Electrifying Bills

Philippines is a poor country but with one of the most expensive electricity rates in Asia. Most of the reasons for this are political, but let's not delve much about it. They say it was all because of mismanagement by our government, from the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant to the privatization of various sectors.

With the added pressure of fighting climate change, let's focus on realistic solutions.

Now, let's try to make things simple...

I think our country must give more attention to Energy Poverty and Energy Independence, rather than on the shift to renewables. A quarter of our energy mix is already composed of geothermal power and hydroelectricity (DOE). President Duterte already talked enough about climate justice. With this, I think the present administration is on the right track when it discontinued the Feed-in-tariff (FiT) for solar power.

"Yes, I am a converted skeptic. However, anybody today who is not a skeptic about the solutions being proposed is not thinking them through." - Richard Muller

Going for 100% renewable energy is not practical as of this moment. Intermittency and high costs are still yet to be solved. The carbon neutrality of solid biomass and liquid biofuels are still up for debate.I will discuss these things in another post.

So what's the solution?

We should focus on all our indigenous resources. This includes not only the solar shining and wind blowing on our land, but also the fossil fuels below our grounds and seas. Until the cost of renewables become competitive, then we will gradually stop using coal and oil, to realize the word "independence".

Modern coal plants have low emissions on SOx, NOx, carbon monoxide and particulates. Only carbon dioxide is the remaining issue.

On top of this, we should take a look our country's load profile, to specify more concrete actions to take. This will be discussed on my next post.


The above post is brought to you by Jezreel Magbanua, who enjoys helping people MAKING things SIMPLE. Click here to get to know Jezreel Magbanua better. 

So You Want a New Car?

Honestly, I still don't have the desire to buy my own car. I don't know why. 

Perhaps it's because of my being single. I will be the only passenger, so driving will definitely be not worth it. Also, my workplace is not so far from home. I don't travel that much as of now, and public transportation is still not expensive, as I see. Heavy traffic is also discouraging. Practicality remains to be my primary consideration. 

Electric cars are available nowadays, but this may not be worth the buck due to high electricity prices in my country. Biofuels are also not cheap. So I guess it's best to look on efficiency instead, for me.


Now, let's try to make things simple...

I found this list of fuel-efficient cars available, which might change my mind. Suzuki Celerio tops the list with 34.34 km/L, but not so different with Suzuki Alto with 34 km/L, considering also the latter being cheaper in price.

With these models, you can just put accessories later on, in case you find their design boring. So you can have a pimped ride that is not fuel hungry. But of course, it depends on individual preferences, so this idea might not interest you.

Is fuel economy also a primary consideration for you? Please share your experiences and insights in the comments section below.


The above post is brought to you by Jezreel Magbanua, who enjoys helping people MAKING things SIMPLE. Click here to get to know Jezreel Magbanua better.