Baguio City public transport office for their member jeeps and cabs. I can only produce 500 liters a day as used cooking oil is expensive here.

“I have been asking the Department of Health to categorically declare that the re-use of used cooking oil for cooking or as extender for animal feeds is hazardous to us who eat the food prepared with it.

“Restaurants and fast-food chains can either give us their used oil or sell it at a low price. This way we can make more biodiesel and more vehicles can avail of it at a price lower than petroleum. It’s already a big help in reducing cancer-causing particulate matters and hydrocarbons. If we can make more biodiesel than the required allotment for public transport, we can begin to use it for cooking our food at home.”

Cacs says, “Build lots of dams. Freshwater, not oil, will become the most precious commodity in the future. Let’s make the most of our typhoons. Let’s turn our country into the Saudi Arabia of freshwater.”

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged dams, green philippines,philippine filipino technology, used cooking oil 2 weeks, 3 days ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Solar Panels training in CDO Cagayan de Oro City

Solar Panels Four years ago, I attended a Teacher Training Program for Elementary Science Teachers held in Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City in the Philippines. It was sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology to upgrade the Science knowledge of Public School Teachers.

I was one of the lucky teachers who were chosen to attend the training for 90 hours. It was also supported by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports plus what we studied was given credits by Xavier University. We had field trips and the most memorable one for me was our visit to PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER PLANT. This is the picture of PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER PLANT which has a 1MWp polycrystalline silicon-based PV plant located in Cagayan de Oro City. It was so amazing to see all these solar panels which make our daily activities easy to live. Our class had a deeper understanding about solar energy especially when we had the chance to view the place and its purpose. That training gave us more knowledge about energy and how to make durable energy explained to kids.

Knowing some of the simple facts on how to install a solar panel to catch more sunlight is also important. Solar panels should point to the South because it reaches the Earth under an angle. Solar panels gets more light on a tilted roof as what the picture above looks like in position. The production of solar cells costs energy and it keeps on producing. As we went back to our respective classes, we shared about our visit to the power plant. We explain how we got the electricity from the wall sockets. Teaching the students about the solar energy was more interesting after we had the training. If you want to know more about solar enery, just visit the Website provided here. Read her complete blog herehttp://www.amynobillos.com/

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged solar panels in Cagayan de Oro City 2 weeks, 6 days ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

How Green Are Your Philipine Pinoy Gadgets?

Look at the dial above: the greenest gadget brands are the ones on the far right. Why is that so? Who says so?

Did you know thatGreenpeace has been rating electronics firms since August 2006? I saw some ratings in the Enterprise and Gen G magazines this year, but didn’t read completely through. I should have prior to making a new celphone and laptop purchases.

Greenpeace’s ratings have been effective as the electronics companies have been more conscious of their green transformation. Who wouldn’t want to top this ratings game, especially now that being “green” is considered as a positive company trait? It is”cool” to be “green” and thus, that is “good” for marketing. This article comes from an excellent blog on Green Pinoy which everyone should read here and the rest of this article as well.

http://pinoygreenacademy.typepad.com/pinoy_green_academy/2009/10/how-green-are-your-gadgets.html#more

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged green gadgets philippines, pinoy green gadgets 3 weeks, 1 day ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Sate of Renewable Energy in RP Philippines

The following is a short overview of renewable energy as utilized in the Philippines:

Wind is particularly popular in the Ilocos region due to the wind regime in the area. Northwind operates a 33MW wind farm in Bangui Bay, Ilocos Norte. The rule of thumb cost per MW at the moment is $2.5 million dollars per megawatt. Based on studies conducted by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Department of Energy, the country has vast renewable energy potential, including 76,000 MW of wind capacity.

According to a newspaper report, three companies were awarded four wind energy service contracts: Energy Development Corp. for its planned 86-MW wind farm in Burgos, Ilocos Norte; Northern Luzon UPC Asia Corp. for its 50-MW wind project in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte; and PetroEnergy Resources Corp., which bagged two contracts for a 30-MW project in Sual, Pangasinan and a 30-MW project in Nabas, Aklan. Energy Logics Philippines Inc.’s pre-commercial contract for a 120-MW wind farm in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, was converted to a wind energy service contract.

Cagayan de Oro utility CEPALCO has a 1MW solar plant that they plan to upgrade to 14MW. Silicon-based solar photovoltaics are being manufactured in the Philippines by US companies SunPower and Solaria, although their local manufacturing presence has not really resulted in an increased availability of solar photovoltaics locally; most of these parts are exported and any need for solar cells still requires importation into the Philippines.

Solar thermal, while attractive in desert type areas, has not attracted much attention in the Philippines due to sometimes diffuse and cloudy skies.

Geothermal continues to be a traditional renewable energy resource in areas like Albay province. Currently, the Aboitiz group operates a 458MW combined geothermal facility in Tiwi and Makban, bought at roughly less than $1M per megawatt. Steam is currently supplied by Chevron Geothermal Philippines Holdings, Inc.

Cogeneration is popular for large factories and heat producing environments. Large companies such as Unilever, Procter & Gamble and others have been employing it for some time.

Another non-RE resource that has attracted significant attention, is biofuels, particularly with the mandate to add 10% ethanol to gasoline (E10) will be in force by 2011 from the current 5%. This has been enabled in part by the presence of mixed use engines, particularly from Ford, that allow higher ethanol blends of up to 80%. Recently, the Philippine government renewed ties with Brazil to strengthen cooperation in biofuels. Significant land has been devoted to the planting of biofuels. In non-agricultural areas, a plant imported from India, jathropa, has attracted significant attention here. However, jathropa can only be planted in non-agricultural areas, as the plant, particularly the seeds where the oil is derived, is poisonous. In addition, the Department of Energy, while still evaluating jathropa, is mainly focused at the moment on using Coco Methyl Ester (CME) as the biofuel blend for diesel.

One issue that has been brought up is the standards for these biofuel additives, as car companies and oil companies have expressed concern about damage to engines if the quality of supplied biofuels is not properly addressed. To help verify this, an engine testing center has been set up at UP Diliman, with a grant from an automotive company, precisely to test these types of concerns.

-
-More exotic sources like algae are still in the experimental evaluation stage. The Ateneo de Manila University as well as private companies like Alsons Aquaculture are conducting early studies in this area.

The Biofuels Act of 2006 mandates that diesel be blended with biodiesel at 2% starting Feb. 2009, while gasoline be blended with ethanol at 10%. The projection is that by 2011, the demand will be at 594 million liters of biofuel while by 2015, it will reach 721 million liters. The current capacity, as reported in BusinessWorld last month was only 39 million liters combined. It is estimated that the demand for sugarcane will be at 10.3 million tons, for sweet sorghum at 14.4 million tons, and for cassava at four million tons. Estimated land required is 243,000 hectares, to meet the demand.

This article can be read here in orginalhttp://www.bworldonline.com/BW102009/content.php?

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged biofuels, Cagayan solar plant,philippine geothermal, renewable energy in Philipines, Renewable energy RP, wind power 3 weeks, 1 day ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Brad Pitt’s ‘floating house’ can work in Philippines

A housing design prescribed by architects for post-Katrina New Orleans might suit flood prone areas in the Philippines

MANILA – After Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Southwestern coast of the United States in 2006, celebrity Brad Pitt and his Make It Right (MIR) Foundation set about building environmentally-friendly and sustainable housing for affected families in New Orleans.

Formed by Pitt after he saw the devastation to New Orleans’s Lower 9th Ward, the MIR aims to build over 150 houses within 14 blocks using “green” design principles pitched by architectural firms all over the world.

This is supposed to fulfill the promise Pitt made residents in the area: that he would help them build a stronger and safer neighborhood. (Take a virtual tour of storm-resistant MIR homeshere [12].)

Floating House

The Make It Right Foundation’s “Floating House.” It can rise up 12 feet on 2 guideposts like a raft. Photo fromwww.makeitrightnola.org [13].

According to the MIR website [13], each house the foundation will build will incorporate storm-resistant features like escape hatches on the rooftops, hurricane window fabric that protect interiors against the entry of water, and raised elevation, among others.

The houses will also use mostly eco-friendly materials.

One house that stood out among the rest, however, was a “floating house” that Pitt unveiled in early October.

The house, designed by Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects, can break away from its moorings and rise up to 12 feet on 2 guideposts – much like an anchored raft.

Though it will separate from its plumbing and electrical lines when it floats up, Mayne said in an interview with NPR.org that the house can provide enough battery power for 3 days so the family can survive until help comes.

It is buoyant because of its chassis made of polystyrene foam (not considered eco-friendly) and glass-reinforced concrete.

Morphosis Architects has not revealed how much the house costs, but various internet reports say building cost is low.

The house has not been tested in real flood conditions, but only in extensive computer simulations. “I mean, hopefully it never gets used. But when it gets used, it’s important,” Mayne said in a statement.

Disaster-ready housing

Can floating houses like these be feasible in the Philippine setting? Definitely, says Architect Jason Buensalido of Buensalido+Architects.

Founded in 2005, the firm is known for its contemporary designs and eco-friendly projects.

In fact, Buensalido’s firm was about to draw a similar plan for a “Float House” when Brad Pitt’s floating house was introduced in local newspapers and online news sites.

“It’s just as simple as designing a raft. It’s just as simple as putting a house on a raft. So you know, it’s really possible,” Buensalido said in a phone interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.

Buensalido said they are looking for partner organizations who are open to building floating houses, like Gawad Kalinga and My Shelter Foundation (which works with disaster management networks). They are even considering pitching the idea to President Arroyo herself.

As a guide to their design, Buensalido cited existing floating houses in areas of the Netherlands like Maasbommel near the Meuse river, where floating houses are already a norm. These houses are anchored on vertical columns, so the houses basically move up and down.

The floating houses are built with hollow concrete cubes underneath for buoyancy, while electricity and water are pumped through flexible pipes. Each house costs about $310,000 (about P14.4 million).

As early as 2007, a Dutch company called Dura Vermeer built 37 such houses that can rise up to 13 feet. Buensalido, however, said RP’s floating houses can go higher to suit local conditions.

In Provident village, the village in Marikina City which was worst hit by floods brought on by Ondoy, waters reportedly rose as high as 30 feet.

“The question really is how to make it (a floating house) affordable to make. But we want to really make it possible,” Buensalido said, adding that pre-fabricating materials and potential mass production could bring the building costs down.

“It’s also a matter of material selection. They don’t have to be ultra-expensive. It really boils down to economy because it has to answer to immediate needs. It might not be reachable to common people, so you have to make it cost-effective in the way we produce it,” he said.

House on stilts

Buensalido’s ‘Pinakamagandang Bahay sa Balat ng Lupa’ entry. The house has a second skin, like a sleeve, which can be customized according to the budget and aesthetic preferences of the buyer. The skin acts like a natural cooling system. Photo from METRO Home Magazine.

Disaster-resistant housing need not be as expensive as floating houses in the Netherlands, as an award-winning design by Buensalido and Associates proves.

Buensalido had come up with an eco-friendly and sustainable house design that won this year’s “Pinakamagandang Bahay sa Balat ng Lupa” contest, launched by the University of the Philippines College of Architecture and Lafarge Cement Services, Inc.

Contest rules required that the house had to cost at least P750,000 (the median cost for a Pag-Ibig Housing loan), fit a family of 5, and it had to be flood and typhoon-resistant.

Buensalido’s firm designed a customizable modular house, inspired by the traditional ‘bahay-kubo’, that “actually sits on stilts.”

“The whole house is really on the second floor. On the ground floor, there’s nothing but empty space, like a veranda. It’s consistent with the idea of a bahay kubo which is an elevated house and the rest of the lot is used for social gathering. By raising the house, you’re essentially safe in terms of floods and disasters,” he told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.

Eco-beam frames that support piles of sandbags inside the walls add to the house’s flood-resistance, Buensalido said.

The house can go up several stories, depending on how high an area’s flood waters can rise.

Indigenous ideas

The design of the stilt house incorporates a rainwater-harvesting system where a series of valve spouts on the roof direct rainwater either to an underground cistern or an ordinary steel drum.

If budget allows, the cistern can be fitted to a high-tech filtration system that can produce water for drinking or bathing. Drums, meanwhile, can collect water for plants and backyard vegetables.

This could ensure that a family has adequate stocks of water and food when floods or typhoons come. Buensalido said that architects can learn a lot from indigenous housing that were built to respond to their natural climate.

Tribes like the Badjao, for example, have learned to live with rising tides by building stilted houses and house boats.

“If you look at old architecture, like the bahay kubo and houses in Banawe, they all respond to the climate. They’re site-specific and that’s how architecture should be,” he said.

Buensalido describes indigenous housing as “perfect for the Philippines” because they are well-ventilated and do not require artificial cooling, they make full use of natural lighting and do not use as much energy, and they are usually made of sustainable material like bamboo, coconut, nipa, or ‘anahao.’

Buensalido said that modern houses need not look exactly like a ‘bahay kubo’, but can incorporate eco-friendly design principles.

Good urban planning

While low-cost floating or disaster-resistant houses could help people cope with oncoming disasters like typhoons, Buensalido said much of disaster prevention has to do with good urban planning.

“In the first place, urban planners should check the 100-year flood history of an area. And in the first place, they shouldn’t build on a site that is flood-prone. In the macro-scale, the reason why we have this problem is because Manila isn’t planned well,” he said.

(Read: ‘Gov’t, private developers liable for flood damage [14]‘)

Buensalido said the recent storms- Ondoy and Pepeng – served as an “eye-opener” for architects and developers, as well as the government.

“It should really be the government. All these urban planning – the government has the power to approve these things at the end of the day. But the government does not have the budget to prevent these things. Architects can only do a certain amount of work to help people respond to disasters,” he said. Read the original posting here http://abs-cbnnews.com/print/75123

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged brad pitt, floating house, manila,portable houses flood manila ideas 3 weeks, 2 days ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Wind energy blows strong in the Philippines

The recently held GTZ symposium on renewable energy held last October 8 at the Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street was an interesting example of how investors and the public are now interacting with our new Renewable Energy Act. The passage of the 2008 Renewable Energy Act of the Philippines has paved the way for an increase in investments in the renewable energy sector. One of the areas that have benefited is the wind energy sector. It is estimated that the Philippines theoretically has around 76,000 MW in wind energy capacity, based on studies conducted by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Philippines Department of Energy.

It was reported in the Inquirer.net that the Department of Energy last September awarded three companies four new wind energy service contracts—Energy Development Corp. (PSE: EDC) for its planned 86-MW wind farm in Burgos, Ilocos Norte; UPC Asia Corp. for its 50-MW wind project in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte; and PetroEnergy Resources Corp., which bagged two contracts for a 30-MW project in Sual, Pangasinan and a 30-MW project in Nabas, Aklan. Also, Energy Logics Philippines Inc.’s pre-commercial contract for a 120-MW wind farm in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, was converted to a wind energy service contract.

Several joint ventures between local businessmen and foreign companies and investors have also been announced in the local dailies, among those that have been reported include the Alterenergy Partners joint venture with Eurus Energy Japan and Korea East West Power Co. to identify projects in the 30 to 40 MW range; and the French wind turbine manufacturer Vergnet Group, said to be looking for joint venture partners.

The rule of thumb given is that each megawatt of capacity costs around USD $2m to 2.5m dollars. At present, aside from small isolated micro-wind installations in remote communities, the largest one at present is the 33MW wind farm in Bangui Bay, Ilocos Norte run by the Northwind Power Corporation, which contributes only 0.21% of the total electricity generated in the country, that is when the wind is blowing.

The 7,100 islands of the Philippines make it difficult to make electricity available in many areas, particularly those that are isolated from the main electric grid. Most large islands with large populations, such as Luzon, Panay, Cebu, Mindanao, and others have their own generation, distribution and utility companies to service their areas.

-
-However, smaller islands with sparse populations or mountainous areas are a particular challenge. In these cases, sometimes the only practical solution is to use renewable energy power sources (e.g. wind, solar, biomass) or diesel powered generators.

Because wind, like solar, is an intermittent energy source, there has to be a means of storage to compensate for times when it is not generating power. In isolated off-grid areas, for smaller wind systems, this normally means a battery. In countries like the U.S., in the Texas Panhandle for example, T. Boone Pickens’s backup of choice is a natural gas turbine. But for the Philippine setting, the typical approach much like in most countries is to simply connect these large wind systems to the electric grid, and to simply sell power to the grid when it is generating. Anyway, just like in the U.S., the Philippines operates a spot market for electricity. In the case of renewable energy, a special spot market for renewable energy has been developed by the Philippine government to guarantee that there will be buyers for producers of renewable energy electricity.

One concern of some investors is the limit on foreign ownership. It is defined in the Philippine constitution that in certain key industries/sectors, foreign ownership is to be a minority, with a slight majority going to a Philippine partner. For some investors, it is not an issue, but for some it is. As former Energy Secretary and now Alterenergy Partners CEO Vince Perez mentioned during the GTZ symposium, at the moment the only choice is to look for a trusted Philippine partner to work with.

Another concern is in the way the public may perceive the Feed-in-Tariff, which is a key subsidy mechanism to attract investors to invest in renewable energy in the Philippines. During the Ramos administration, the government suddenly had to build power plants to meet a large capacity shortfall, and to do this, they had to entice investors with a ‘take or pay’ scheme meaning that even if the power was not being used, electricity utilities and therefore consumers had to shoulder part, if not all, of the cost of the unused generated power. There was such a big public outcry, especially in this country where the ‘cheapest power possible’ mentality rules, that it will sometimes if not always be difficult to pass measures that subsidize for example, renewable energy. Just like the personal computer and the semiconductor industry, renewable energy requires a steady market in order for private sector technologists to be attracted to constantly improve it. Unfortunately, the appetite for renewable energy seems to be correlated with the price of oil. If oil is cheap, the appetite for renewable energy disappears and vice versa. The Feed-in-Tariff hopes to counteract this tendency.

Personally, most people would like to see renewable energy succeed in the Philippines. The severe flooding brought about by typhoon Ondoy has brought home more awareness of the need for low carbon energy sources. Supporters of renewable energy hope that electricity consumers will actually step up to the plate and pay a little extra for renewable energy through the feed-in-tariff, in order to increase the returns for the companies and investors that go into this sector, already saddled by high upfront capital expense costs for wind (currently $2.5m per MW) and solar (currently $2/watt for silicon based photovoltaics and $1/watt for less efficient thin film based photovoltaics) and the threat of cheap oil. Besides, electricity consumers in the Philippines already pay a foreign currency adjustment charge for imported oil used in power generation. There is no reason why they should not accept a feed-in-tariff adder, given that they will no longer need to pay the foreign currency charge for that portion of the electricity bill.

Otherwise if consumers do not agree to pay the piper, then coal, the current king of the hill in terms of price, will really become entrenched as the power source of choice. http://blogs.inquirer.net/insidescience/2009/10/16/wind-energy-blows-strong-in-the-philippines/

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged green power wind philipppines,wind energy philippines, wind power philippines 3 weeks, 5 days ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Solar Cellphones Go on Sale LG Samsung

SEOUL—Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Co. separately started selling solar-powered phones Wednesday, a big step in a budding trend of cellphone makers seeking to tap growing consumer interest in eco-friendly products.

Samsung
Samsung’s Blue Earth

Samsung rolled out a touch-screen model, dubbed Blue Earth, with a shell made from recycled plastic water bottles and a solar panel on the back. LG’s model, called the GD510 Pop, also has a touch screen but its solar panel is an optional add-on.

Consumer demand for solar-based phones is hard to gauge, but makers are planning to market them as good for the environment as well as a way to hedge against running out of battery power.

Both the Samsung and LG phones have features that promote walking, such as software that measures distance traveled, and allow customers to calculate how much they can reduce carbon dioxide emissions with physical activities that replace driving.

“It is premature to say whether they will be successful, but overall it’s the right direction because people are increasingly interested in saving energy,” says Park Sung-min, a telecom industry analyst at Kyobo Securities in Seoul.

Samsung is aiming the Blue Earth model at premium customers, with pricing around $300. The phone, which can also be charged with a traditional plug-in cord, is initially available in Sweden; Samsung said it will quickly roll it out elsewhere in Europe and Asia.

LG
LG’s Pop
LG
LG said the Pop phone will also initially be sold in Europe and be priced around $300 with the optional solar panel about $50. The companies said decisions are pending about U.S. sales.

Samsung said the Blue Earth phone can accept enough charge under an hour of normal sunlight to allow for 10 minutes of talk. LG said the Pop model permits about 13 minutes of talk after being charged for an hour under normal sunlight. The companies said the phones will also charge under artificial light, but more slowly.
Nokia Corp., the world’s largest cellphone maker by units and revenue, introduced a solar-based cellphone in 1997 but it didn’t continue in the company’s regular lineup. The company earlier this year demonstrated a concept phone that runs entirely on solar power.

Samsung, the second-largest maker, in June introduced its first solar-based phone, a bar-shaped model with a normal keypad and solar cells on the back. That phone, called Solar Guru in some markets and Crest Solar in others, was aimed chiefly at developing countries and sells for as little as $60. But Samsung also offers it in some wealthy European countries like France.

Read the original complete article here
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703790404574472791840523758.html

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged LG Solar cell phone, Samsung Solar cell, Solar Cellphones Go on Sale 3 weeks, 6 days ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Free showing of ‘green’ films for students at SM malls

MANILA, Philippines–A major mall chain in Metro Manila will be showing “green” films to students for free to show how they can care for the environment.

In response to the serious effects of climate change, particularly the unprecedented flooding in the metropolis caused by Tropical Storm “Ondoy,” SM Supermalls has launched the SM Green Film Festival that will showcase award-winning documentaries and international films on the environment.
Liza Silerio, SM vice president for operations, said the films will be open to the public, especially students.

“By showing these films, we aim to show everyone the beauty of our planet, to teach the value of conserving our shared resources, and to plan and practice environmental efforts toward a sustainable future,” Silerio said.

She added that with the cooperation of the Department of Education’s Adopt-a-School program, public and private high school students have been invited to attend selected screenings in SM malls near their schools.

The films will be shown Thursday at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City and on Oct. 21 and 22 at SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

Silerio said the film showing was made possible with the support of various embassies.
She added that the movie, “Home,” was especially lent for the occasion by the French Embassy. Home, a travel notebook that shows how human beings have seriously disrupted the Earth’s fragile life balance, has been touted as one of the films to watch out for this year.

“We believe that these documentaries and films will open our eyes to what is really happening to our environment and to our planet in general,” Silerio stressed.

To further foster the students’ participation in the project, Silerio said they are encouraged to bring old or used mobile phones, chargers and accessories to be dropped off at special Nokia recycling bins at the cinema venue.

“This endeavor will teach our youth that toxic waste such as cell phones should be disposed of properly,” Silerio said.

For SM Megamall, the following films will be shown: “An Inconvenient Truth,” Home, “11th Hour,” “Planet Earth (From Pole to Pole),” and “Ligtas Likas.”

At the SM Mall of Asia, the featured movies will be “Planet Earth (Mountains),” Ligtas Likas, 11th Hour, “Penguins, Penguins, Paano Ka Ginawa,” and Home. Original article herehttp://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20091014-230083/Free-showing-of-green-films-for-students

Filed in Uncategorized 4 weeks ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Keeping It Green when you travel

Keeping It Green
Once you’ve arrived at your travel destination, there are many ways to further mitigate your impact on the land and local community, says Abby Ray, a spokesperson for the Rainforest Alliance. Her suggestions:

Respect the natural environment by always following designated trails and not littering.
Hire local tour guides.
Dine at locally owned restaurants.
Never purchase products that are derived from members of protected or endangered animal species.
Request that your sheets and towels not be laundered daily.

For additional green destination suggestions, visit Eco-Index Sustainable Tourism, WholeTravel.com, and RezHub.com(see the resource box). No matter where you decide to take your next vacation, being green away from home is more important—and easier—than ever. “Travelers want to discover the world’s most unique experiences,” says Davie, “and green travel is the best way to make sure those experiences are still there for future generations.”

Resources for Choosing Your Destination

Eco-Index Sustainable Tourism, developed by the Rainforest Alliance, lists businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean deemed environmentally and socially friendly by environmental organizations and/or ecotourism certification programs.
RezHub.com provides links to environmentally friendly hotels; activities; hybrid rental cars; and flights, via carbon offsets. Many airlines offer passengers an opportunity to make their flights “carbon-neutral” by selling—usually for around a few dollars per 1,000 miles flown—carbon offsets to pay for planting trees and other programs to compensate for the damage their flying does to the ozone.
WholeTravel.com includes a range of sustainable travel opportunities including destinations, accommodations, and activities.

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged philippine travel keeping it green4 weeks, 1 day ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

BMG Solar heater

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged BMG Solar water heater philippines, green solar water heater philippines 4 weeks, 1 day ago

— Edit This

OLD

2009-11-11T16:10:00.003-08:00

SOLAR HEATER PHILIPPINES

ALSO SEE LATER IN THESE POSTS OTHER DEALER OF SOLAR HEATERS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged SOLAR WATER HEATER PHILIPPINES 1 month ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

LG Develops Solar Panel for E-book Reader

South Korea’s LG Display has developed a solar panel for an e-book reader and plans to commercialize it around 2012.

The panel is 10 centimeters in width and length and has been combined with a Sony Reader electronic book to prove the concept, according to a photo issued by the South Korean company.

A working prototype of the panel and e-book reader will be on show at the International Meeting on Information Display (IMID) than runs this week in Seoul.

The cell is less than a millimeter thick and weighs just 20 grams so won’t significantly increase the weight of an electronic book reader.

E-book readers already offer a long battery life because their electronic paper displays draw power only when the page is being turned so the addition of a solar panel could mean regular readers never have to worry about charging the devices again.

Exposure to sunlight for four or five hours would provide enough power to run the e-book reader for a day, said LG Display.

The solar panel used in the prototype has an efficiency of 9.6 percent and LG is aiming to increase this to 12 percent next year and 14 percent by 2012 at which time it should be read for commercialization. Read the original article here http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,173459/printable.html

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged E-book reader solar panel, LG solar panel e-book reader 1 month ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Make the switch or ban the bulb? Green Philippines

At the recent kick-off of the government’s campaign to make the Philippines incandescent bulb-free by 2010, about 2,000 poor households in Manila’s Tondo district received free energy-saving compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in exchange for their incandescent bulbs.

About 13 million more CFLs will be distributed nationwide in the coming months under the Philippine Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP), made possible through a loan agreement between the Asian Development Bank and our government.

PEEP also calls for a change in government office buildings and public lighting systems, create a lamp waste management facility, establish an energy service company that will provide financial and technical support to companies planning to reduce energy consumption, and initiate a ‘green building’ rating system.

In addition, ADB is working on a carbon credit purchase agreement with the Philippine government. The program is seen to reduce national carbon dioxide emissions by 300,000 tons a year, allowing the Philippines to receive approximately 300,000 tons of certified emission reduction (carbon market) credits annually.

Undeniable benefits
Incandescent bulbs, in the version that Thomas Edison designed, has been replaced by CFLs in terms of energy efficiency. While there are questions to the luminescence claims of some CFL manufacturers, the savings on fuel costs cannot be denied.

The country’s “Switch to CFL” campaign, considered the first of its kind in Asia, will save the country P5 billion in fuel costs each year. Each incandescent bulb replaced by a CFL is touted to save as much as P4,000 worth of electricity.

Incandescent bulbs are known to use only 20 percent of the electricity to produce light, while the remaining 80 percent is wasted as heat. In contrast, CFLs use most of their electricity input to produce light. An average incandescent lamp’s life is only about 800 hours, while high-quality CFLs that will be used in the campaign will have a life of 10,000 hours, with a two-year warranty.

Resistance to switching

Even with all the benefits stated above, the switch to CFLs has encountered resistance especially among low-income households because of its higher replacement cost. A 100-watt incandescent bulb would only cost around P20, while a CFL would range from P100 to P200, depending on the wattage.

The modern CFL design has been with the world since the 1973 oil crisis, but only recently had mass manufacturing designs and techniques been able to bring down unit costs to substantially more affordable levels, although still on the high side.

Because of the CFL’s marked reduction in energy use, the push to implement a ban on incandescent bulb use has been gaining popularity. Europe and Australia have already announced a ban on incandescent in 2010. Canada is also working to ban the bulb next year.

The Philippines has expressed its intention to join the 2010 bandwagon but has yet to demonstrate political will in actually moving forward the proposed initiative.

Health and environment concerns
Not everything is rosy with CFLs though. Environmentalists are critical of the mercury found in it. About 1.5 mg to 5 mg of mercury, a highly toxic pollutant, is found inside the glass tubing. If the glass is broken, environmentalists contend this will make its way in the air and water.

Many countries are still grappling with the issue of CFL disposal, but if this is properly handled, the threat of mercury escaping to the environment could be avoided. Mercury is a known neurotoxin that can cause kidney and brain damage.

The energy department should start an information campaign on how best to handle used bulbs, even if they estimate the lifespan of those that have been given away – and will be distributed – to go beyond 2015. Read original article herehttp://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=511186&publicationSubCategoryId=66

Where can I buy these energy efficient bulbs? If your in Cebu check out this blog article to find stores that sell about 5 for 100 pesos If your not in Cebu or not able to visit, Chinatown in Manila has for cheap prices and in most hardware stores like SM, Robinsons, Ayala have them but at higher prices.

Bargain stores in Cebu city, Colon Street, Philippines

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged green philippines, luorescent lamps where to buy philippines, switch light bulbs 1 month ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Solar Power, Without All Those Panels

THE main way for homes to harness solar power today is through bulky panels added to the rooftop or mounted on the ground.

But companies are now offering alternatives to these fixed installations, in the less conspicuous form of shingles, tiles and other building materials that have photovoltaic cells sealed within them.

“The new materials are part of the building itself, not an addition, and they are taking photovoltaics to the next level — an aesthetic one,” said Alfonso Velosa III, a research director at Gartner and co-author of a coming report on the market for the new field, called building-integrated photovoltaics.

Companies are creating solar tiles and shingles in colors and shapes that fit in, for example, with the terra cotta tile roofing popular in the Southwest, or with the gray shingles of coastal saltbox cottages.

SRS Energy of Philadelphia is making curved solar roofing tiles designed to blend in with Southern California’s traditional clay tiles, said Martin R. Low, the chief executive of SRS. A solar tile system that met half the power needs of a typical California home would cost roughly $20,000 to install after rebates, he estimated, or about 10 to 20 percent more than solar panels providing comparable power. http://www.srsenergy.com/Home.aspx

U.S. Tile of Corona, Calif., a maker of clay tiles, will be selling SRS’s Solé Power Tiles, initially in California, and then in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and other states, said Steve Gast, the company’s president. It will be taking orders perhaps as early as November for shipment in January, he said. SRS Energy buys the photovoltaic cells that cover its roofing from United Solar Ovonic, a maker of flexible solar modules that is based in Rochester Hills, Mich. SRS bonds the silicon cells to the curved Solé tiles, which are made of the same basic material as car bumpers, said J. D. Albert, director of engineering at SRS.

The cells have been installed at several demonstration sites, including a home in Bermuda Dunes, Calif. Rather than creating an entire new roof with the solar tiles, the homeowner, Bill Thomas, a roofing contractor, chose to insert them in his existing roof, replacing about 300 square feet of terra cotta tiles; the job took about four hours, he said.

The solar insert in the roof will generate about 2,400 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, enough to cover a quarter to a third of a typical electric bill, Mr. Albert of SRS said. Read the original complete article here.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/business/27novel.html?hpw

THE main way for homes to harness solar power today is through bulky panels added to the rooftop or mounted on the ground.

But companies are now offering alternatives to these fixed installations, in the less conspicuous form of shingles, tiles and other building materials that have photovoltaic cells sealed within them.

The solar insert in the roof will generate about 2,400 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, enough to cover a quarter to a third of a typical electric bill, Mr. Albert of SRS said. Read the original complete article herehttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/business/27novel.html?hpw

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged green philippines, solar power without the panels 1 month ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

No power bills for this Philippine sun-powered eco-house

MANILA, Philippines—At a glance, it looks like any other one-bedroom model house. Inside is no different for within this 53-sq-m abode are the usual household appliances and furniture, including an air-con.
There is some good ideas of those of us who want to go green and save the environment and maybe another Philippine Bargain.

Zoom

THE ECO-JAO Bahay Kubo employs several technologies that enable its occupants to live “off-grid.”

But there is nothing ordinary about the Eco-Jao Bahay Kubo that was exhibited at the recently concluded Construction Show Manila (ManilaCon) 2009 in Pasay City.
-

Its solar panels on the roof power all its lights as well as a number of appliances while solar heaters provide the hot water. It also has a cistern that gathers rain water that could be used for flushing the toilet, washing or watering plants while its walls, floors, frames and posts are made from sustainably harvested and reclaimed wood products.
-

“What I would like to prove here is that you don’t need to be rich or famous to be able to afford a sustainable and ecologically friendly house. Who knows, the Eco-Jao Bahay Kubo could be the beginning of a trend that would someday change the way we live here in the Philippines,” said its designer, architect and interior designer James Jao.
-

The Eco-Jao Bahay Kubo is so relevant these days especially since electricity is becoming too expensive for middle-income families, he said.
“One should realize that the purchase of electricity is one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions, the gas largely blamed for global warming,” he said.
-

Carbon-neutral house
But what is more interesting about the Eco-Jao Bahay Kubo is the fact that this P1.5-million detached unit may be regarded as the Philippines’ first example of a carbon-neutral house—the amount of carbon dioxide it generates daily is offset by its use of conservation techniques and of recyclable / reusable / biodegradable building materials and renewable energy source.
-

“The Eco-Jao Bahay Kubo employs several technologies that enable its occupants to live ‘off-grid,’” Jao said.
“Materials like PVC/carbon fiber roofing, thermally insulated walls, large double-glazed, low-emissivity (reflecting solar radiation) windows, light-colored interior and high ceiling work together to cool the house during hot and humid days,” he said.
-

What would these innovations mean to an average middle-income family?
“Just like in car racing, the goal is to achieve the top performance that the household members get from a house. This involves lowering a family’s energy expenses—from cooking, lighting, cooling and running different sorts of appliances—without sacrificing life’s comforts,” Jao said.
-

Mission
Since he completed his bachelor’s degree in architecture at the University of Santo Tomas and master’s degree in city design and social science at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Jao has promised himself to one day help every middle-income family live in an ecologically sound home.
“It’s not very easy to do this initially since not many see the significance of sustainable living. Also, the materials I was seeking were still too expensive or not yet available here in the local market,” Jao said.
Last year, Jao teamed up with LA Ducut and Co., the organizers of ManilaCon, and was able to build and display his first eco-house—named LuzViMinda—during an exhibit at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
-

“Considering our group’s advocacy for green and sustainable building, Jao’s eco-house exemplifies what we are campaigning for years through our yearly exhibit,” said Lilibeth Ducut-Abais, managing director of LA Ducut and Co.
-

Abais said that after the exhibit last year, the 121-sq-m LuzViMinda was disassembled and transported to Bulusan, Sorsogon, where it was rebuilt for its new balikbayan owner.
-

Innovative products
“Since then, so many innovative products have become available locally and [these were] incorporated in this year’s version of the eco-house,” Jao said.
He described the Eco-Jao Bahay Kubo as a modern example of Filipino architecture, featuring a shaded veranda that helps keep natural air to freely circulate and allow sunlight to easily penetrate the house’s interior.
-

“Apart from the comforts that one may be able to enjoy, the owner of this type of eco-house would be able to recoup his investment in just five years,” Jao said.
-

He said a developer or home builder constructing say, six to 12 units, could lower the cost of each unit since the developer may be able to build a single energy source that could be shared.
He said he was fortunate to be part of the annually held ManilaCon, as he was able to impart his concept to a wider audience.
-

Original posting herehttp://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090922-226372/No-power-bills-for-this-sun-powered-eco-house

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged green house philippines, sun powered house philippines 1 month ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Solar panels in the philippines? Where can I find?

Note the article above this posting on a innovative energy efficient “green” house built here in Manila.

Where can I buy/order a small solar panel in the Philippines ?

http://www.sophilcor.com/ is a Philippine source for solar products

Sulit has several dealers listed too in classified

http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/classifieds+directory/q/solar+panels

Here is a solar water heater herehttp://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/solar-water-heater/

A friend from Greenpeace gave me the contact number of their Climate and Energy Campaigner who can give you the details on where to get a solar panel. Please call Abby Jabines at 0917-8864767.

Their office has a basic solar panel set-up that can power everything except A/Cs and refrigerators, I think. Since I cannot afford it, I’m doing the Greenpeace “Take action” campaign (http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/climate-change/take_action) na lang

There are solar powered airconditioners (

http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?Type=&year=&month=&location=&keyword=&SearchText=solar&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=601&srchLocation=&srchYearMonth=

) and refrigerators available from China. They use the sun’s heat to drive the cooling cycle, and very little electricity to drive the cooling fans. EERs from 21 to 30 are common in these devices (regular aircons do 8-12 EER).

If you’re going to use solar power, it makes sense to switch some parts of your home wiring to 12V electrical systems instead of using an inefficient inverter. LCD monitors, non-laser printers, network hubs, can all run off twelve volts. There are 12V CFLs for general lighting as well as 12V ballasts for regular flourescent lamps.

Solar power’s best use is as a source of power in off-grid areas. regarding the inverter, on the tecnical point of view what does it do?

the Inverter converts 12V/24V DC electric power from batteries to 110/220V AC power. It only converts around 80% of the energy, with the rest lost as heat. Hence, it makes sense to avoid using 220V appliances on a 12V solar system (easy to do, since modern technology runs well on 12V)

In the many trade shows that I’ve attended, I noticed that Shell Philippines also has a demo unit that they’re sellng. It will enable you to power several light bulbs, a tv, a couple of elec fan, or just what you might call a basic barrio house electricity requirement. If you want to upgrade, you add more solar panels, and batteries.

Try calling the United Architects of the Philippines-Green Architecture Movement
Address: 53 Scout Rallos Street, Quezon City, Metro Manila, 1103, Philippines
Tel: (+63) 2 – 412 63 64 / Fax: (+63) 2 – 372 17 96. GAM advocates the use of alternative energy sources, and encourages the use of solar energy to those who are open to the idea (and have extra cash to spare). I can PM you a contact from GAM if you need it.

Filed in Uncategorized 1 month ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

Go green (energy saving) in your house, room by room

Living room
How to green your home? Let’s start in the living room as electronics are sucking up more and more juice–as much as 15 or 20 percent of people’s bills.

Low effort: Slay the vampire, or parasitic, load in your home by using power strips. Connect your computer or entertainment center gear to a power strip and flick the power strip off when you’re done. A more high-tech approach is a “smart” power strip like this one by Bits. You plug your TV or computer into the Control Outlet (in blue) and peripheral devices like printers to the Automatically Switched outlets. When you turn the TV or PC off, the standby power for the peripherals gets cut automatically.

Medium: Do your homework before upgrading your TV, game player, etc. and make energy efficiency one of your top buying priorities. CNET rates products on energy consumption now and Greenpeace rates individual consumer electronics manufacturers on everything from toxic material to greenhouse gas reporting. Flat-screen TVs, in particular, can create a big jump in energy use if you don’t choose with efficiency in mind.

High: Install a home-area network from a company like iControl which integrates home energy management with home entertainment.

Kitchen
Now apply the same thinking for reducing energy consumption from consumer electronics to the kitchen.

Low effort: Put a lid on a pot of water set to boil. Freeze food and use a microwave to heat it, which uses less energy than cooking from scratch.
Medium: Buy EnergyStar-rated white goods. Since its inception in 1991, the program has saved 100 terawatt-hours of electricity, or 2.5 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption in a year. In the no-brainer category.

High: If you want to get fancy with your appliances, look into what GE is doing. These “kitchen of the future” appliances, expected for release next year, will be clever enough to respond to a signal from a smart meter to take go into conservation mode or take advantage of off-peak rates. Whirlpool recently announced that it, too, produce one million “smart-grid compatible” clothes dryers by 2011.

Dining room
Artificial lighting can account for 15 percent of a home’s electricity use. LEDs promise long life and low power, but there’s a lot to do before LED prices come down to earth.
Low effort: Install (more) compact fluorescent bulbs. In terms of light quality, you can get a range of colors–check the “K rating” or Kelvin rating. Yes, they do contain small amounts of mercury so you should recycle them with hazardous trash or return them to retail stores like Home Depot that recycle them.

Medium: Open the shades. Managing natural lighting can cut your artificial lighting (and cooling) needs significantly. If you’re really hungry for the beneficial effects of “daylighting,” consider getting an appliance, such as a Solatube, which pipes light in from the roof.

-
-High: The most high-effort, high-tech approach to lighting is LED lamps. Because of the higher upfront cost, most LED lights are used in commercial spaces where one can take advantage of the different colors LEDs offer. But if price is no object, LED lighting can turn your basement TV room into a fancy home entertainment center or, as this homeowner did, give your dining room some classy ambiance.

Attic
This is where you can cut your heating and cooling bills significantly. The city of Austin, Texas, which has mandated home energy audits, found that almost 90 percent of the 400 homes audited needed both additional attic insulation and repairs to their leaky ducts.

Low effort: Get an energy audit and help snoop out the places where air from conditioned space (where you live) seeps into your attic, crawl spaces, basement, etc. To find an energy auditor, go to efficiencyfirst.org. There are subsidized weatherizing services for low-income people as well.
Medium: Add more insulation to your attic (and walls). Most homes could use more. Homes in the U.S. should have between R-30 and R-60 insulation. This attic was sprayed with Icenyne foam on the rafters, which provides both insulation and seals the air. The DOE’s office of energy efficiency offers a map on what you should have for your climate.

High: Get a comprehensive audit with a blower door test and infrared camera. An audit can cost $500 or $600, but it will help locate air leaks around the house, which is important to do before insulating. Cellulose or fiberglass insulation doesn’t stop air flow, it just keeps heat in. To fill those air cracks, learn how to use a caulk gun and canned foam.

Basement
Heating and cooling is where the bulk of most household’s energy budget goes, so the basement is the location of your home’s biggest carbon footprint. The clothes dryer and the hot water heater, often in people’s basements, are typically among the biggest energy consuming appliances.
Low effort: Clean out the vent on your clothes dryer with a brush. Insulate hot water pipes and put an insulating blanket around your hot water heater. Set the hot water heater to 120 degrees and, if it’s electric, put it on a timer

Medium: If you have central air, have it maintained (filters cleaned, etc.) so it will run more efficiently. Use fans (although only when people are in the room) and ventilation, such as opening windows during the cool times of the day. Also in the low-tech department is hanging your clothes to dry.

-
-High: You can supplement or replace your heating or cooling with a range of more efficient products, such as efficient space heaters or evaporative coolers in certain climates. The DOE again offers a good explanation of your options. Heat pumps, such as ground-source heat pumps or geothermal systems, seem to catch on a bit more every year as a very efficient way to heat and cool buildings.

Home office
With many people working at home, the home office is a significant consumer of energy both for electricity and space heating/cooling. It’s no wonder when you look at the rat’s nest of wiring in home offices.

Low effort: Set your computer’s power management system at home and at work. Recycle your old electronics gear. See this map to find a recycler.
Medium: Use a laptop instead of a desktop PC. Put things that don’t need to have standby power (computer speakers, etc.) on a power strip and click it off when not using. Unplug all those chargers–for the phone, iPod, Blackberry, etc.–when not in use.
High: In addition to buying an energy-efficient PC or other electronics, consider adding other green attributes to your list, such as whether the product can be recycled and the amount of toxins used inside.

Bathroom/water
The goals here are to reduce water consumption and to lower the amount of energy needed to heat water, which can be up to 25 percent of a home’s energy use.
Low effort: Put an aerator on your bathroom sink–for 50 cents, you’ll make your money back quickly on lower water consumption. Then, get a low-flow shower head, which save between 20 percent and 60 percent water. Fix those leaks.

Medium: Consider getting an on-demand (also called tankless) hot water heating. In some cases, you can have an electric on-demand water heater placed directly in the bathroom and other places in the home that need hot water.

High: Get a solar hot water system, either flat panel (left on this photo) or evacuated tubes. While solar electric (photovoltaics) cost about $25,000, you can get a solar hot water system for $10,000 or less. These systems have been around for decades (remember Jimmy Carter) but are more reliable and efficient than the 1970s variety. Original posting with photos is located here http://news.cnet.com/2300-11128_3-10001322-7.html?tag=mncol

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged going green philippines, house energy savings, room by room 1 month, 1 week ago

— Edit This

Leave a Comment

DOE launches energy-efficiency project

AMID typhoon Ondoy’s onslaught on Metro Manila, the Department of Energy (DOE) pushed through on Saturday with the launch of its Switch to Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) program under its Philippine Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP).

Held at the Don Bosco Youth Center in Tondo, Manila, President Arroyo and Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, along with its partner nongovernment organizations and religious groups, handed CFLs to some 2,000 households in Tondo—the early adapters to the project.

Reyes said the shift to CFLs could help reduce the peak demand for power by 450 megaWatts. “Reducing the peak demand eases the need to import energy sources by as much as $120 million every year,” he added.
Among the other benefits, Reyes said the use of five 15-Watt CFLs will result in monthly savings of P58.50, as compared with spending P270 for using five 60-Watt incandescent bulbs.

With about P210 saved from using CFLs, Reyes said money could be used to buy 8 to 10 kilos of rice or to pay water bills.

The Switch to CFLs, which is under the DOE’s PEEP, is financed through a $30-million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The Switch to CFLs program is the first of its kind in Asia, where 13 million CFLs will be distributed all over the country in the coming months, as part of a larger drive to make the Philippines incandescent bulb-free by 2010.
ADB said that for each light bulb replaced, families can expect savings of as much as P4,000 on their electricity bills over the 10-year life span of the CFLs.

“This groundbreaking campaign will not only save families’ money. It will also save the Philippines $100 million in fuel costs each year or around $1 billion over the coming decade,” Reyes said.

Incandescent bulbs are inefficient with only 20 percent of the electricity used to produce light; the remaining 80 percent is wasted as heat. In contrast, CFLs use most of their electricity input to produce light.
While an average incandescent bulb’s life is only about 800 hours, CFLs used in the program have a lifespan of 10,000 hours with a two-year warranty.

Reyes also noted that the program will help reduce carbon emissions by 300,000 tons every year, which will allow the country to earn about 300,000 tons of certified emission-reduction credits annually—which is another boost to the country’s coffers.

“This project shows how Filipinos and the world can benefit through such investments—making the Philippines the first country in Asia to access carbon credits from a program like this,” said Neeraj Jain, ADB country director for the Philippine country office.

=
-The PEEP, which includes the CFL-replacement program, is made possible through a loan agreement between ADB and the Philippine government. In addition, ADB is also working on a carbon-credit purchase agreement with the Philippine government.

The project will also retrofit government office buildings and public lighting systems with other efficient lighting options, create a lamp waste- management facility, establish an energy-service company that will provide financial and technical support to companies planning to reduce energy consumption, and initiate a “green building” rating system.

“[Around] 18 nongovernment organizations and church groups have come together to support this initiative because we believe that each one of us can be a part of the solution to present-day climate change and energy challenges,” said Cates Maceda, co-convener of the Switch movement. “Switching to CFLs is one simple yet concrete step that can generate long-term benefits for the country.”

Apart from the PEEP, ADB is also working on a carbon-credit purchase agreement with the Philippine government.

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia-Pacific region through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.

Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members—48 from the region. In 2008 it approved $10.5 billion worth of loans, $811.4 million worth of grant projects, and technical assistance amounting to $274.5 million. (With C. Ordinario) Read the original article here

http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/nation/16554-doe-launches-energy-efficiency-project.html

Bargain stores in Cebu city, Colon Street, Philippines

Filed in Uncategorized and tagged energy light bulb philppines,philippines energy efficiency 1 month, 1 week ago

Green Technology Philippines

Wind, water, steam as energy sources in the Philippines

Sleek, lightweight e-bike Gaining a Toehold for the E-Bike

YouTube - Noel Cabangon sings about climate change

Noel Cabangon, whose new Album "BYAHE" is doing well and should be in your collection, does a song for Greenpeace. Great video.http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=Cmxm2-Z- ILw

Attention Shoppers: Solar Panels, Now on Aisle 5 & Australian Firm Hopes to Cash In by Giving Away Light Bulbs

Eight Philippine firms get green awards

Philippine Solar Car

Green living with eco-friendly lights in the Philippines

Pint-size Windmills Could Become a Big Source of Power

9 Inspiring Green Tech Projects in the Developing World

Philippines harnessing small-scale wind power & Cities promote scooter commuting

Geothermal As A Green Energy Source

9 Inspiring Green Tech Projects in the Developing World & More-efficient TVs can help limit energy consumption

Solar-Powered Mobile Phone Samsung

Basics to a GREEN Enterprise

LED Bulbs Save Substantial Energy, a Study Finds

In Greenland, warming fuels dream of hidden wealth

Govt urged to look at generating ‘green jobs’ from zero-waste programs

Makati offers free rides on e-jeepneys

Earth-friendly gifts a hit for Christmas...

Top 10 Extreme Eco-Friendly Homes

8 weird ways to save the Earth & Global survey lists top eco-friendly retailers & OTHER HEADLLINES

Philippine Solar-powered Christmas lantern launched & A long way to go for electric mobility & more

CFL energy saving bulbs to save power, lessen bills

White is the new green for HP

How to Give Green X-mas Gifts

Compact, efficient homes are the way to go

Shop green? Global survey lists top eco-friendly retailers

Green cooling in the metro Philippines

Finding the money to green your business

Solar Car Philippines

Philippine Solar-powered Christmas lantern launched

Parade of environment-friendly vehicles in QUEZON CITY PHILIPPINES

Profits in Solar? Reaping Returns in Wind?

Solar cellphone handsets that don't quit

Dipping Into Green Investing for your Finances

Read Green News around the world

GREEN ENERGY IN THE PHILIPPINES, ELECTRIC MOTORBIKES P20,000

China pushes solar, wind power development, India to Boost Funding for Solar Power

TO BE SEPARATED ENERGY ARTICLES 1

The cover story in the November issue of Scientific American contends that renewable energy can already theoretically power 100% of energy needs, and totally replace carbon emitting sources by 2030.

OLD 2

For all the hype about being eco-conscious today, seniors could teach the young about walking the walk rather than just talking the talk.

OLD3

OLD

Noel Cabangon, whose new Album "BYAHE" is doing well and should be in your collection, does a song for Greenpeace.
Great video.

http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=Cmxm2-Z- ILw