Dept of Energy (DOE) Secretary, Angelo Reyes, said that although current clean coal technology is not perfect because it doesn’t really remove CO2 from the burnt coal they have to consider this power source necessary in order to prevent the looming energy crisis that the Philippines is about to face in 2009, most especially in the Visayas region. Depending on the size and location of the plant, it can take anywhere from 2-4 years to commission a coal fire power plant.

Clean coal technology reduces the sulfur and nitrous oxide released into the air which are harmful to the ozone layer.
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Roxas Holdings Inc (RHI) announced that their subsidiary, Roxol Bioenergy Corp will setup a Ethanol Distillery next to Central Azucarera de La Carlota Inc. their sugar mill in La Carlota City in the province of Negros Occidental. This is a joint venture with India firm, KBK Chem-Engineering Pvt. Ltd.

The plant will have a capacity of of 100,000 liters a day (30 M liters/year) and will be finished by Q4 of 2009 or Q1 of 2010. Feedstock will be molasses from their 3 sugar mills: Central Azucarera de La Carlota Inc., Central Azucarera Don Pedro, Inc. in Batangas and an affiliate company, Hawaiian-Philippine Company in Negros Occidental.
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Batanes Province, a cloister of islands on the most northern tip of the Philippines, is the typhoon capital of the Country. Experiencing an average of 15 typhoons a year (the Philippines experiences 20 a year) it is usually the last point of land that a typhoon will pass through before leaving the country.
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After announcing that the Philippine Government would offer soft loans for Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) owners to convert their diesel engines to run on a 70-30 mixed blend of diesel and auto-LPG, the Department of Energy recalls the statement saying they’ve discovered that the mixed fuel type is not safe and probably wouldn’t work.
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One of the worst maritime disaster in the Philippines, the overturning of the Sulpicio Lines M/V Princess of the Stars could take an even much worser turn with the discovery of 10 Metric tons of the pesticide Endosulfan in it’s cargo hold. If the contents were released into the sea it could turn into an eco disaster for the Philippines’ fish and aquatic life.

The ship fell victim to the wrath of Typhoon Frank (international name: Fengshen) when it passed through the country late last week. The ship capsized under the rough sea’s and resulted in a large loss of life.
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