Why is gov't allowing massive coal poisoning?

NEUROTOXINS & CARCINOGENS: We have been calling attention to the massive toxic emission of coal-fired plants of the National Power Corp. and some independent power producers (IPPs). This does not mean that pollution comes only from them.

As Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner Red Constantino says, any power plant using coal produces deadly neurotoxins and carcinogens and contributes to dangerous climate change. This is because of the tremendous amount of CO2 produced when coal is burned for energy.

He cited documents showing that the gigantic 1200-megawatt coal plant of Mirant in Sual, Pangasinan, uses coal laden with mercury and other heavy metals. He added that Greenpeace also has acquired documents showing the mercury content of coal used in the Calaca plant in Batangas.

Despite the reasoning by Mirant that the coal they burn contains low levels of heavy metal, when coal is burned in massive amounts (as in Sual), the toxins released must be just as massive.

The US Department of Energy says there is still no known commercially available means of controlling mercury emissions. According to Napocor itself, 99.5 percent of mercury from coal burning goes up the smokestack and is thus emitted directly to the air.

Constantino asked: If Napocor’s 600-MW coal plant in Calaca produces 62.62 tons of ash per hour (according to Napocor’s own documents), how much waste is produced by the 1200-MW Sual coal plant of Mirant? How much waste do all the coal plants of Luzon combined produce per hour, per month, per year and for the duration of their contracts?

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QPL EMITS MORE TOXINS: In Mauban, Quezon, the 440-MW polluting coal plant of QPL (a joint corporate vehicle of the bankrupt US energy firm Covanta and the Bechtel-Shell partnership) has been producing toxins way higher than its counterparts in Calaca and Sual and in Masinloc, Zambales.

Constantino said that based on fly ash samples tested, the emissions of QPL’s Mauban plant ranked highest in arsenic (projected to be tens of tons annually), chromium (tons per year, and likely in the hexavalent form), and mercury (projected to be 400 kilograms per year which goes straight out of the smokestack).

He said the only emitted trace metal that it has not topped is lead. Napocor’s coal plant of Masinloc has the first prize for this toxin.

QPL is attempting to deflect the grave implications of Greenpeace studies by saying that the water samples it had taken from Mauban showed no signs of mercury. It made this claim despite its knowing that Greenpeace tested samples of fly ash from their coal plant, not water samples.

The fly ash was taken from a lorry leaving QPL’s premises, one freshly filled with ash direct from its furnaces. Rather than disclose the full heavy metal content of the coal they burn, QPL sadly chose to say "The fly ash samples that Greenpeace took from the lorry were not from QPL but were from the Calaca coal plant."

What, QPL is now importing ash to Mauban?

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CLEAN, CHEAP FUEL: We were starting to talk last time about the growing use of natural gas as a safe, clean and cheap alternative fuel for motor vehicles when space limitation cut short the discussion.

We came out of our test drive of one of the Enviro 2000s of the Philippine National Oil Co. last Friday quite excited over the feasibility, if not desirability, of using natural gas, of which we have plenty, to cut on costs and pollution.

The Malaysia-made Enviro has an engine much like that of a gasoline-fed motor except that its fuel system has been modified to feed natural gas (97-percent methane) into the combustion chamber.

Natural gas is not yet available in service stations, but the last figures received from Malaysia show that its price is half that of gasoline and three-fourths that of diesel. The laying of distribution pipes and the opening of stations dispensing natural gas are being planned.

Methane burns more completely and emits less carbon oxides compared to oil-based fuels. To begin with, methane (CH4) has only one carbon to its four hydrogen ions, unlike the more complex gasoline and diesel that have more carbons to burn and therefore more carbon oxides to emit into the atmosphere.

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METHANE HAS LESS CARBON: As shown by the Enviro and similar cars abroad, methane does not mix with the motor oil the way gasoline and diesel do, so the engine requires less frequent oil and spark plug changes. Wear and tear on the engine is reduced and maintenance costs drop.

The Enviro vehicles have been here for months yet a check of the engine oil last Friday showed it to be still clean and pale in color. In gasoline and diesel engines, you change oil today and usually find it black and grimy the next day.

Methane is not the same LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) used as cooking gas in this country. Our LPG is mostly propane. Methane is lighter compared to propane and butane (another minority component of natural gas used in aerosol products).

Propane (C3H8) and butane (C4H10) are heavier hydrocarbons present in smaller quantities in our natural gas. After being separated from the dominant methane, they fetch a better price when processed and sold separately.

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PETRONAS HELPS OUT: The Enviro cars, costing P1.3 million each, came from Malaysia’s Petronas (Petroliam Nasional Berhad), with which PNOC has an agreement for joint research and development. Some local government vehicles are being modified to spearhead the shift to natural gas.

The Enviro has a 2-liter engine generating 94 horsepower at 5,300 rpm. The gas tank takes the equivalent of 40 liters of gasoline that can cover 320 kms in city driving and 480 kms on the highway (at 90 kph). That means an average of 8 kms (city) and 12 kms (highway) to the liter.

At the moment, the natural gas used in Enviro vehicles comes from the refueling station in Echague, Isabela. It is trucked to Manila in tanks, from which the vehicles gas up directly.

Another good source of cheap natural gas is the Camago-Malampaya Deep Water Gas to Power Project. A submarine pipeline has been laid from Malampaya in Palawan to Batangas and delivery has started.

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WILL SHELL COOPERATE?: Section 2, Article XII (National Economy and Patrimony) of the Constitution says: "All lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora and fauna, and other natural resources are owned by the State."

We are supposed to be in control. The reality, however, is that this poor country does not have the resources and the technology to go into big-time exploration and development on its own. Hence the door has been opened for foreign investors to come in as partners.

Now PNOC Exploration Corp. holds only a minority (10 percent) share of the Malampaya project. The major owners are Shell Philippines Exploration (45 percent) and Chevron-Texaco (45 percent).

The big question is if the two foreign entities controlling the project would allow Malampaya gas to be developed and priced in a way that could undercut the sale by their local affiliates of their gasoline, diesel and other oil-based products.

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ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM LAGS: Since the fall of the Marcos dictatorship, the diversification and the development of alternative sources of power have lagged. Other countries, particularly in the temperate zones, have developed gas as a major fuel for cooking, heating and even power generation.

As fuel for motor vehicles, natural gas has long been recognized, especially in light of the rising consciousness for environment-protection and the unpre-dictable fluctuations in the price of cartelized crude oil.

Some of the countries with a sizeable number of motor vehicles running on natural gas are: Argentina, 725,000 vehicles; Italy, 380,000; Pakistan, 265,000; Brazil, 233,000; US, 112,000; Japan, 12,540. Among our neighbors: Bangladesh, 5,000 vehicles; Malaysia, 3,800; Indonesia, 3,000; and Thailand, 470.

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