Powerplants: what kind of power supply agenda should the Philippines have?

[ghosthunter]

[SIZE="4"]Powerplants: what kind of power supply agenda should the Philippines have?[/SIZE]

Example:

should we go nuclear? Benefits, cheap power with the "least" greenhouse emissions. Downside, safety & spent fuel disposal still an issue.

should we go green? Benefits, low or no emissions, renewable. Downside, generally expensive unless taken in an extreme long term commitment, low power outputs for the money spent, can be unstable in output (ex: wind, solar, hydro).

should we go convensional? Benefits, technology to use cheap fossil fuels like coal cleaner than older systems. Downside, still have greenhouse emissions and uses limited fossil fuels.

[ghosthunter]

Personally, we should have the nuclear powerplant option open to us to have in the future. Time will come when we might have no choice if we want affordable electrical power for our homes, offices and industries.

But for the "right now", I would still vote for the conventional fossil fueled powerplants. Why? Cheap power is in demand. "Green" solutions are great IF you can afford to pay for the expensive installations & long term maintenance for them. The Philippines is not rich enough to afford "green" power on a wide scale. Let the 1st world countries prove that it can be affordable for developing countries to implement beyond a few NGO funded pilot projects.

Don't get me wrong, I like "green" solutions especially as a creative solution as an engineering & design point of view. But I am still concerned about the cost vs benefit balance if implemented beyond the small scale. (Small scale being those projects powering small isolated villages, etc)

[oj88]

I'm all for nuclear power. I read that ever since the Fukushima incident, stock prices are falling for companies that build or operate nuclear power plants. Even the price of uranium fuels have gone down.

Not meaning to be insensitive, but now is probably the best time to buy one.

Anybody got a spare $8 billion?

[uls]

we need more natural gas power plants

natural gas is cheaper, cleaner burning than other fossil fuels

[tidus1203]

Nuclear WILL NOT GO AWAY especially in first world countries... Its cheap to operate and provides a lot of power and at the same time its clean... Kailangan strategic lang ang placing ng nuclear plants...

[istan]

I agree, Nuclear is cheaper to operate. Go nukes!
Nuclear waste can be recycled to be reused. Wastes are also solids that can be buried underground.
Zero air pollutants, better for us.

We have high electricity rates because of the fuel we use. Coal, Oil, Diesel. Considering fuel prices now...ugh!

Renewable energies like Hydroelectric, doesn't work on droughts (ie Mindanao, no electricity on summer), Solar (needs large tracks of land, small capacity), Wind (same as solar). I agree...renewables can be used small scale.

For bang for the buck. Nuclear.

[Stoner]

Part of the reason why solar panels are so unfeasible is because of the added cost and inconvenience of needing batteries to store the power.

Maybe it's high time we establish net metering?

It could potentially reduce energy costs, increase supply, and even spur local business growth.

The Renewable Energy Act has clauses mentioning such implementations, but till now, I don't think any action has been taken.

Perhaps someone could enlighten me on the complications such a scheme could entail?

[raycon_24]

kasama tayo sa pacific ring of fire, marami tayong active volcano so why not geothermal power? dapat nag ffocus ang government natin sa geothermal power plant........ walang green house emission and i guess much cheaper

[istan]

Problem with that, if volcano erupts...bye bye power plant.

[oj88]

kasama tayo sa pacific ring of fire, marami tayong active volcano so why not geothermal power? dapat nag ffocus ang government natin sa geothermal power plant........ walang green house emission and i guess much cheaper

We're already doing this. Chevron does, they have wells in Makban and Tiwi. Geothermal is not as long term as nuclear. Like oil, the wells runs out of steam eventually and they have to look for new ones. The expedition and the actual drilling costs too much and it gets harder and harder everytime. (ie. Wells gets deeper and there's also the question of social impact due to land usage rights and such)

[ghosthunter]

kasama tayo sa pacific ring of fire, marami tayong active volcano so why not geothermal power? dapat nag ffocus ang government natin sa geothermal power plant........ walang green house emission and i guess much cheaper

Looking for good geothermal sites is just like prospecting for oil. It can be expensive to drill. And there are environmental issues with the emitted steam mixed with caustic chemicals like surfuric acid, not to mention the corrosive effects of the acid itself on the equipment resulting in high maintenance costs. There are also issues with contaminating ground fresh water especially if there are people living nearby using ground water.

Just like oil, good sites for geothermal stations are rare and don't last forever.

[ghosthunter]

Part of the reason why solar panels are so unfeasible is because of the added cost and inconvenience of needing batteries to store the power.

There are options beyond batteries to store excess power for night time use.

One design I came up with (back in my college days) was to use a water pump to move water to a raised storage location (ex: on a tall hill or tower).

At night time, water is released into a turbine generator to produce electricity. This would enable the solar power system to produce electricity in a 24hour cycle without the need for an actual physical battery to store excess power.

Although not as efficient as batteries, given solar power is "free", it can be part of a solution for medium scale solar electric power systems.

[ChoyJo]

Go Nuclear!

[ghosthunter]

we need more natural gas power plants

natural gas is cheaper, cleaner burning than other fossil fuels

it might be cheaper and cleaner burning but we only have a small supply of it within the country's borders. If we implement NG powerplants on a wide scale, we will end up needing to import NG to fuel them.

[safeorigin]

hmmm... nuclear power

[DonT]

Diversification is the key. No one fuel source can supply all our needs..And it is not a good idea to depend on a single fuel source or technology.

There are a couple of options..so the govt should support all of them. Wind Power, Geothermal, etc, etc.

[shakatak70]

Geothermal is one, not as long term as the nuclear power plant places such as Bicol, Negros, Leyte and in southern Mindanao have already produce Geothermal energy. In fact, we are 2nd to US in terms of producing geothermal energy.

Wind Power - the best location to built wind power generator would be eastern par of the whole country. From Cagayan to Surigao. If this is possible in Ilocos (Pagudpud) then it is also possible in other part of the country especially the Pacific side.

for Natural Gas we have only limited resources that can't sustain the needs of the whole country even Luzon alone. also, Facilities to built in order to make a gas powered turbine running will cost a lot of money. The long term aspect of gas supply is not that stable.

Lastly Option would be the Nuclear Power.

[uls]

ya we all know nuclear's "bang for the buck"

but let's be realistic

after what happened in Japan, what are the chances of getting govt approval for nuclear power here?

[Ry_Tower]

Diversification is the key. No one fuel source can supply all our needs..And it is not a good idea to depend on a single fuel source or technology.

There are a couple of options..so the govt should support all of them. Wind Power, Geothermal, etc, etc.

Agree on this. utilize other surces of power. Ayaw lang kasi ng gov't mag-invest dito sa renewable energy ng husto dahil costly. But we can privatize it para sure ka sa quality and service.

[kinyo]

i wish we could adopt nuclear ... but

there is no assurance that nuclear would reduce our power bills ... because the same corrupt people would run it