By Armando A. Mortejo
“I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait till oil and coal run out before we tackle that.” — American inventor and businessman Thomas Alva Edison
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A century ago, only a few wealthy neighborhoods in the largest cities of Europe and United States enjoyed the use of electric power.  By 1900s, electricity became an essential part to modern industry and society as it lighted home and even powered public transportation systems.  Tens of thousands of power plants sprang up to meet electricity needs.
But soaring costs, high interest rates, and environmental damage caused by large power plants have wreaked havoc on the once booming electricity industry.  In most countries, electric prices have risen faster than the general rate of inflation.
“Electricity’s future role is more uncertain than any time since Thomas Edison opened the world’s first commercial power plants in Manhattan and London in 1882,” wrote Christopher Flavin in “Electricity’s Future: The Shift to Efficiency and Small-Scale Power.” “Policymakers around the world disagree vigorously about future trends and appropriate policies, but virtually all acknowledge that a turning point has been reached.  The world is unlikely to return to the steady, predictable growth of the past.”
In most parts of developing countries, electricity has been one of the problems that beset economic development.  The Philippines is not an exception.  Last summer, Mindanao and the rest of the country experienced power outages.  Expect another power crisis in next year’s summer months.
“We need to prepare early to ensure a steady supply of energy next year,” said Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla of the Department of Energy (DOE) in a press statement.  “The projected demand by 2015 is 9,011 megawatts (MW), which is higher than this year’s actual demand of 8,717 megawatts.”
Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan of the Manila Electric Company sights on power barges as possible solution to summer electricity shortage next year.  “Given the anticipated deficit next year during the summer months,” he was quoted as saying, “you could procure power barges and what they call the aero-derivatives that run on either aviation fuel or diesel.”
Of course, this would mean additional costs to consumers.  “You may have power maybe to cover some anticipated shortfall, but it could be of higher cost,” Pangilinan pointed out.  “In many respects, there are no options; if there is no power you have to gather it elsewhere.”
In Mindanao, the Aboitiz Group of Companies sees a coal power plant as a solution to the impending power crisis.  Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte seems to agree.  In a recent media briefing, he told local journalists that all means should be utilized to meet the power demand of the city.  As there are no economically viable alternatives of energy sources right now, he singled out coal as the best possible solution.
“Coal is the cheaper and more accessible source of power that could satisfy the (growing) demand of the city,” Duterte pointed out.  He added that oil as a source of power is too expensive.  As for the geothermal from Mount Apo, it can only give about 30% of the city’s power needs.
Environmentalists, however, are worried that the coal fired-power plant would harm the ecology and jeopardize the health of the communities where the plant is located.  “There is no clean coal,” Gerry Arances, the national coordinator of Philippine Movement for Climate Justice, was quoted as saying by Mindanao Daily Mirror’s Lovely Carillo.
“Coal-fired power plants produce coal ash that contains 23 toxic chemicals,” said Arances who cited the study conducted by toxicologist Dr. Romeo Quijano.  According to the study, which was done in Naga coal plant, coal ash contains heavy chemicals like arsenic, mercury, and cadmium.
Although there are “increasing number of incidents of upper respiratory illnesses and cancer” in Naga, Arances admitted that the finding is still “non-conclusive” as it has to pass so many processes to be conclusive.  “But it is enough indication of the effects of the coal-fired power plants,” he said.
“There are 13 coal power plants in the country with a combined capacity of generating 4,937 megawatts, providing more than 34 percent of the country’s power needs. And the trend is growing with 45 coal-fired power plants now on the drawing board,” reports Marilou Guieb of Business Mirror.
Coal (from the Old English term col, which has meant “mineral of fossilized carbon”) is a fossil fuel that supplies 28 percent of the world’s fuel. “Coal began to form 300 million years ago when large regions of the earth were covered with tropical swamps containing dense vegetation,” wrote H. Steven Dashefsky, author of “Environmental Literacy: Everything You Need to Know about Saving Our Planet.” As the fast-growing vegetation died and accumulated under the water, it formed a material called peat, which is the first step in the formation of coal. The peat was gradually covered by sediment.
“Over time, pressure squeezed out much of the water and compressed the peat into lignite coal (also called brown coal), which contains about 40% moisture. With heat from the earth and continued pressure, lignite was transformed into a soft type of coal balled bituminous coal, which has only about 3% moisture. With continued heat and pressure, hard coal called anthracite was finally formed.”
The entire process took hundreds of millions of years. “Coal is not a pure substance,” wrote Penelope ReVelle and Charles ReVelle, authors of “The Environment: Issues and Choices for Society.” “In addition to carbon, it contains inorganic material that remains after coal has been burned; it’s called ash. Sulfur also occurs in coal, sometimes as iron sulphide and sometimes combined with organic compounds. Arsenic is also present in coal, as are radioactive elements.”
Coal may be “the dirtiest of the fossil fuels,” but it is a magnificent source of heat energy. “Burning 0.454 kilogram of bituminous coal releases 13,000 Btu, or 13,700 kilojoules of heat energy,” the ReVelles wrote.
“Wikipedia” shares this information as to how coal is used for electricity generation: “(Coal) is usually pulverized and then combusted (burned) in a furnace with a boiler. The furnace heat converts boiler water to steam, which is then used to spin turbines which turn generators and create electricity. The thermodynamic efficiency of this process has been improved over time. Simple cycle steam turbines have topped out with some of the most advanced reaching about 35% thermodynamic efficiency for the entire process. Increasing the combustion temperature can boost this efficiency even further.”
At least 40% of the world’s electricity comes from coal. In 2012, about one-third of the United States’ electricity came from coal. Ten percent of the world’s coal reserves (identified deposits) are located in the US, with over 50% in China.
“Coal reserves are expected to last about 220 years if existing demand continues,” Dashefsky wrote. “The projected amount of coal resources (unidentified deposits), however, might last about 900 years with the current demand.”
Coal contains high heat content at economical costs, but many environmental problems are associated with its use. Coal is touted to be the dirtiest fossil fuel to burn and it generates hundreds of millions of tons of waste products, including fly ash, bottom ash, and flue-gas desulfurization sludge, that contain mercury, uranium, thorium, arsenic, and other heavy metals.
Burning of coal releases pollutants that help contribute to acid rain. In addition, the burning may release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere thus causing the climate change phenomenon. Studies have shown that coal-fired electric power generation emits around 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide for every megawatt-hour generated. This is almost double the approximately 1100 pounds of carbon dioxide released by a natural gas-fired electric plant per megawatt-hour generated.
According to “Wikipedia,” coal-fired power plants without effective fly ash capture systems are one of the largest sources of human-caused background radiation exposure. They also emit mercury, selenium, and arsenic, which are harmful to human health and the environment.
But there’s good news. “New technologies can burn coal more efficiently and more cleanly,” Dashefsky noted. “This includes the fluidized-bed combustion method, which will begin replacing old-style coal burners. It converts solid coal into gas or liquid fuels called synfuels.”
Coal gasification converts solid coal into a gas synfuel called synthetic natural gas. Coal liquefaction turns it into a liquid synfuel such as methanol. Both types of synthetic fuels produce much less air pollution than burning solid coal.
“Liquid fuels are more functional than solid fuels for heating homes and running automobiles and other forms of transportation,” Dashefsky pointed out. “They can also be transported through pipelines whereas solid coal must be shipped.”
Meanwhile, Mindanao gets its power from four major sources: hydropower, coal, oil, and geothermal — in that order. The bulk – 662 MW or 52% – comes from hydropower. Oil contributes 24% of the power supply (311 MW) while geothermal is the source of 8% (98 MW). The remaining 16% (203 MW) comes from coal.
“We are heavily dependent on hydropower which is coming only from one source, Lake Lanao,” says Manuel ‘Bobby’ Orig, first Vice President for Aboitiz Power Corp. in Mindanao. “This is the reason why during summer months or during long dry spell, when water level in Lake Lanao is very low, the power supply in Mindanao is gravely affected.”
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