Why is the Philippines investing it oil? It’s old technology.
Biliran geothermal project [Source: Biliran Blogs]
By JoeAm
Oil is not technology, I suppose, but getting to it involves a lot of technology, especially if the wells are in deep seas. That means a lot of money is spent, too.
The issue came to mind as I read a CNN report about a joint Philippine-Israeli agreement to explore the oceans west of Pawalan. The Department of Energy press release explains that President Duterte wants to become less reliant on oil imports and the price swings that accompany this vulnerability. Well, prices are indeed up, but when the peso weakens to 54 to the dollar, of course imported oil will be more expensive. But that is not the doing of the international markets, is it?
If I understand the report correctly, the Philippines is paying the Israeli firm Ratio Petroleum $34.35 million dollars (1.9 billion pesos at 54 to the dollar) to explore Area 4 in the waters west of Palawan. Work will include studies, data gathering, and drilling over a seven year period.
The effort is a part of a bigger program to gain foreign assistance in the drilling effort. The Philippines’ Malampaya oil and gas field is almost empty so it seems the Philippines is past a state of concern and heading toward panic. Even the idea of reviving the Bataan nuclear power plant comes up, something that to me seems as ridiculous as a bullet train to Palawan.
The Philippines has no substantial exploration and drilling capability of its own, so seeks foreign assistance: 14 foreign firms eyeing PH petroleum search contracts. The cost is pegged at $15 million per well in shallow water and $100 million per well in deep water. The Israeli firm obviously will not generate any production with only $34 million to work with. It is just looking to see what is out there.
And it could all be a wild goose chase. A 2013 study by the US Energy Information Administration concluded there is very little west of Palawan: Contested areas of South China Sea likely have few conventional oil and gas resources
It seems futile to me, considering the expense and dirty carbon footprint of finding oil in a well-pumped planet. And considering the rich energy resources of the Philippines. I mean, the nation has to be one of the richest in the world:
- Plenty of bright tropical sunlight
- Thermal heat galore
- Fast-moving currents between islands
- Lots of water, some of it crashing down the mountains
- Strong winds here and there
- Tons of waste products for burning
I’d argue that the Philippines ought to skip right past the rest of the oil era and move aggressively toward renewables, those energy rich gems that do not unduly stress the planet. They are approaching the cost of oil as reasonably priced power sources. Only two things stand in the way:
(1) The will to do it
(2) The technology
I can use Biliran Island as a case study. Biliran’s mountains pull water from the skies year round. It crashes down the steep hills, heavy and strong. But there are no hydroelectric generators to collect the energy. There are strong ocean water currents in the strait between Biliran and Leyte, but there are no generators in the water.
It has taken five years to get geothermal off the ground. Sooooo slowwww, but it seems to be approaching promise. Biliran will become totally self-sustaining for electricity thanks to the island being a fairly tame but active volcano. There is a lot of very hot heat not too far beneath the surface. A pioneering geothermal energy project is scheduled to begin producing 5 megawatts of power soon. Then 10 shortly thereafter. The entire island only uses about 7 megawatts. At full capacity, the thermal plant should generate 240 megawatts. Here’s a recap: BGI to fast-track Biliran project
The project has struggled through delays, changes in ownership, and technology issues. Biliran energy entrepreneurs had to go to Iceland to find the thermal expertise to drill the testing wells. Government’s demands for fees are rumored to have stalled the project. Eight employees were overcome by gas fumes in 2014. Another rumor has it that the first wells were TOO HOT, melting the probe pipes. The lines to transmit the energy are not yet installed, apparently. There is a small solar generation effort attached to the project.
It all seems a bit slow and slap-dash to this observer. This does not reflect the kind of will I am speaking of, that is crisp, purposeful, well-planned, and devoid of what I will call ancillary money making schemes from the involved parties and governments (commissions). The need for sophisticated technology is obvious.
On the upside, the Biliran project is being run by a subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corporation, a mining company that is diversifying into renewable energy. So the Philippines seems to have some rudimentary technological capabilities. Another Philippine company named Mannvit is doing the architecture and claims expertise in thermal. I hope so.
There are also rumors that the hills that are supposed to be used for generation are being mined for ores. So that is troublesome. A small solar energy field is also being set up near the thermal plant. I hope this is not a bait and switch operation, a cover for mining. I hope that there is some serious geothermal energy potential.
I apologize that my trust level about the way things are managed in the Philippines is so low.
That aside, I’d suggest government invest in these kinds of ventures and develop Filipino expertise rather than hiring foreigners. And rather than trying to find a scarce, dirty, troublesome, carbon-emitting flammable goo. Get good at thermal, and figure out how to extract from very hot sources. The energy is there. So is hydro energy, as I proposed five years ago: Biliran Island Power Proposal
Is there a will to run clean energy with a sense of purpose aimed at making Biliran Island a first class energy exporter of hydro power, solar, thermal, ocean currents? Not bogged down in tricks, commissions, and sloppy work? How about other parts of the Philippines?
I’d like to think so.
The national government ought to be inspiring such projects. And subsidizing them and auditing them. And demanding results. It ought not take five years from inception to energy. It ought to take two.
Solar Philippines’ 63.3 MW Calatagan Solar Farm [From Solar Philippines]
- San Miguel is changing from coal to biomass (rice husks) to fuel its electrical generation plants. SMC converting coal power plants to biomass.
- And another, in the solar arena: Solar Philippines
- And increasing social awareness, as published two days ago: Diesel or solar: Could a push to power the Philippines turn greener?
The future is what we make of it. Slow, troubled, and costly . . . and outdated. Or focused, productive, and cost efficient . . . and a great leap forward.
I don’t see the will right now, at least from the National Government. The hints of technological capability developing privately are encouraging.
We dreamers can only dream . . . and hope the schemers will not scheme and ruin the promise.
“Lose the goo. Go renewable.”
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
I agree on everything.
Tiwi, Albay (my father’s hometown) has had a geothermal plant since 1979, tapping the active Malinao volcano. Albay has 3 volcanos.
https://www.gaiadiscovery.com/latest-places/tiwi-birthplace-of-philippine-geothermal-energy.html
Marcos basically forced a lot of landowners to sell cheap is what I heard – seems my grandfather was one, he died in 1978 so it is just vague hearsay I know. But what I did see during a visit was thuggish plant security. And I was told of farmers whose land was rendered useless by sulfur entering the groundwater.
So such projects in the Philippines are often two-edged swords to the disadvantage of the powerless. Some also said the plant generated electricity for Manila while the local electricity remained expensive. Wonder how true that is. But yes, the Philippines could be prospering if things were run better. Energy sources and a lot of natural resources but sheer greed is what destroys the place. BTW re the volcano:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malinao_Volcano
Plant was decommissioned in 1979 due to decrease in steam supply. I suppose that pertains to the huge amounts of water such plants consume. Which makes my dam idea for Biliran useful . . . for storing water . . . not just for hydro power, but for steam power. I am wary about the Biliran project because of all the rumors about commissions, mining, failed drilling, and the fact that 8 people were poisoned by gases early in the project. The land dedicated to it covers almost the entire mountainous heartland of the island.
Greed defeats competence every time, I suppose.
I posted this on the Biliran blog by mistake.
October 26, 2018 at 10:12 am
For the Laguna Lake more pump storage power plants have been planned.
http://www.cbkpower.com/project/kalayaan-pumped-storage-power-plant-kpspp/
For more info on pumped storage power plants.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydroelectricity
Now I know what TESDA means.
Transferred Executive from Shabu Detection Anomaly. 🙂
Totally Excused from Shabu Detection Accountability. 🙂
I said it here, I have been doing it here for sometime now? WHAAAT? I was reading the comments before I read the article/blog or news. And I have done it again at this early morning hours here. Kindly read the comments not to have the pulse but the heartbeat of the nation. What they say betrays their pros and cons emotion. Not UNUSUAL OR UNCOMMOKN TOO among PEOPLE OF DEMOCRACIES when I read comments of Aussies, Brits and Americans (Canadians seem more tamed) when they praised, kneel in obeisance, DEFEND WITH CANINE LOYALTY or thanks for democracy when mere words form into thoughts to tar, feather and quarter their leaders whose livelihood and extravagance they paid have paid for with taxes from their sweat and health.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/10/26/1863261/military-blew-chance-true-change-philippines-duterte
When I said I DISCERNED the true heartbeat of the people/nation I suspected ARHYTHMIAS and in those irregular heartbeats I hear lots of whispers like whom the Gods wish to destroy . . . . .blah, blah, blah, the yakking and yakking of sages:
https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=yMTSW92kCOuW_Qb-34nICA&q=whom+god+wishes+to+destroy&oq=whom+god+wish&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0j0i22i30k1l2.7567.15113.0.18632.16.13.1.1.1.0.343.2090.0j11j1j1.13.0….0…1c.1.64.psy-ab..1.14.1789.0..35i39k1j0i131k1j0i3k1.0.di5H8WlSD54
And in those simple words, in each every phrase and sentence, one surely can write an essay about rulers and their vassals without doing copy and paste from cyberspace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whom_the_gods_would_destroy
Last June 18 (4 months ago only) with no thoughts of relevance or currency of events, these musings got submitted but rejected here as an Essay. May be this time, for the sake of one or minuscule few who finds time to read popoy, the piece as wannabe poetry; hoping the piece attempts at more content than form.
THAT ANIMAL CALLED DICTATORSHIP
This is not about dictators substantively
or very directly but about what they do
or have done to their societies.
Very crudely it is about the songs and not the singers.
It’s what both singers and songs DO or FAIL to do,
MASSIVELY.
If the ideology is totalitarianism or authoritarianism,
dictatorship is the practice, the dynamic aspect
of stringent goals and desires of few individuals
to the detriment of the country’s citizens and
the pillage of its natural resources.
Perhaps the world is better off without
the perpetrators albeit they constitute fewer
than the mentally challenged in a bell
statistical distribution of the world population.
Although dictators and dictatorships are difficult
to dissect as separate concepts; the focus of peroration
can be confined to the latter instead of the former.
The names of dictators fill to the brim, thankfully
only to a small garbage bin of history. Internet nevertheless,
list them down without equivocation.
A series of words and names had been lastingly
associated with dictatorships. Physical and mental violence,
injustice, murders, corruption, rapes, adultery, slavery,
thievery, oppression, incarceration, wars,
bloodbath, tortures, etc.
Dictatorships could be subtle and subliminal,
could be clownish (smiling Martial Law)
and benevolently malevolent,
could be long lasting but lack
the natural quality of permanence,
despite aberrations in history by examples
of a few countries like Communist Russia
and Mainland China, now both embarked
on mutant capitalism.
State sponsored, state tolerated injustice,
murders, corruption, rapes, adultery, slavery,
thievery, oppression, incarceration, wars,
bloodbath, tortures, etc. are NOT
what the RULE of Laws are all about.
Dictatorships mock, re-invent and defy that RULE
and foist it on the people.
RULE with FREEDOM is the anathema of dictatorship.
Dictatorship is a pestering wound of freedom,
even regained freedom as in EDSA.
The humaneness of humanity started among cavemen
being free to speak his mind, worship his God,
live without hunger, and without fear of any being,
men and animals. Modern man in a human way
makes the quest for freedom its holy grail of equality;
never fully attained but achieved substantively.
Man as creature of nature is endowed
with INCREASING CAPACITY to thrive
FREELY alongside its flora and fauna counterparts
in his environment.
Dictatorships no matter how progressive
can only CREATE a semblance of a man-made ZOO.
There might be absence of hunger,
there’s freedom to howl and scowl
at each other anytime, and live with
only the fear of the barking of dogs at night
and the silenced roar of motorbikes of
apocalypse riders in tandem.
Nevertheless, the feeling is like living
freely inside the biggest CAGE where
one is secured from hunger and disorder,
as long and provided the ZOO denizens
remain docile and compliant.
Thus it may be conjectured that dictatorships
ultimately seek to provide every necessity
in life except freedom and happiness.
And that sounds like dismal poetry.
However, most of the above perorations
are intangibles and abstract and need to be concretized.
Dictatorships FAILED and still failing bigtime
against the light of one concrete word: DEVELOPMENT.
In the annals of authoritarianism, the greatest good
for the greatest number has never been attained.
Social justice remains elusive. Poverty and socio-political
and economic inequalities could be a lot better among
free world countries than in those despot-ruled.
Those concerned in the flight of nations
particularly the men and women
in the UN’s higher echelons
consider DEVELOPMENT
as the encompassing need of the free
and not so free world.
It starts with the social aspects, i.e. mainly
the education and health issues. The ultimate goal
is t enable the individual to develop himself—
with the help of the state–into his/her fullest potential.
There should be no impediments like race
or lack of opportunity for individuals
to become professionals and be
productive members of the society.
There is then the need for economic development,
for the ability to create wealth out of available resources arising
from employment, decent incomes from trade and commerce;
and the capacity to produce the extra push
to support production to meet requirements
of increasing population.
Political development which means
MEANINGFUL participation of all,
Rich or poor, capable or incapable
in the society to administer their own destiny,
is the essence of governance characterize
by human freedom.
Consequent to the practice of functional politics
are the concrete evidence derived from formulas
or axioms of attaining the greatest good
for the greatest number;
the least governed is the best governed,
majority rule works like clockwork;
that the rule of law and not of
despotic men (and women) is
the raison d’etre for democracy.
Dictatorship is at once the symptom
and malaise of aberrant political development.
Dag Hammarsksjold, “Swedish diplomat and economist,
and second UN Secretary General from April 1953
until his death in September 1961” had succinctly
clarified the intricate relationships of the
key DIMENSIONS of DEVELOPMENT.
He in effect said one dimension is the cause
and at the same time the result of all the others,
which suggest that the dimensions have apparent
and very real equal importance.
That the development fabric is a seamless web, a WHOLE.
Put in more specific terms: social development
can be the cause and at the same time result
of both political and economic development.
To connect the abyss between dictatorship and development
is a stretch and difficult to make as they
are not equal identities of equation.
The causes that fuel the engine of dictatorship
markedly differ from those of development.
Although lip service to given goals (ends) might
be of the same intensity
but the MEANS (planned and executed) vary
in every which way from what is moral
and legal to what is rationale and acceptable.
In academia and the UN, Development
is “planned change accompanied by growth.”
It is the INFRASTRUCTURE of Progress.
Development is the continuing process
of increasing the capacity of a polity
to respond to harsh changes
occurring in the environment.
In fine, the pursuit of development could be
wobbly and faltering in some countries.
In contrast, dictatorship leaves behind a trail
of cheap coffins and cruelty– and perhaps fittingly,
tragic ends to dictators.
Whereas development could be
a boring Sisyphean “teleserye,”
dictatorship should be, –must be—
a short episode of bloody tragedy. ***
so sorry this is long and I didn’t have to edit many times to improve it. But the concerns for their liberty; polished, sharp, crude, or dull tools doesn’t matter to those who wish and fight for freedom.
(1)
For reasonably positive exploration licences, the oil companies will PAY the country. When a country pays the company, something is very fishy.
(2)
We all know that Malampaya was to be finite. So, when proposals were made by the operator to connect some smaller gas fields to extend the life, the country demanded excessive royalties. The operator warned the authorities not to wait too long because the deciding factor is the limited lifetime of this very special, unique, pipeline. The country dillidallied and now the opportunity is over and both parties are loosers in typical local style. There now are some idle gas fields without a chance of ever being hooked up, laying a new pipeline is just too expensive.
(3)
The problem is not the alternative energy. Like you said, there are many different sources of energy in abundance. Be it thermal, solar, wind, hydro, tidal, rice husk. Philippines should be very lucky. Therefore, there SHOULD be many investors eager to invest. Why not? This can only mean that the economical conditions are not favourable for investors. And that is pure politics. Oh yes, there are some nice solar and wind projects. But it should be a balanced package of varried types of renewables. Talking about individual plants (“rice husk” or solar) without overall plan and vision is like pi..ing in the wind. You loose. Which is a huge problem because Philippines COULD be a country with the cheapest power. Instead, development of this country is severely hampered by high power prices, the excess costs disappearing somehow. Just ask the new investors in Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia WHY they choose not to invest in Philippines and your eyes will shed some tears. Power pricing and reliability was one of those critical decission factors…
(4)
No expensive expats, train local staff???? So wrong.. My best staff abroad were always Filipinos. So, there are great, experienced Filipino staff available. Ask yourself why they are working abroad instead of in Philippines. And consider that IF you would train staff locally, they would disappear abroad before you can blink your eyes. And the reason they are NOT working in Philippines certainly is not only financial. Some highly technical multinational companies in Philippines DO work with only Filipinos. So, those people ARE here and they ARE willing to use their expertise. But, just not in the sectors you described. Maybe time to ask what is wrong there and fix it, otherwise this also is pi..ing in the wind ????
(5)
Power, waste and healthcare are sectors where ” inventive people” can make loads of money disappear. It’s no use trying to fix the symptoms if the root cause is left untouched. And everybody knows it and elected a strongman who was going to fix it. So, don’t worry, things will miraculously improve soon and Philippines will have the cheapest and cleanest power in Asia, resulting in high-tech companies (Like data centres) flocking to our beautiful islands and everybody will be fully employed in meaningfull jobs. Right?????.
(1) The news articles and press release did not make clear who was paying whom, so I guessed that no one would pay to explore what the US Energy people say is empty of oil and gas.
(2) Makes sense.
(3) Agree totally.
(4) The problem is a grand absence of managerial competence in the Philippines. I don’t know what latitude private companies have to pay competitive salaries. I assume they can and would factor that into their specs for going forward with a project.
(5) Nice hallucination, ahahahaha. Actually, it is encouraging that San Miguel is doing the switch to rice husks, and solar is building, and there are wind farms. If there is money to be made, I think they’ll be on it and government will just be watching, having done nothing to inspire anything.
re 4) I read somewhere the foreign BPOs have issues getting good Filipino managers.
What I also think is that
a) a lot of Filipino managers suck, have an attitude problem in that they want subservience – but are not interested in real performance work-wise or better business.
b) there is a lot of backbiting within Filipino-only organizations, similar to Ampalaya de Castro vs. CJ Sereno, and Supreme Court Midas against Sereno.
so good people leave, Pablo is I think right it is not just the money. But I am speculating based on my own observations and what I have heard.
c) further speculation: could it be many Filipino managers tolerate/encourage b) because they want to “keep their people in check”? That would fit the mindset of a low-trust society, where everybody is presumed to be just waiting to do some kind of mischief.
Could be. There is nothing wrong with cheating unless one gets caught.
Aieeee, it is true at all levels then. I watch my wife managing the household help. Sweetest little autocrat I’ve ever met.
@Pablo,
Can I ask for your opinion on plasma gasification, and what WTE would be acceptable ?
Will it create more problems ?
Many thanks
Sorry, your number 5 is good enough unless you want to add something
Seawater could be a solution?
https://seawaterpower.net/#/video-details
I guess this would be Uranium from sea water.
This may not be a hoax like what is said about deuterium, but still this involves lots of research.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2016/07/01/uranium-seawater-extraction-makes-nuclear-power-completely-renewable/#6b351a3159ae
THERE I GO AGAIN what the readers say as I read the news after. There I go again about my no longer silent pride being a Filipino. Rascals who claim Pinoy ancestry should be DNA tested,
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/10/27/1863660/cesar-sayoc-us-mail-bombing-suspect-claims-filipino-ancestry
Popoy, but sometimes that is Filipino [brain] fried. 🙂
Don’t get me wrong, I am proud to be a Filipino — warts and all. Yes, let us have Sayoc’s DNA tested. See my note below.
An article I read minutes ago caused me to put two and two together and come out with five. 🙂
The article says stress causes the brain to shrink.
Filipinos are not stressed. “Relax lang, pare ko. I got money from yesterday to spend today. Come let us splurge.” But counter the new foreigner-friend, “But how about tomorrow when all that money is spent today?” He has the solution: “Then I go to my Barangay Captain, but if he does not share with me, I go to my Mom.”
Conclusion:: Filipino brain, small as it is already from poor nutrition in childhood, will not shrink. The well-off Filipinos reason similarly — thus, their brains will not shrink too. QED.
🙂 NH, WW2 Filipino babies can claim malnutrition due to war food shortages. But most of PH population now cannot claim this excuse.
NH and sonny what’s all that inductives got to do with the pipe bomb mailer in the link; can’t seemed to follow the stretch or analogy of specifics which are at best parallel but not congruent .
Ti’s a puzzle. In any case, it is of insignificant importance. You may choose to label it as incorrect induction too. 🙂
I can see the connection, NH. Maybe not necessarily cause and effect, but this
Popoy, I made very tenuous, i.e. poor connection to the statement: “… stress causes the brain to shrink …” Pls ignore.
You are right in that probably 70 to 80 percent of the present PH population do not have nutrition deficiencies unless they choose to do so. But, I believe, some 20 percent have nutrition deficiencies but not by choice; some, extreme.
Having too much of something is technically also malnutrition.
“mal” meaning bad here, not lack of necessarily. Too much pork, too much San Miguel, tanduay, too much sweets, too much fried foods. Very different from say Thailand or Vietnam, even Indonesia , where eating and food seemed healthier– balanced.
Filipinos scoff at eating vegetables… poor man’s food.
I saw lots of skinny poor kids with pale or yellowish poop , very dark urine over there; but also really fat kids with early signs of diabetes, who never stop eating. The middle was less visible, at least from what i saw, so my point
malnutrition all around was there, no food, to too much of it. Especially the love for fast food. The badjaos had the healthiest diet, the big and fancy fish they caught they sold to the market, but the smaller fish they kept and with rice and sweet yams, they were set. Sea urchins freshly caught , mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…
that was life.
Deuterium deposits make Philippines “The Richest Country in the world”
What is DEUTERIUM? Deuterium is HEAVY WATER or HYDROGEN WATER without oxygen. This is obtained from the deep trenches of the World and the World’s largest DEPOSIT OF DEUTERIUM is IN THE PHILIPPINES – A big deposit of 868 miles long, 52 miles at widest point, and 3 miles at deepest point, replenished by nature 24 hours a day after Deuterium traveled more than 12,000 kilometers from Central America to the Philippines through the span of the Pacific Ocean when Planet Earth turns on its axis from West to East in unending perpetual motion.
https://newsgru.com/deuterium-deposits-make-philippines-the-riches-country-in-the-world/?fbclid=IwAR1Nd-WakgMW4R4yE07zYBMDU_UCtPO6cuPhjrvJllANek1ZUvUcQaC2_cc
Rather interesting. I wonder if there is a rebuttal, or why it has not been developed.
That is a known hoax especially spread by Marcos loyalists.
Not sure about the hoax but sure i am no iloko Marcos loyalist…. 🙂
Of course you are not a Marcos loyalist. But there are reliable sources that prove that deuterium is a hoax. Among them my favorite hoax-buster Bob Couttie.
https://bobcouttie.wordpress.com/2018/03/30/deuterium-the-hoax-that-will-not-die-part-one/
https://www.manilatimes.net/did-businessweek-fall-for-a-30-year-old-hoax/48710/
The Imeldific plan, it turns out, is to harvest the Philippines’ astonishingly vast reserves of deuterium lying in the lower reaches of the Philippine Trench. According to Imelda, she was first informed of the country’s unknown treasure in 1971 by father of the H-Bomb Edward Teller during a visit he made to Manila, and the savvy businesswoman that she is, she has by her own admission spent “millions of dollars a year” to secure an exclusive right to extract water from the trench. Deuterium is fuel for fusion reactors and has other high-tech uses, at it is found in the Philippine Trench because it is carried there from South America by ocean currents, concentrated by the tremendous pressure of one of the ocean’s deepest places.
A huge undersea deuterium would indeed be a tremendous economic resource for the Philippines, except that it has the minor problem of being nonexistent. One hopes for Mrs. Marcos’ sake that her claim to spending “millions” to hold on to extraction rights was an idle boast on her part, because if not, she is making someone else eligible for the Scam Artist of the Millennium award.
http://www.hotmanila.ph/content/pinoys/deuterium-delirium
First put forward more than 10 years ago by a labour recruiter unable to produce a shred of proof, the scheme is a pseudo-science fraud. There are no “deuterium deposits” in the Philippine Deep – the only deposits the proponents are after are the ones a dupe will make into their bank accounts. Deuterium, a form of hydrogen, does not naturally occur in large quantities anywhere. It is found in extremely minute quantities in water – industrial quantities are extracted using massive electrolysis plants. Deuterium is not a fuel, but a toxic liquid coolant for fission reactors. It is being tested as a power source for fusion reactors, but there is one catch: functional fusion reactors exist only in Star Trek.
Facts have not stopped the growth of what one scientist here called “deuterium delirium”. A website has been set up to encourage investment in the project. The latest story mentions mumbo-jumbo calculations involving the Earth’s rotational speed to prove the extent and depth of the alleged oceanic deposit.
Among those beguiled are: Senator Aquilino Pimentel, who has promised to bring the subject up for discussion in a committee; and assorted journalists who have written as if deuterium in the Deep is an article of faith. Apparently no reporter has called up any nuclear physicists to check the science. The unlikeliest dupe is the Communist Party: recently, its spokesman, Luis Jalandoni, castigated the government for not exploiting “alternative energy sources” like the deuterium in the Philippine Deep. Perhaps, as many people have suspected, scientific socialism really has elements of comic fantasy.
Wasn’t there a made up lost tribe too, Ireneo?
What I know is that deuterium is useful for fusion reaction intended for possible future use in fusion power plants compared to the current nuclear power plants from fission reaction. [BTW the power from the sun is from fusion reaction.] These other widespread uses of deuterium in some countries are a surprise to me. Why indeed should the PH not do it, if the claim is true?
I find the following note on that link curious:
A SPECIAL REPORT
International Press Release
By: (name of proponent withheld)
Metro Manila , Philippines
Why is the name of the proponent withheld? This relates to the comment of Irineo above.
Since there are no deuterium deposits in the Philippines or anywhere else its usefulness is not relevant.
While we are into chemicals, here’s a report that identifies where chemicals eating away at the earth’s ozone cover come from: China.
https://www.techtimes.com/amp/articles/235222/20181027/mystery-source-of-already-banned-ozone-depleting-substance-discovered.htm
Not surprised here….. Mostly when it is illegal it is china…..
Joe, if you have the time and wish to respond:
I am curious. I looked at the topographic map of Biliran. The eastern side is where one has mountains and volcanic craters, isn’t it? So the site for the Biliran geothermal plant is on that side? Of course this is not an accurate deduction since the island is only about 20 km in width and the heat form the volcanic area can very well be conducted to the other side.
Also, curious. I believe you mentioned your family have been spared from the fury of typhoons (and your more recent house was built on a higher ground). You probably are on the western side of the island shielded by the mountain range on the eastern side?
I know of only one geothermal site here in CA, NH, and it’s for the town of Mammoth which sprung up due to the L.A. aqueduct construction and upkeep , watch “Chinatown”. The folks from L.A. who worked the aqueduct found some prime skiing and mountaineering up at Mammoth and since then people have been wintering there, eventually necessitating year round energy for comfort,
Similar set-up I presume.
Thanks Lance for all the info and graphics above, including the food and malnutrition items .
All accurate in the main, with some shading. There are seven volcanic peaks, all one huge multi-venting volcano. The last little burp of an eruption in 1939, I believe, was on the east near Caibiran. The first geothermal well is on the east-facing slope, toward the center of the island off the cross-island highway. Other wells I think would be all over the center region. We are indeed on the west side. Our shelter is more from Samar than our own peaks. We got battered by Yolanda and Ruby to a lesser extent.
Here’s a good look at things. The well in the photo is BN3, I think.
Thanks Joe. edgar’s Biliran as the PH information center of gravity is apt.
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I used to say that Masbate is the geographical center of the country and proposed that the new capital should be built there.
Biliran is at the southern tip of Masbate and is a hop and skip to Western Visayas and Mindanao. I didn’t know one could drive to Tacloban. Samar is a hop and skip to southern Luzon.
From this central position, I imagine Joe Am sits like a spider with his web strung all over the country, the strands serving as conduits of info, collecting and transmitting data that are processed and comes out as intelligence. The strands reach as far as Europe, Australia, Canada, and to the Middle East.
The intelligence, in turn, is sent back through the strands to social media. To Facebook. To Twitter. And to our very own Society of Honor.
P.S. When I look at the map of the blog’s reach for the year (2018), only the following countries have not been touched with enlightened discussion:
o Northern Top — Greenland, Svalbard (Norway)
o Africa — Western Sahara, Mali, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Benin, Equatorial Guinea
o Middle East — Iran
o Eastern Europe — Tajikistan
o Asia — North Korea
This tells me that there is Internet censorship in Iran and North Korea. And that Filipinos are in every corner of the world except Tajikistan.
Oops, I was wrong. There is at least one HSW in Tajikistan. Perhaps she doesn’t have Internet connection.
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/48324/resourceful-filipinos-manage-to-find-jobs-in-far-flung-countries-poea
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Love the center of the world perspective.
To drive from Manila to Tacloban one must take a ferry to cross from Luzon to Samar. It’s about a four hour trip if I remember right. Maybe less. Imelda’s bridge gets you from Samar to Leyte. The drive from Tacloban to Naval (pronounced nuh-vall’), Biliran is two to three hours depending on the number of trucks encountered in the mountains (hauling sand and gravel from Ormoc) and road construction delays. It’s a nice drive across the rice plains and through two mountain ranges. You will pass Breakneck Ridge where there is a monument to one of the bloodiest battles of WWII. MacArthur landed at Tacloban and there is a monument there, too.
I agree with you about the PH-Israel agreement on that oil exploration. Better, as a first step, is a study by the Israeli’s on the power mix appropriate for the country, benefiting from the analysis of their engineers, notwithstanding the competence of our own power planning engineers. Such first step is also much less costly.
Here is a note on power from wind turbines. I believe the tower and the turbine itself can be built to withstand powerful typhoons so as to still be cost effective.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45881551
OT: https://www.manilatimes.net/locsin-chinese-fm-to-sign-bilateral-deals/458375/
Chinese FM Wang Yi is in Davao. The Chinese Consulate General just opened there.
And Ramon Tulfo is in China as Philippines Special Envoy. He asked for it and he got the job because Duterte “likes him”.
Tulfo’s self- job description as special envoy special envoy, he would “facilitate applications and issuance of permits to Chinese investors”, in particular obtaining leases for idle agricultural land and fish ponds for contract farming. This would generate “millions” of jobs, he said.
Questions that need to be asked :
– is the Philippines ambassador not doing his job so we need another enjoy?
– Tulfo’s tenor is 6 months. so he is there for some specific purpise. Is it really issuing permits? A task that is too difficult to do?
– can agricultural land be leased out?
– will produce from agricultural land be shipped to China, ie not for local consumption? Sort of outsourced farming?
Okay, so speaking of energy, the geniuses at the Department of Energy are reviving again the idea of getting the BNPP back online.
https://business.inquirer.net/259711/dominguez-backs-plan-to-revive-nuke-plant
There’s some younger generations who in their naivete think it’s a good idea, but they should know the history and consequences of nuclear power, especially as incompetence — personnel being the weakest link in the chain of control — has led to some of the worst radioactive disasters in history.
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Horrors!
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This is a case where from an academic viewpoint, selecting some economic factors — while minimizing the long-term consequence — one may propose as he does. Makes him look bright too. In any case, by the time a decision is made it will take years; and he can then select some other factors to revise what was said earlier, if he is still around in his post.