Business Mirror
Published on Monday, 22 April 2013 18:24 Written by Henry Empeño / Correspondent
OLONGAPO CITY—The Coal-Free Central Luzon Network (CFCLN), composed of local groups espousing environmental protection and the use of alternative energy, had issued a warning on the growing number of coal-fired thermal plants in Central Luzon.
In a statement issued on Monday to coincide with the global celebration of Earth Day, CFCLN pointed to the “sudden explosion” of coal-plant construction and use in Central Luzon.
The group said it has launched a region-wide campaign against what it described as “a dirty energy source.”
The group includes the Nuclear Free Bataan Movement, Coal Free Mariveles Movement, as well as the “Defend Zambales” and “Defend Pampanga” groups that have been active in anti-mining advocacy in the region.
The prime movers also included former Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio, the CFCLN statement said.
According to the anti-coal network, coal is the dirtiest among all energy sources because “burning coal emits tons of ash [and] releases poisonous carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and dangerous chemicals like mercury, lead, arsenic and even radioactive uranium and thorium.”
These pollutants affect hapless communities near the coal plants, the group added.
It also pointed out that while there are already three operational coal plants in Zambales and Bataan—the 600-megawatt (MW) Masinloc coal-fired thermal plant, the 600-MW Mariveles coal plant and the 120-MW Limay coal-fired plant—four more plants are being planned for construction in the area.
These are the 600-MW coal plant proposed by the Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. at the Subic Bay Freeport, the 600-MW expansion of the Masinloc plant by operator AES Corp., a 200-MW coal plant being eyed for the use of the Korean shipbuilder Hanjin also in Subic, and a 300-MW coal plant proposed for construction in Lamao, Limay, Bataan.
Msgr. Antonio Dumaual, who represents Nuclear-Free Bataan Movement and Coal-Free Mariveles, said the additional plants are no longer necessary, given local power demand.
“We have no shortage, but an excess of power [amounting to] 4,212 MW,” Dumaual said in the statement. “There is no logical reason to build more power plants, and no rational reason to build dirty, dangerous and deadly coal plants.”
The group also listed a deadly dose of emissions from a typical 600-MW coal plant: 3.7 million tons of carbon dioxide; 720 tons of carbon monoxide; 10,000 tons of sulfur oxide; 10,200 tons of nitrous oxide; 120 pounds of mercury; 225 pounds of arsenic; 114 pounds of lead; 20.4 kilos of uranium and 20.4 uranium; and 7.68 tons of thorium in every year that a 600-MW coal plant operates.
The same kind of plant also consumes 2.2 million gallons of water for its boilers, enough to dry up an irrigation system, and in turn releases around 2.2 millions of gallons of hot water, the group added.
Citing the supposed experience of residents in Masinloc, Zambales, the anti-coal network warned that Bataan may experience the same problems with their own Mariveles plant, and that the Masinloc experience may provide a “grim peek” at the future for Bataan.
Among the adverse effects the group ascribed to the operation of the Masinloc coal plant are irritating vibration, foul odor, significant decrease in mango production, faster corrosion of iron roofings, increased cases of respiratory illnesses like asthma and pneumonia, and “synchronized headaches” among residents.
A resident of Bani, the host barangay of the Masinloc coal plant, however, told the BusinessMirror that such problems were no longer the case since AES Philippines, a subsidiary of the global energy firm AES Corp., took over the operation of the power facility in 2008.
“There may have been problems when the plant was still managed by the National Power Corp., but there are no longer such problems today,” said Olive Ebido-Gregorio, an employee at the Masinloc municipal environment office.
“Some folks say there have been some effects on local mango production, but that’s about all,” she added.
AES Philippines, records showed, had since received international recognition for the successful rehabilitation of the Masinloc plant: gold award for Independent Power Producer of the Year, gold award for Best Power Plant Upgrade in Asia, and silver award for Best Operations and Maintenance Project in Asia during the 2011 Asian Power Awards held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. source
In Photo: The coal-fired thermal power plant in Masinloc, Zambales. (Henry Empeño)
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