Energy Columns in BusinessWorld

On economic growth, nuclear energy, and Meralco franchise May 16, 2024 | 12:02 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. Messenger https://www.bworldonline.com/editors-picks/2024/05/16/595240/on-economic-growth-nuclear-energy-and-meralco-franchise/ T he countries that are most resolutely on the path towards “net zero,” “decarbonization,” and “denuclearization” — the UK and Germany — are also on the path towards degrowth and deindustrialization. Other European countries are on the same path towards economic suicide.  Here is their GDP growth in Q1 2023, Q4 2023, and Q1 2024, respectively: Germany: 0.1%, -0.2%, -0.2%; the UK: -0.3%, -0.2%, 0.2%; Italy: 2.2%, 0.7%, 0.6%; France: 0.8%, 1.1%, 1.1%; Ireland: 1.1%, -8.7%, -0.8%; Sweden: 1.7%, -0.2%, -1.1%; and Austria: 1.8%, -1.4%, -1.3%. Germany shut down its last nuclear power plant in April 2023 while it reduced its number of coal plants. So, it must now rely on domestic intermittent wind-solar power plus import nuclear power fr...

Six myths about thin power reserves May 7, 2024 | 12:02 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2024/05/07/593044/six-myths-about-thin-power-reserves/ There have been plenty of power deficit incidents recently in the Philippines, with reports on yellow and red alerts starting from April 18 up to May 2. I counted at least 10 stories on this in  BusinessWorld  alone, including “Visayas under red alert; yellow raised over Luzon” (April 18), “Coal plant moratorium to stay — DoE” (April 26), “Yellow alert raised over Luzon grid” (May 2), and “ERC to suspend WESM trading when Luzon and Visayas are under red alert” (May 2). Many analyses have been presented explaining why those yellow-red alerts happened. While many assessments are rational, I find others faulty, to say the least. Here are some myths related to the yellow-red alerts: 1. Renewables were not pushed hard enough to replace old, ageing coal and oil plants, leading to the thin ...

On nuclear energy, LFSCOE, and the red-yellow alerts April 23, 2024 | 12:02 am My Cup of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2024/04/23/589739/on-nuclear-energy-lfscoe-and-the-red-yellow-alerts/ Since I will cover three energy topics in this piece, I will focus on the data and shorten the discussion. RISE IN NUCLEAR POWER USE AND HIGH GROWTH Nuclear energy — having the highest energy density, a high capacity factor, and least cost of fuel per kilowatt hour (kwh) of generation — shows that it can help sustain high growth of an economy, among various factors and drivers of economic growth. This is shown in the cases of China, South Korea, India, and Pakistan. Meanwhile, adding more intermittent wind and solar power contributes to slow growth, if not degrowth and deindustrialization. Clear cases of this are shown by the United Kingdon and Germany. For Table 1, I have grouped the countries into Group A (denuclearizing countries), Group B (fluctuating us...

On oil economics and Philippines vital statistics April 18, 2024 | 12:02 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2024/04/18/588752/on-oil-economics-and-philippines-vital-statistics/ On April 1, Israel bombed the Iran embassy annex building in Syria. Last Saturday, April 13, Iran sent hundreds of drones and cruise missiles to Israel. Since April 14, the world has been waiting to see if a large-scale counterattack by Israel would happen or not. As of this writing, there has been none; de-escalation of the conflict is good for the world. OIL ECONOMICS: SUPPLY, DEMAND AND PRICES World oil prices did not jump up high after the exchange of bombs and missiles between the two countries. WTI crude went from $82/barrel in end-March to $87 on April 5 and $85 as of April 17. Dubai crude was $84/barrel in end-March and went up to $91 on April 5 and $90 as of April 17. Iran is the third largest oil producer among the 12-members Organization of Petroleum ...

Philippine Energy Plan won’t ensure security April 11, 2024 | 12:02 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr.  https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2024/04/11/587197/philippine-energy-plan-wont-ensure-security/ The Philippine Electric Power Industry Forum (PEPIF) 2024 with the theme “Powering a sustainable and secure energy future for the country” held at the Iloilo Convention Center on April 5 was a great success. Audience-packed, information-loaded and networking-rich, it was sponsored by the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP). Congratulations, IEMOP. The opening remarks were given by Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas. It was a warm, friendly and challenging message. Warm because he thanked the participants from Metro Manila and other provinces for flying to Iloilo and spending their money there. Challenging because he narrated the huge inconvenience of power blackouts the city and the entire province of Panay and four other provinces suffered ...