ENERGY SHORTAGE

If we were able to capture and use the energy from just two minutes of sunlight falling on
the earth, it would be enough to fuel our cars, light and heat our buildings, and provide for all of
our other electricity needs for an entire year. Simply put, we humans are not facing a shortage of
energy. We are facing a technical challenge in capturing it and delivering it to consumers; and
one of the most efficient ways to meet that challenge is to invest in better ways to store it.

Many of the worlds problems today can be traced to energy use, from conflicts over oil
supplies and concerns about greenhouse-gas emissions to lost productivity and output stemming
from shortages and blackouts. In many of the poorest parts of the world, the lack of energy stifles
economic development. Globally, more than 1.3 billion people have no access to electricity; and
some 2.6 billion have no access to modern cooking facilities. More than 95% of these people are
in sub-Saharan Africa or developing Asia, and 84% live in rural areas.

During the run-up to the recent presidential election in Nigeria, for example, a woman
was asked what she wanted the candidates to deliver. She replied with a one-word answer:
Light. Electricity, a basic commodity, would allow her to continue to work and her children to
study.

Unreliable or unavailable energy is a problem in much of Africa and the Indian sub-
continent, as well as some other parts of Asia. According to a report by the International Energy
Agency, improvements to the energy sector could provide the equivalent of a decade of growth
in some of the poorest parts of the world.

Our global energy crisis has been aggravated by a lack of innovation. According to
a study by the United States governments Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, more than
60% of the energy we use is lost between the time it is generated and the time it is consumed.
This includes the inefficiency in converting fossil fuels to electricity, losses during transmission,
wasteful consumer behavior, and the need to maintain a reserve to prevent blackouts.

A new wave of innovation is required, one that can eliminate waste, reduce pollution, and
broaden access to energy around the world. That means focusing on efficiency-boosting
technologies such as wireless communication, machine-to-machine communication, smart
metering, and better production management.

Renewable energy sources, including solar and wind power, are well positioned to
contribute to energy needs in both mature and emerging economies. But, because the sun does
not always shine, and the wind does not always blow, energy from these sources is unstable and
intermittent. And this will continue to be a problem unless, and until, we are able to store power
from renewable sources efficiently.

Studies by the US Western Electricity Coordinating Council have found that finding
better ways to store energy could cut total waste by about 18% and boost the efficiency of
electricity use by up to 11%. Better energy-storage methods would also make it easier to deliver
electricity to hard-to-reach areas that are currently underserved, as well as help make the best use
of often-scarce sources of power.

One well-tested method for storing energy is to use excess capacity to pump water into
reservoirs, so that it can be used later to power turbines when demand is high. But this approach
is practical only in mountainous areas, making it unsuitable as a mass-market solution.
Promising areas of research include grid-scale batteries with the ability to charge and discharge
tens of thousands of times and data analytics to optimize the use of the batteries and make the
grid as efficient as possible.

It is not enough to generate energy. We must also use it efficiently, and the wide-scale
adoption of state-of-the-art storage technology will be an essential part of the solution. Ensuring
that the worlds energy supplies are stable, efficient, accessible, and affordable will take time.
But breakthroughs are on the horizon. Our task is to keep our sights there.

REFERENCE: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/jul/08/what-
energy-shortage
Energy Crisis in the Philippines: An Electricity or
Presidential Power Shortage?
As predicted, the Philippines is heading into a severe summer power crisis. One
peculiarity of the widespread use of English in the Philippines is the mismatch between seasonal
names and the months of the year. Leaves start falling from trees in March is it autumn? No,
trees are just preparing for the dead season not the long cold nights of winter, but the long, hot
dry days of summer: April and May. The Philippine term for this period is literally the time of
heat, but among English speakers this is summer, rather to the bemusement of Americans
who associate that term with June through August.

Thus the label summer brownouts for the impending power shortage expected to
descend on the Philippines in the next few weeks. Brownouts is another Filipinism rather
than referring to voltage reductions, it means power outages or blackouts.
Hydropower is reduced due to the seasonal dry spell, and a major gas production facility
supplying power plants will be shut down, so that electricity reserves will be running lower
low enough that a random tripping or shutdown of a power plant on the grid might cause
widespread outages. Or there may be more proactive management of an electricity shortage, with
rotating outages among localities a practice that is fairly common in the southern island of
Mindanao.
Those with long memories will remember that the Philippines has been here before, in
the (literally) dark days of the early 1990s under the administration of President Corazon Aquino
(the current presidents mother). The 1986 ouster of President Marcos led to the cancellation of a
controversial nuclear power plant, and no new capacity was built leading to daylong outages
that stalled the economy. The incoming Ramos administration (1992-1998) solved the
problem through emergency powers granted by the 1991 Energy Crisis Act to conclude contracts
for new power generation.
Those whose memories do not go back that far might know that this looming energy
crisis has been predicted for a year now, and general concern for electricity supply (and price)
has been a feature in the Philippines for years.
 So why hasnt the governments response been more proactive? One answer is red tape.
The Department of Energy estimates that it takes 165 signatures and a minimum of three years to
secure the necessary permits (which can then be challenged, and delayed, in court by local
activists opposed to, say, coal power plants). Another is reluctance of some investors in the face
of contractual and pricing insecurity. In the last decade, the previous Arroyo administration
renegotiated the contracts made during the energy crisis in the 1990s to try to get more favorable
terms. And the Energy Regulatory Commission has often been slow to approve cost recovery,
delaying rate changes in the face of increasing generation costs.
The main response to the predicted shortages has been the Interruptible Load
Program (ILP). This enrolls large establishments who have their own generators (shopping malls,
office buildings, factories) to voluntarily interrupt their power from the main grid and start
running their generators when a shortage is predicted. The concept is that if an outage occurred
they would have to do so anyway, so it is more socially and economically beneficial to do this in
a planned fashion. Though the details of compensation its source and amount have not been
finalized, many firms have signed up. Some private sector economists feel this will be sufficient.
Others are not so sanguine, including the governments Department of Energy. Thus, last year,
the administration of President Noynoy Aquino requested a joint congressional
resolution granting him emergency powers for a limited time period to fast-track contracts for
new power generation. The proposal was controversial naturally the political opposition was
suspicious of increased presidential powers; some felt that since the ILP was in place it was not
necessary, and others recalled the Ramos example as yielding high-priced power. In the event,
Congress has not (as of this writing) passed the resolutions both the Senate and House of
Representatives passed a version, but a conference committee has been unable to resolve
differences.
This feeds into the discourse about a power shortage of another kind the allegedly
waning power of President Aquino. Last year there were controversies about pork barrel funding
through legislative-executive collaboration, and a flexible executive budgetary process
(the Disbursement Acceleration Program), both of which were declared unconstitutional by the
Supreme Court. Many warned that without these political tools the presidents influence over the
legislative process would be weakened.
 Most recently there has been the constant controversy over the January 25 clash in
Mamasapano, Maguindanao, where 44 members of the Philippine National Police Special Action
Force were killed in an operation against the Malaysian terrorist Marwan. Eighteen members of
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were killed in the incident, along with five civilians. For six
weeks now, controversies, multiple inquiries, and televised Congressional hearings have
dominated the headlines.
This week public opinion data showed that nationwide approval and trust of President
Aquino had taken a hit. Many take this as another sign that the president is weakened politically.
What they do not take into account is that he is far more popular than was President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo at a similar point in her presidential term (15 months before the end), and she
remained a political force right up to the very last day of her incumbency.
So, well have to see if the Philippines can avoid power outages this summer. But we can
confidently predict a President Aquino to be reckoned with until July 2016, when he steps down.

REFERENCE: https://asiafoundation.org/2015/03/18/energy-crisis-in-the-philippines-an-
electricity-or-presidential-power-shortage/