It’s been a few months since I last dined in the SM Food Court so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the tenants selling food there had switched from using plastic cups to the more environment friendly wax lined paper cups when serving beverages.

SM has been receiving a lot of flack lately with its plan to uproot and transfer some trees in SM Baguio in order to make way for their expansion plans. As experts have said, transferring trees from one place to another is no joke since it has a high chance of killing the tree. That’s because it damages the extensive root system that the tree had developed during the long years it had been planted there. The extensive root system is not just a sign of old age, the tree uses that to sustain the huge branches and leaves system that it had amassed all through those years of its life.

Since SM owns the property, nobody can really dictate to them what they can or can’t do with their trees. They did promise to replant some more trees in exchange for those that were transferred. Still, those trees there have been part of the scenery of Baguio for some time already, so removing them would be akin to removing Mt. Mayon from the Albay landscape.

From a political standpoint. SM would be best to leave those trees alone and just figure out another way to expand SM Baguio rather than have an entire community mad at you.

The project aims to provide 100,000 E-trikes to operators on a lease or lease-to-own basis by paying something around 200 pesos a day. The E-trikes comes in a 3 kWh and 6 kWh battery model. The 3 KWh model can travel 50 km on a single 30 min fast charge while the 6 KWh can travel to 100 km on an overnight charge.

Earlier this year the DOE announced an E-trike design contest to fete designs from local builders. Winners of this contest were announced earlier this month.

The first phase of the project will have about 20,000 E-trikes distributed in Metro Manila, Boracay, Puerto Princesa City, Cabanatuan City, and Davao City from between the years 2012 to 2013. The remaining 80,000 will be distributed in the second phase of the project to other municipalities and cities between 2013 & 2016

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At the point of implementation importation of raw materials, spare parts, components, manufacturing equipment will be exempted from paying value-added tax (VAT) for nine years. Manufacturing equipment comprises of equipment used for the building of electric, hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles as well as for the conversion of conventional fueled vehicles into an alternative fueled vehicle, electric of hybrid.

Excise taxes are also waived for a period of 4 years to allow for duty free importation of completely built units.

To get a little bit realistic however, alternative fueled vehicles are still more expensive than their regular fossil fueled counterparts so not all who want to buy can afford one. Those who can afford it should go out and buy one, that way we can support this sunshine industry. Then hopefully a few years down the road the manufacturers may be finally able to put out an affordable entry level alternative fueled vehicle for the masses, like what Henry Ford did with the Model T.

Here’s hoping that this bill gets passed and signed as a law as quickly as possible

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Interesting video at TED talks given by Kirk Sorensen on the feasibility of replacing current plutonium based reactors with the slightly cleaner and safer Thorium based ones. Click on the image below for a diagram of the current state of Nuclear technology.

Kirk Sorensen worked at NASA and was assigned to the team to develop a moon base. Building a base at the moon had some interesting problems to be faced. Such as the need for electricity which couldn’t be solved by conventional means. Solar energy was out of the question as there could be days that one could go without sunlight. Nuclear was the only option, but using current nuclear reactors was not possible because of the amounts of cooling liquid that was required in today’s conventional reactors. During his research he changed upon the possiblity of using Liquid Fueled Nuclear Reactors and eventually a Thorium powered one.

Aside from the possibility of a slightly cleaner and safer power from Thorium based Nuclear Energy, in the latter part of the talk there is his idea on how to synthesize fuel by splitting Hydrogen from Water (which requires electricity, this is where the Thorium Nuclear Reactor comes in) then combining it with the C02 and N2 from the air. From there you can produce methanol, ammonia and diesel fuel.

I’m always at a loss when explaining the current state of our oil burning world and the changes that have to be done in order for the human race to continue surviving in a post fossil fuel world.

Primarily because of the time it takes me to explain and to think how to best convey the message so that it could be easily understood. After seeing this video I might just have to point the person to watching it. And the best thing about it is that it is only 5 minutes and 38 seconds long.

In a recent birthday celebration the talks turned to the creeping up price of gasoline and how one family bought a smaller second hand car out of necessity in order to lower their fuel expenses.

Times have sure changed, back then when the population was lower, you didn’t have to travel far to go to school or work because everything was within reach. If it was far, it usually meant being in a different city so you had to seek boarding houses to sleep in during the work week. Right now it is not uncommon to travel across cities in order to reach ones place of work or school. For the school distance problem, we can blame it on the lowering quality of education in the country that necessities people to enrol their kids in private schools rather than go to public school… as always, I blame that root cause of that to over population.

But back to the question at hand. What is the good transition purchase to stave off high fuel prices? Well the couple who bought the smaller car used that car to bring their kids to school and that was all. School buses were out of the question because of the the problem with having to deal with often times, hard-headed school bus operators and it was turning out to be cheaper to drive their own kids to school…fuel wise that is, not factoring yet car maintenance costs.

Today’s 4 cycle motorcycles looks like a good alternative because it is often cheaper and more convenient than having to commute to work. But there is the problem of having to renew ones license, or add a motorcycle restriction to your present license and the yearly renewal of motorcycle registration. That is assuming that your family can fit in that motorcycle. Far worse things to worry about is the thought of being a traffic accident statistic as most traffic accidents in the country seem to be motorcycle related.

The conversation turned comedic when somebody blurted out that maybe we should go back to horse drawn carriages? As an after thought on our way home I couldn’t but help think, why not? That’s how are ancestors did it in the old days when we still didn’t have any automobiles.

I guess this idea would work if you live in the provincial areas where horses are easily available. Where grass still grows freely and abundantly. Also if the distance you have to travel isn’t that long. Something to keep in mind though is that I don’t think it would be legal to drive a horse drawn carriage in the main thoroughfares because of speed limit restrictions. Then of course, instead of a mechanic you would need a trusty vet to keep your horse in tip top shape.

It really sounds funny, but with the high price of fuel right now, its starting to look sane and practical to me.

I noticed a leak underneath the car of my Dad and had it checked at the mechanic. It turns out it was fuel that was leaking and that it was just an O-ring that needs replaced. So I had it pulled out and went to the automotive supply shop to buy the part. For P30 and the fee of the mechanic the problem was fixed in under an hour.

Had this problem not been noticed the fuel would have leaked out of the car. Had this been gasoline, the chance of igniting would have been very high. No need to illustrate the dangers to life and property with that event happening.

These are problems that I won’t mind being gone, the threat of burning because of a fuel leak, once the world switches to electric And the benefit of one less system to worry about. I’m not saying that the threat of fire will be gone in electric vehicles, because there are cases of the Chevy Volt catching fire after a collision.

Then again who knows what different mechanical or electrical problems we will have to face when driving an electric vehicle

In 1908 he released the Model T that cost about $825 ($825 in 1986 value is approx about $9400) which was the first successful commercial automobile. The true gift of Henry Ford to the world was an automobile that was reliable and could be had at an affordable price. The Model T used Vanadium Steel that made it stiff yet light weight. It also incorporated a magneto to provide the electricity which was used to ignite the steel in the combustion chambers, cars in those days had to carry large batteries. The engine was a single cast 4 cylinder block, which was considered truly innovative as that time cylinders were bolted together to form the engine block. It also incorporated steel stampings in its body design which is how modern day automobile chassis are manufactured now.

Taken from the man himself:

I will build a motor car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one - and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God’s great open spaces.

The book is really compelling because it sought to cast the two Henry Fords in a realistic light, talking about their greatness as well as their darkside.

In this day and age, as we transition from fossil fuels to electric powered vehicles, we need more Henry Fords with their tenacity and genius to sally us forth towards the precipice from the age of the automobile to the age of the electric automobile.