The past few months have been a time for me to reflect about the direction my life was taking. After a 15 year career in industry and civil society, I have come to realize the things that matter to me most as an individual and as a family man. I have become more aware of where my true passions are. One of these would be teaching. That's why I have returned to my faculty position at the De La Salle University Physics department. Another would be studying the performance of the human body during activities like dance.

The content of this blog will still have my stuff about renewable and efficient energy as I truly believe in these. But I will be adding stuff relating to the efficient performance of the human body. I believe that the unsustainable practices that plague the world are also reflected in how we live our personal lives. If we can't take care of ourselves, we can't take our planet. Obesity, a leading cause of death world wide, has been correlated to urban development. By pushing people to adapt to a healthy, natural lifestyle, we can also push them towards what is sustainable and climate friendly.

Stay tuned for more...

Wow! I didn't realize that I haven't blogged for almost 2 months. The holidays and the catch up work after that has definitely kept me busy.

Today, I like to put my thoughts on electric vehicles. In the Philippines, most vehicle owners would rather repair their cars rather than buy new ones. This is likely the reason for the traffic problems in our cities. Considering this, I believe that EV conversion would be a successful business in our country.

I have always wondered how to convert an internal combustion engine (ICE) car to EV. My cousin, who is mechanically adept, thinks that this is easiest by using a 4x4 system. 2 wheels connected to ICE, 2 wheels connected to an electric motor. This is more of a hybrid rather than a pure EV. The size of the ICE constrains the size of the motor you can use.

I did more research on how to convert ICE cars to EVs and found a series of you tube videos by a guy named Gav from NZ. The process is essentially to remove the ICE and replace it with a high performance electric motor. The motor has to be fitted into the gear box. After this control/charging circuits and batteries are then installed. The results are quite impressive. A car that can run silently about 40 kph. When it "revs up" it sounds like a spaceship.

Below is one of those videos showing the installation of the motor on the donor vehicle. Hopefully this helps you transition from the ICE age to the EV age.

I must admit, I'm skeptical when people talk to me about jatropha. All the hype about it and the bloated seed prices just makes me lose interest. I just don't like the idea of a "silver bullet" to solve the energy security and climate issues. This mentality usually leads to new sustainability problems in the future.

photo courtesy of Manny Biona, Ph.D.- De La Salle University

Recently, however, I came across research about jatropha as a solid fuel. About 30% of jatropha seed mass is oil. This is what folks usually see. What they don't realize is the remaining mass is a solid fuel superior to coal. Studies of Dr. Manny Biona of De La Salle University show that Jatropha waste cake has higher LHV that coal. It also has more volatile content but less ash and moisture. This makes a more efficient and environmentally sound fuel. When jatropha is cofired with coal, about 1000Btu /lb more energy is released.

Data courtesy of Manny Biona Ph.D., De La Salle University
Note: JC data is for carbonize briquetter, J is for non-carbonized
% is for % Jatropha mixed with coal

Dr. Biona's team has developed a briquette making process for Jatropha waste cake. He has completed his lab scale tests and is now proceeding to his bench scale pilot. He welcomes partnerships and investments into this activity.

photo courtesy of Manny Biona, Ph.D. - De La Salle University

The use of jatropha briquettes could be a low cost way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependency on foreign coal. Power plants, cement factories and other coal using industries will benefit much from this breakthrough.

In a world vulnerable to the effects of Climate Change, we should develop a consciousness of our energy consumption. Every kWh of power, every liter of gasoline brings hundreds of thousands of people closer to their death. In the Philippines, a kWh emits about 0.6kg CO2 mainly from coal fired power plants. A liter of diesel emits 2.3kg of CO2 equivalent. While the prospect seems bleak there are practical ways to slowdown global warming. Here are a few of them:

1.) TURN OFF THE LIGHTS- In the Philippines, the most abused appliance is the bathroom light. STOP scaring your kids so you don't need a night light!

2.) UNPLUG your appliances - When you turn off your TV, stereo its actually on standby so you can activate it with a remote. Other appliances only turn off the secondary coil of its power supply. These cases actually draw current from the outlet up to 40% of the appliances rated current consumption. By unpluging or using a power strip, you completely isolate the appliance from the outlet.

3.) DON'T LET MUCH OF THE SUN IN - The sun radiates infrared and ultraviolet rays that carry heat. Permanently shade your east and west facing windows. Put awnings on your north and south facing windows. Put infrared blocking coatings on all your fenestration.

4.) PARK IT - Instead of driving your car during rush hour, park it and leave later. In a traffic jam, you burn gasoline without going anywhere.

5.) CARPOOL - Its not a swimming pool for your car, silly! Get your officemates to share your ride. You reduce your emissions to 1/5 since more people benefit from the burning of your fuel. To save even more, commute, bike or even walk.

This doesn't end here. Once you've done all these, tell at least five other friends or let them read this article.

I recently had a conversation with our church administrator about power. He was thinking of totally isolating the office from the grid and operating with diesel generators. I told him that would be a big mistake as diesel is an expensive power source. I explained to him that cost curves exist to substantiate this.

To assess the cost of power, one must first understand the concept of levelized cost. Levelized cost, comprehends various aspects of power generation, such as capacity factor (i.e. no of hours operation), investment, environmental costs, etc. Typically, fuel based sources would have costs increasing directly proportional to hours utilization. These values are plotted in busbar cost screening curves showing you what sources would be best to operate for certain durations.

The figure below contains screening curves for generation options in Cambodia. It shows that for less than 4000h/year operation, Open cycle gas turbines (OCGT) are cheaper. Beyond that, Combined Cycle turbines are preferred. While hydro appears high, the flatness of its curve makes it an attractive option. With cost optimizations and policy adjustments, hydro could be the least cost option in this case.

Cambodia: Screening Curves (Source: World Bank)

In the Philippines, geothermal and hydro compete with diesel and coal. The intercept points are much lower than that of the above case. By using screening curves, in couple 8760h demand plots, you can identify the right power source for each market segment. Peak loads could be best supported by diesel. Midrange needs could be met by gas turbines (natural gas). Baseload requirements, by geothermal, hydro or coal.

An interesting case for not selecting power sources correctly would be that of Iloilo City, Philippines. Under the franchise of the Panay Electric Company, the power rates are one of the highest in the world at PHP14/kWh. All because of a decision to run solely on diesel.

Whether you are a distribution utility or a private company contracting power, it would be good practice to use screening curves to guide you in purchasing power.