March 20.

2010
How Clean Is The Coal-Fired Power Plant?
By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.
I am somewhat astounded upon reading the front page of a Cebu-based daily The
Freeman with a huge picture of a streamer placed at the stage which says “246MW
Clean Coal-Fired Power Plant”: during its “Switch On Ceremony” with PGMA as its
guest speaker held at the CEDC Multi-purpose Hall in Toledo City, Province of C
ebu (The Freeman, March 6, 2010 issue).
I am surprised because all I have learned about coal is that it is the dirtie
st fossil fuel on earth. According to the information that I have gotten from th
e US Environmental Protection Agency it was reported that coal-fired power plant
s account for most of the pollutant elements emitted by the power industry in th
e United States. Coal-fired power plants emit 93% of the nitrogen oxide,96% of t
he sulfur oxide,88% of the carbon dioxide and 99% of the mercury emissions that
pollute the air. Any person can just imagine the high percentage of pollution an
d health hazards pose by the coal-fired power plants to the residents within the
surrounding vicinity where the projects are constructed.
How can it be that it was described as “clean”? What process the management w
as using to make the emission of coal be filtered? Is there now an existing tech
nology that can filter the pollutants being released by the burning of tons of c
oal to produce power equivalent to 246MW as was stated on a huge tapestry at the
stage? I have learned on the news story that it was 82MW, part of the three uni
ts to be constructed comprising a total of 246MW,an additional power output for
the province of Cebu.
If there’s already an existing coal emission filter technology, is it a Filip
ino invention or one that is from other country either in the USA,Germany,Japan,
India,China,Australia,Austria,France,Italy or Egypt?
Are some technical men and experts from a country where such invention has or
iginated were invited to inspect and make experiments and tests to see how the n
ew coal cleaner technology works?
If there were no technical men and experts from other country or countries in
vited, was the conduct of series of experiments and tests done by our very own F
ilipino technical men and experts?
If the answers to my questions were met with positive actions relative to the
objective of making emissions of tons of coal everyday throughout the whole yea
r being cleaned by filtration or other means of
cleansing its pollutants, how come that there’s no detailed reports that we can
read in Cebu’s leading newspapers either from The Freeman or Cebu Daily News?
Most of the reports that I have read were that of the oppositions/objections
among the residents in the constructions of coal-fired power plants in the area.
Although the project was welcome by no less than the Chief Executive of Toledo
City because of its employment and revenue generations for the city’s coffer. Bu
t without counting the environmental pollution which would be the eventual resul
t of coal’s continual emissions of pollutants into the surrounding air. On the o
ther hand, CEDC’s $450M or roughly P3billion has another 2 and 3 units expected
to go on line by the end of May and the end of December according to the report.
Is the DENR that is in-charged in the inspection and approval of such delicat
e project do some checking and testing of its equipments,. apparatus and gadgets
to see if the plant is applying the provisions under the Clean Air Act of 1999?
Our planet Earth is already suffering from heavy pollution because of man’s l
ess caring of his environment and ecosystem but more on material gains and profi
ts. Because of this we are now feeling the effects of global warming as the outc
ome of too much emission of different kinds of pollution that stuck and hover in
the Earth’s atmosphere.
According to the Scientists and some experts the heat from the sun that is su
pposed to bounce back to the atmosphere was blocked by the heaps of heavy pollut
ion hovering in the Earth’s atmosphere and goes back to the Earth again-the resu
lt is the inevitable global warming.
Additionally, global warming caused some thick hard ice or icebergs in some p
arts of the earth to gradually melt. The melting would result to higher water el
evation of some oceans of the world that shall potentially submerges small isla
nds in the near future if global warming would continue unabated.. Now we have t
his so-called erratic weather conditions that begets climate change. If you are
an observant of weather conditions you know and will understand what climate cha
nge is all about.
If the manufacturers of various products for human consumptions and other hum
an needs like cars, airplanes, vehicles, chemical sprays, pesticides and other t
hings needed by today’s modern world would religiously implement some measures t
o reduce by 3/4 of the volume of their emissions (release) of pollutant elements
and substances into the air, they will greatly contribute to the gradual reduct
ion of global warming on our only life-giving planet.
WE hope that the adjective “clean” describing the newly-open unit one which i
s a part of the 246MW coal-fired power plant in Toledo City is not a bluff neith
er a misleading flattery, but a palpable reality. I hope so. We hope so.
On the other hand, our public officials and other high government officials
including the NGOs and the private sector ought to lead the entire population in
seriously always adopting environment-friendly measures in the establishing and
constructing of any income-generating projects in the country. This primary imp
ortant step is mainly to protect and preserve our only one ecosystem, the Planet
Earth, for the seek also of other coming generations of man who should enjoy th
e same benefits and privileges as we have.(Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.)