Saturday, October 22, 2011

Feed-in-tariffs on renewable energy seen to benefit consumers

By: Amy R. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

The controversial feed-in-tariff rates may be more beneficial for consumers in the long run as these will insulate them from the continued spikes in the prices of coal, according to World Bank investment arm International Finance Corp.

“People look at the feed-in-tariff as a cost but it should also be looked at as a differential. Right now renewable energy is expensive, but over time that may not be the case,” IFC Philippines resident representative Jesse O. Ang told reporters.

Because coal and oil prices will go up and the FIT is set, eventually, the FIT will become not just a negative differential but a positive differential. Renewable energy will become cheaper than fossil fuels,” Ang said.

FIT rates referred to the guaranteed price at which RE developers will be paid for the energy that they will produce. It is a mechanism that is awaited by developers as the rates that will be set will determine the viability of their projects.

However, certain quarters raised fear that this mechanism might raise further jack up the cost of electricity in the country via a universal levy called FIT-allowance. At present, the petition for the implementation of the FIT rates remained pending at the Energy Regulatory Commission.

Based on the petition, the FIT-allowance was estimated at about 10.50 centavos per kilowatt-hour.

According to Ang, the IFC is willing to help finance some of the renewable energy projects. However, he admitted that it might be constrained by the final FIT rates that would be issued.

“We’ve been talking to renewable energy players and we’re certainly interested in helping them, but everybody’s waiting for the FIT rates. The sooner they can decide on the FIT at whatever form, the better,” Ang further said.

National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) Chair Pedro Maniego Jr. recently said the use of these clean resources for power generation could even result in as much as P130 billion in net savings over a 20-year period, despite the imposition of FIT rates and the collection of FIT-allowance.

Maniego earlier said the implementation of the FIT rates would benefit the consumers in the form of reduced average power rates, as the so-called avoided cost would be higher than the proposed FIT rates.

http://bit.ly/mT7Yq6

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Mapua’s ‘Siklab’ exalts Filipinos’ creativity, innovativeness

Published : Sunday, October 16, 2011 00:00
Written by :



MOTIVATED by great ambition to pursue a higher goal, five young mechanical engineering students from Mapua Institute of Technology have shown the entire world how good Filipinos are in terms of creation, competition and technological innovation.

Team “Siklab,” composed of Matthew Mamangun, Ken Erick Naval, Jeremaine Lampitoc, Jerick Apetrior, Justin David Villegas and Jaylord Jauod, surprised all their competitors in the 2011 Bosch Power Tool Asia Cordless Race Finals tournament held on September 21 to 23 in Beijing, China.

After capturing the Bosch Cordless Race 2011 Philippine Leg crown and the Best Kart Design award, Siklab didn’t waste any opportunity when it represented the country in that Asian level competition by winning the third place honor and the Asia’s Best Design Award.

The five promising students, who are inspired by Bosch’s cordless power tools, have taken the challenge to assemble and design a go-kart powered by Bosch’s high-tech cordless lithium ion power tools to prove the world that Filipinos are among the brightest mechanical engineers.

“There are many good Filipino inventors in our country right now but they are not properly supported by the government,” Siklab team leader Mamangun, a graduating student, told The Sunday Times Magazine in an interview on October 14 at the Bosch Office in Fort Legend Building in Bonifacio Global City. 

“I guess this is the right opportunity to tell them to support the Filipino inventors.”

In terms of development and promotion of electric-powered car and the green technology in vehicles, Mamangun emphasizes that it is already familiar with most countries particularly in Japan and some European nations.

“There’s nothing new in ‘green technology’ most countries are using it by now,” he said. “Filipinos can do it as well [in terms of inventing an electric powered car], but you are talking of millions here if once the government decides to implement and support this.”   

Siklab
Siklab placed third overall behind overall champion Thailand (1’47” 127) and second place host China (1’ 53” 841) with a time of one minute 57 seconds” 841 at the Juyongguan Great Wall Open Space in
Beijing, China.

Despite being a third placer in the race, the Filipinos gained respect from the crowd, according to Mamangun. The Filipinos amazingly outraced Malaysia and highly favored South Korea.

“We could win the overall title during the event if only timing and luck we’re on our side. We got a good kart design,” said Naval, who is the smallest guy in the group who can fit inside the kart. “If given a chance again, we’re going to win the overall title since we know what to do now.”

Before earning a Beijing ticket to represent the Philippines in the Asian race event, MapĂșa dominated the Philippine leg at the Boomland Kart Track in May inside the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex in Pasay City with a 57.437 time record.

Finishing second and third respectively were University of the Philippines (UP) (1:04.709) and University of San Carlos Cebu (1:06.892).

Mapua also received P100, 000 besides qualifying in the Beijing race.

The other teams that competed in the Philippine leg were University of Mindanao, Colegio de San Juan de Letran Manila, Don Bosco Mandaluyong and Rizal Technological University.
For placing second in the Philippine leg, UP also qualified in the Asian Bosch Cordless race and finished seventh overall with 2’17” 628 time.

For winning the best kart design, Siklab also took home 1000 Euros and new Bosch Power Tools.
Mamangun said the Siklab Kart had “no gear box” unlike any other participating go-karts during the Beijing race since the race track wasn’t that wide and long.

“We have a good acceleration and gear box isn’t advisable to a short race track,” he said when asked by one reporter in China.   

‘Thankful’
Mamangun, 21, and his members are so thankful to their classmates, relatives, friends for the all-out support. They appreciate the Bosch Philippines’ support too in their campaign during the race by providing all the tools and gadgets they needed.

“Our parents and some classmates even went there in China to cheer for us,” he said. “It’s really motivating when they cheered for you. They inspired us and we just wanted them to be happy.”

Jerick Apetrior, 19, the youngest among the boys, who was in charge for safety and finance, said their team would win the overall title if given another chance to compete in the same tournament for the next two years or even next year.

But that is impossible to happen since all teammates are all graduating students this year and the next Asian Bosch Cordless Race may happen in 2013.

“Thailand did it absolutely right. They are very good in automobile works and good technology,” said Apetrior. “At the same time, they performed well during the race. But if given another chance, we’ll assure anybody that we will bring home the overall title.”

Chief mechanic Jeremaine Lampitoc, however, keeps telling the technology of Thailand and China isn’t that far advance compared to them since their time gaps weren’t that far. “They had mistakes too during the race, but those were not enough to hold them off.”    

Lampitoc says everybody contributed well in the team and did their part. “We prepared hard for this and we’re so thankful that our hard work had paid off well. What important now is we can write
something big in our resume when we apply for work.”

Although adviser Jaylord Jauod and logistic head Justin Villegas were not around during the interview because they attended some important matters, their teammates said they shared valuable contributions too during the race.  

School pride
A few weeks after their arrival from Beijing, China, the Mapua students have proven that real school pride comes from academic achievements and not only from recreational or achievements in sports, which are very popular since then.  

“It’s not only the sports that give pride and popularity to a school,” said the fifth year Naval. “We like to clarify that academic achievements remain the most important and higher accomplishment a student can bring to his own school.”

William Go, the Bosch Philippines country sales director, told STMs in a separate interview that he is “proud to be a Filipino” after the Filipino student delegates in China had received their awards in front of other countries.

“I was inspired, really. I’m already 36-year-old and I just now experienced this kind of moment,” said Go, who helped Bosch Philippines to organize the race here in the country last May. “This is the first time we support these students and the result is very unforgettable.”

Promoting the Bosch products is their main job as far as Go’s job is concerned, but he doesn’t expect to keep promoting the Mapua and the UP students and as well as the country after accomplishing something great in Beijing. 

He also says that Bosch provides students the opportunity to learn and have the courage to excel in their professions. “How many kids in the country can build a car? Bosch is always here to support different advocacies just like that.”

“Innovation and skills transfer is an important part of the Bosch philosophy. The [cordless race] championship provides engineering students a challenge in creating race karts powered by Bosch tools and the Filipinos proved they can compete there,” said Go.

“I’m thankful to all the students who participated in the cordless race and we’ll guarantee everybody that we’ll sustain this program for the benefit of the students.”

 http://bit.ly/riGvZo

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Solar-powered PHL car racing against world's best

10/16/2011 | 01:41 AM

A Philippine-made car is competing in one of the most revolutionary racing events in the world... and also among the quietest. The Sikat II solar car developed by De La Salle University engineering students and faculty will be racing in the 3,000-kilometer 11th World Solar Challenge (WSC) in Australia starting Sunday.

The biannual race draws innovators from all over the globe to show what long-distance transport can be in an oil-depleted future. It also promises to be an adventure for the racing teams, with camping in the desert and the occasional kangaroo darting onto the race route, which stretches from Darwin in Australia's northern tip to Adelaide on the country's southern coast.

Unlike the roar of conventional internal combustion engines that run on fossil fuels, electric cars powered by solar energy like the Sikat II simply hum even at its top speed of 110 kilometers per hour. [See related story, PHL solar car evolution: From 'Sinag' to 'Sikat II']

The Sikat II is also a statement of solar energy's state of the art in the Philippines, where university researchers are harnessing the cutting-edge advantages of solar cells made locally. The country is a growing exporter of solar panels and other technologies.

The Philippines’ solar car and the team running it, Team Solar Philippines, are competing against vehicles backed by some of the world’s leading universities.

Tokai University, Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Cambridge University, University of Toronto are among the top-notch institutions registered in the race.

When the country joined the race for the first time in 2007, it placed 12th in a field of 40. Tokai University's "Tokai Challenger" won the race in 2009.

DLSU professor and Sikat II team leader Jose Antonio “Jack" Catalan told GMA News Online via phone interview that their solar car passed the pre-race “dynamic tests" to determine vehicle stability and road-worthiness.

Those tests covered steering, braking and performance. A “hot lap" on the track of the Hidden Valley Motorsport Complex near Darwin in northern Australia followed the dynamic scrutiny to determine the starting position on Sunday.

Catalan said the team will strive to achieve optimum energy efficiency so that Sikat II's solar cells will have enough power to last until the end of the race.


Looking like a plane, Sikat II is a PHL-made solar car competing in a cross-country race in Australia. Using no fossil fuels, it has a top speed of 110 kmh. Team Solar Philippines
Energy challenge

The race has another wrinkle. The solar cars are only allowed five kilowatt-hours maximum of stored energy in their batteries.

“Having demanded the world’s most efficient electric vehicles to travel the route we make things more difficult by adding the concept of ‘man vs. the elements’ by regulating the stored energy component to a nominal 10% of that required to complete the journey," WSC event director Chris Selwood said.

"Each team will travel as far as it can each day and camp in the desert each night. The exact progress is of course subject to the intensity of the sun, the condition of the road and whether there is any prospect of cloud," Selwood added.

Race timetable

Sikat II will be the 32nd solar car to leave the Darwin state square, where the competing vehicles will be flagged off at 8:30 a.m. local time (7 a.m. Manila time).

From Darwin in the north, the solar cars will travel south and are expected to reach the finish line in Adelaide by late Wednesday afternoon.

Organizers said the competing teams must observe local traffic rules, including the speed limits, and non-Australians must have their international drivers' licenses with them.

“Finish of Timing is a point established outside of the Adelaide urban area. Effectively this will determine the winner, however the solar car must still proceed under its own power to the ceremonial finish line in Victoria Square, the centre of Adelaide," organizers of the World Solar Challenge also said.


Solar power plus Lasallian spirit

Team Solar Philippines is made up of about a dozen faculty and students of DLSU. They operate Sikat II, the third generation of Philippine solar cars to compete in the WSC.

The team and their colleagues in the DLSU College of Engineering, with the support of collaborators in the Philippine Solar Car Challenge Society (PSCCS), spent at least seven months to prepare for the race from Darwin to Adelaide through the Australian Outback.

Sikat II, which cost about P6 million to build, sports a more aerodynamic design, weighs 180 kilograms, and has more efficient solar power mechanisms, according to the DLSU team.

Sikat II runs on a 1.8-kilowatt motor and has top speed of 110 kilometers per hour (kph). The maximum speed limit at some sections of the Stuart highway, through which the race will run, is 130 kph.

Sinag, the vehicle that ran the race in 2007, was heavier at 290 kilograms and had a solar array that was two percentage points less efficient than Sikat II's.

The president and CEO of De La Salle Philippines, Bro. Ricardo Laguda, FSC is in Australia to support the team on behalf of the Filipino Lasallian community.

Also in Australia to support the team is PSCCS president Ramon Agustines, team manager of the Philippine contingent, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – Philippines, which sent Nini Conwi, the winner of an essay writing contest about Sikat II, to write about the team’s experience in the 11th WSC.

Weather in the Land Down Under

Strong thunderstorms and mostly cloudy skies are forecast over Darwin on Sunday. More clouds are also expected over Katherine, the first checkpoint along the race course.

However, sunny skies are expected up ahead over Tennant Creek and Alice Springs as the course goes through the desert sections of the Australian Outback.

Safety always

Organizers advised the registered teams and media covering the WSC to practice road safety while on the course.

"In stage one of the race, the road from Darwin to Katherine is windy and undulating for the first 200 kms with minimal overtaking lanes," event director Chris Selwood said.

"The drive is long and monotonous. Speed, fatigue and wildlife on the roads are factors that can lead to dangerous situations," Selwood cautioned. "Do not underestimate the danger of driving during hours of darkness as cattle and kangaroos are just two of the obstacles that you may experience sharing the road with you."

He further warned that "(w)hen a road train hits a kangaroo it makes a mess. When your car hits a kangaroo you could be dead too!" — ELR/HS, GMA News

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