US moves ahead on massive Africa power bid

Google – AFP, Shaun Tandon (AFP), 27 February 2014

Electricity wires reflect the sun light at sunset in Mokopane, 60kms southwest

of Polokwane, South Africa, on June 21, 2010 (AFP/File, Daniel Garcia)

Washington — US lawmakers broke through a logjam Thursday on a plan to bring electricity to 50 million Africans, in what Washington hopes will be its next major initiative for the continent.

During a visit to Africa in June, President Barack Obama announced a US drive to improve power for the two thirds of Africans who lack a reliable supply.

But legislation in Congress, which is more concrete and ambitious than Obama's initial statement, had been held up by a dispute on whether to support electrical plants that produce large amounts of carbon blamed for climate change.

The bill, approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sets a goal of installing 20,000 megawatts of power in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020 and reaching at least 50 million people who do not have electricity.

The funding would come from the private sector, using government-backed credit guarantees.

Representative Ed Royce, who chairs the panel, hailed the Electrify Africa Act as a way for the United States to contribute to the continent's development, as lack of power impedes everything from education to health care.

Royce, a Republican who worked on the bill with members of Obama's Democratic Party, said that the plan would also help American companies tap into a growing consumer market and show US engagement in the face of China's rising presence in Africa.

The bill still needs approval from the full House of Representatives and Senate, but the committee vote indicated broad support.

However, the legislation came under fire from Representative Mo Brooks, a conservative Republican from Alabama who said that the United States was not financially sound enough to be "building power plants and power lines in Africa."

"I very much appreciate the altruistic motivations that I've heard in support of this legislation, but quite frankly, I don't believe America's financial condition is such that it supports spending money that we don't have on these projects," Brooks said.

Lawmakers from both parties countered that the US-backed financial institutions involved in the initiative -- the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, or OPIC, and the Export-Import Bank -- do not spend taxpayer money and in fact create US jobs by boosting economic activity.

Democratic Representative Gerry Connolly denounced Brooks's view as "dangerous" and said of the act: "It's not just 'altruism,' it's enlightened self-interest."

"I don't want to be the person who has to answer the next generation, 'Why is Africa-Chinese trade the dominant trade in that part of the world and we don't even have a slice of it?' And the answer is because somebody, somewhere, 20 years before said we can't afford it," Connolly said.

- Climate change battle diverted -

Obama had promoted electricity as the next big goal for the United States in Africa after his predecessor, George W. Bush, worked with Democrats to fight diseases including HIV/AIDS and former president Bill Clinton helped jumpstart trade.

But the bill had been held up as corporations pushed to ease existing requirements that OPIC steer clear of carbon-intense projects. General Electric said it supported renewable energy but that efforts in Africa also needed other sources, such as gas.

In a compromise, the bill does not address the issue. The fight was partially diverted as Congress took up OPIC funding when drafting the $1.1 trillion spending bill for fiscal year 2014.

Environmentalists argued that major fossil fuel projects have proven to be a failure in much of Africa and that US investment could encourage more innovative clean energy in a continent expected to be hard hit by climate change.

One, the anti-poverty group co-founded by U2 frontman Bono, pressed for passage of the legislation.

Tom Hart, the group's US executive director, said that the bill "shows the best face of America."

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

".... The Illuminati

One more. "Kryon, what about the Illuminati?" OK, I'll tell you, for these things are already known by many.

Everything you thought about the Illuminati of the past is correct. This was not conspiracy, but fact. However, in the light of what I just said above, it could not sustain itself in an energy where everyone talks to everyone, and has since gone dormant.

The Illuminati was based in Greece, and it started by controlling the most potent economic attribute that could manipulate the strings of commerce on the earth - shipping. Once they had control of shipping, what followed was financial markets. This, then, worked its way to insurance, world stock markets and banking. This was prevalent for decades, right up to the mid '80s.

I have a question for the elders in the room. Look back in your lifetime, dear ones. What was the stock market like when you were younger? If you remember, you will say it had incremental changes up and down, except for occasional major shifts - which, by the way, were also controlled. It was steady, up or down. It didn't vacillate wildly, with hundreds of point-shifts from month to month. It never did. That's what a controlled market looks like. Now take a look at your current stock market. Does it look controlled? It is not! It is free-wheeling and it can go wherever it is driven by normal financial activity.

This should tell you something, dear ones. The Illuminati is no longer in control. It lost in banking, in tobacco, and it's about to lose in big pharma and insurance because awareness lets people know what is controlled and what is not. Awareness of truth will trump any other energy, and integrity will win some major battles.

So, did the Illuminate die? No. They simply lost their method of control.

The Future of the Illuminati

Now, I want to tell you something that you didn't expect and something I've reported only one other time. What about all of the money that the Illuminati has? There are trillions and trillions of euro in banks, under their control, waiting. What are they going to do with it and where are they going to use it? It's still here. They're waiting.

This group is waiting for something to happen that they know is going to happen, for they see it coming as much as I do. However, I would like to tell you something that they don't expect. With awareness comes generational shift. Those in charge of this money will not always be elders. The indigos eventually will have it.

They are waiting for something to happen in Africa - the building of a new civilization, a continent that has nothing to unlearn. Once Africa is cured, once it's ready, a new civilization can be created from the ground up. Africans will be ready to learn everything about building a foundation for the most advanced civilization ever and will do it with the most modern and inventive systems available. Eventually, this new continent will even beat the economics of China.

This is the prediction and always has been, and the Illuminati's money will fund it. Did I say the Illuminati will fund it? [Kryon laugh]The Illuminati's money will fund it, but there is a difference from the past, dear ones. The ones who inherit the positions in the Illuminati will be a different consciousness. Listen, they are not suddenly going to be the ones who have the good of everyone in their hearts - hardly. They want to make money, but what they will see instead is a way to make a great deal of money through this investment. In the process, it will automatically help hundreds of thousands, and they will be at the beginning, the foundation, that builds the new Africa. The new African states of unification eventually will create a continent stronger than any of the others, and it will have one currency. The resources alone will dwarf anything in the world.

"Wow, Kryon, how long is that going to take?"

The Humans in the room control that and those listening later and reading. When you leave this room, what are you going to do? Go home, report this, rub your hands together, and wait for it to happen? It won't. For the Humans in the room and the old souls hearing and reading have got work to do, and I've told you this before. You've got work to do.

There's an alliance that you're going to have to create with one another and with another group - the young people of Earth. The youth of this earth are changing the way things work. Can you see it? You're not supposed to sit around and watch them either, because they need you, old soul.

It's time for you to align with the indigos and the concepts of the youth of the planet. Do not think for a moment that their age shows their wisdom. These two attributes are not commensurate with one another; they're not linear. These young people may be older souls than you are! Don't think that because they've got technology that you don't understand that you can't be one with them. Their technology is social networking, the very thing we are talking about, where everyone can talk to everyone. The new consciousness on the planet starts in two areas - the children and the old souls. ..."

Japan digs deep for alternative energy

Deutsche Welle, 7 February 2014

Three years after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Japan's nuclear plants remain mothballed. But as Tokyo struggles to cover the costs of imported oil and petroleum, companies have set their sights on geothermal energy.

The announcement in January that Japan suffered a record trade deficit in 2013 caused consternation in Tokyo, with analysts pointing to the need to import fossil fuels as the biggest single factor in the nation's economic slump.

The annual deficit spiked to 11.47 trillion yen (112.07 billion US dollars), up 65.3 percent on the previous year, due in large part to the demand from industry and households for crude oil and liquefied natural gas, all of which have to be imported.

The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says it is committed to restarting nuclear reactors idled since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami and weaning the country off energy imports. But with the disaster at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant still fresh in local residents' memories, there is little likelihood of the nation's 50 reactors being switched back on in the near future.

Adversity into opportunity

Face with this situation, Japanese companies have discovered that times of adversity can also present a window of opportunity. And with the public unwilling to countenance a return to nuclear power - at least for now - a number of firms want to tap into an underdeveloped, virtually limitless and environmentally friendly energy source that literally lies beneath Japan's feet.

PM Shinzo Abe is committed to
restarting nuclear reactors in Japan

Chuo Electric Power Co. has announced that its new geothermal plant in Kumamoto Prefecture will start generating power in April, becoming the first new geothermal facility in 15 years.

A second project, developed by Orix Corp, and Toshiba Corp., is scheduled to go online in early 2015. The two companies see the plant in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, as a test site for further facilities in Hokkaido, Tohoku - the region devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami - and on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu.

Another 10-company consortium, headed by Idemitsu Kosan Co. and Inpex Corp., has similarly announced plans to develop Japan's largest geothermal plant, in the Bandai-Asahi National Park in the Fukushima Prefecture. With an anticipated output capacity of 270,000 kilowatts, the developers are hoping to have the plant operational in the early years of the next decade.

Oil, gas exploration firms

"Inpex are getting involved as they are an oil and gas exploration company and obviously have experience and know-how in the area of drilling, so a project like this is perfect for them," Tom O'Sullivan, an independent energy consultant and founder of Tokyo-based Mathyos Japan, told DW.

Projects to harness Japan's geothermal resources lag behind the solar sector, he agreed, "but the potential is enormous in a country that sits atop the 'Ring of Fire'" - the meeting point of tectonic plates around the Pacific Rim that is infamous for seismic activity, volcanoes and naturally heated water rising from deep within the earth's crust.

"All of Japan is colored in red on the University of Tokyo's seismological map," O'Sullivan said. "The potential is just remarkable." An estimated 70 gigawatts of geothermal energy lie directly below Japan, sufficient to supply more than one third of the nation's power needs, O'Sullivan said.

Japanese companies want to tap into the underdeveloped energy source
which lie under the country's feet

But there are also hurdles. In the same way as people in other countries are protesting the exploitation of shale gas deposits, many in Japan are resisting the deep boring that is required to access geothermal energy. Even the operators of the nation's famous "onsen" hot spring resorts are concerned that the power industry will deprive them of the resource they rely on.

High development costs

Development costs are also high, critics point out, with a 20 megawatt geothermal plant requiring an initial 7 million US dollars to assess and then a further investment of between $20 million and $40 million to complete the drilling.

The typical seven years from discovery to commercial operation of a geothermal plant is another concern for potential investors. A solar farm, for example, can be returning an income in as little as 12 months, O'Sullivan points out.

Japan's first geothermal plant (article picture) opened on the island of Hachijojima in 1999 and, to date, geothermal projects here have been relatively small-scale affairs, in part to ensure the support of local residents.

Since the Fukushima disaster, however, the national government has introduced a feed-in tariff system to encourage investment in the geothermal sector and a further 20 sites across the country are presently being assessed for the suitability for projects.

Rival energy sources

But Yoko Ito, a senior researcher at the Institute of Energy Economics Japan, believes that more attention is still being focused on other potential sources of renewable energy.

"The feed-in tariffs were introduced in July 2012 as the government believed they would help to increase the amount of geothermal energy being supplied, but the total amount that has been added so far is disappointing," she said.

The 17 plants currently in operation provide a modest 520 megawatts, although this puts Japan in eighth place in the world in terms of geothermal electricity, according to the Geothermal Energy Association.

"Many of Japan's projects are quite small, for a limited local area and not suitable for commercial operations," Ito said.

Supporters of alternatives to Japan's reliance on nuclear energy or polluting fossil fuels hope that small-scale geothermal projects will eventually encourage investors to sink their money into larger schemes that may make the most of the nation's underground opportunity.

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"Connecting The Dots" - Feb 1, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - New

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version) 

“…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much….”

13 die in Goa in collapse of building under construction

Google – AFP, 4 January 2014

File picture of buildings under construction in New Delhi last year (AFP/File,

Prakash Singh)

Panaji — Thirteen bodies were pulled from the wreckage of a building under construction that collapsed "like a house of cards" in a coastal village in the Indian tourist state of Goa on Saturday, authorities said.

The residential building caved in around mid-afternoon, when some 50 daily wage labourers, were working on the site, police said.

"We have got 13 bodies from the wreckage. We expect the death toll to rise," Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told AFP.

A witness said the building collapsed like "a pack of cards".

Fire and emergency service crews rushed to the spot. Rescue workers using cranes and bulldozers, shovels and bare hands, struggled to shift concrete slabs and other debris to free the trapped labourers.

Hundreds of onlookers stood watching the rescue efforts as police sought to shoo them away from the site, saying they were hampering access for machinery.

"The current priority is to rescue people trapped under the rubble and the government has also taken help of the army to clear the debris," Parikkar told the Press Trust of India separately.

Parrikar had been near the village to attend a state-sponsored folklore festival that was later cancelled by the government.

The building collapse, the latest in a string of deadly construction cave-ins in India recently, occurred in the seaside village of Canacona, south of the capital city of Panaji.

Initial reports said that the structure was five-storey apartment residence.

"We will immediately arrest the builder, the contractor and municipal officials involved in sanctioning this construction site," the chief minister said.

"I am personally monitoring the situation," he added.

He said that police had already filed complaints against those people involved in the construction of the building.

The bodies were shifted to a morgue at a nearby hospital.

Last September, a rundown five-storey residential block in India's financial hub Mumbai collapsed, killing 60 people.

The building had been listed by municipal authorities as needing "urgent repairs", according to local media reports.

Last April, another building collapse in Mumbai killed 74 people.

The incidents have highlighted shoddy construction and violations of the building code, amid burgeoning demand for housing in many parts of India and endemic corruption.

Falling buildings are a nationwide problem in India.

The British daily, The Guardian, collected statistics showing that 2,651 people were killed across India in 2012 due to the collapse of 2,737 structures, including houses and bridges.

Real estate experts say that many buildings collapse because construction codes are not followed and there is no attention to building safety.

In another of the worst recent Indian cases, 69 people were killed and more than 80 injured in a building collapse in the capital New Delhi in 2010.

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Indonesia calls for solar power project investment

Dawn.com, 2013-11-06

JAKARTA: The government is tendering as many as 80 projects related to the development of solar power plants in an attempt to boost the country’s renewable energy supplies.

The 80 projects will have a combined capacity of up to 140 megawatts (MW), according to Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry director general for renewable energy Rida Mulyana.

The ministry opened the tender starting last Thursday and is expected to announce the winners of the projects by this December.

“The solar plants’ construction will take about six months. Therefore, we will see the plants commence operation in the middle of next year,” Rida said as quoted by Antara news agency.

He added most of the solar power plants would be located in eastern Indonesia, such as in Papua, West Papua, Maluku, Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara. Most of the power plants will have a 1 MW capacity while the biggest project will be located in Jayapura, Papua, with a 6 MW capacity.

According to Rida, at least nine units of power plants would be offered for development in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) with a total capacity of 14 MW. He said seven locations in Papua would host solar power plants with a 14.5 MW capacity, six locations in North Maluku with a combined capacity of 7.5 MW, six developments in Maluku with 9.5 MW and another six projects in North Sulawesi with 13 MW.

There will also be three locations in Aceh hosting 4 MW solar power plants, six units in Riau with an 8.5 MW capacity, seven units in West Kalimantan with a 9.5 MW capacity, five unit plants in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) with 17 MW and four units in East Java with a 4 MW capacity.

The 140 MW projects will need roughly 2.8 trillion rupiah in investment. Earlier this year, the government inaugurated the largest capacity solar power plant in Karangasem, Bali. The plant has a 1 MW capacity and cost 26 billion rupiah in investment.

The government has put aside 400 billion rupiah on the development of solar power plants this year.

According to the announcement on the renewable energy directorate’s website, the tenders of power plant projects have been open for development in Kupang, NTT and in North Lombok, NTB, with 5 MW and 2 MW capacities, respectively.

Despite abundant potential in renewable energy, the country remains heavily dependent on the fossil fuel for its electricity supply.

According to a report in the renewable energy directorate general, the country’s solar power plants’ installed capacity had reached 59 MW as of early November.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said the country had a solar energy potential of 50,000 MW. “A number of companies came to us and said they wanted to build plants,” Jero said at an event recently.

Attempting to boost solar power plant development, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry issued last June Ministerial Decree no. 17 2013, which regulates the purchasing of electricity produced by photovoltaic solar power plants by state-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).

– By arrangement with the ANN/The Jakarta Post –

Philippines a Symbol for Local Geothermal

Jakarta Globe, Dion Bisara, November 6, 2013

The geothermal power power plants in Mount Apo in Mindanao, Philippines,
help to reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels. (JG Photo/Dion Bisara)

Indonesia does not have to look very far to find the best way to tap geothermal energy, which potentially is located in protected, remote forests.

As Indonesia struggles to find a balance between the development of geothermal resources, forest conservation, and development, the Philippines has shown how that can be achieved.

The Philippines gets 14 percent of its electricity supply from geothermal power plants and the nation is the second-largest producer in the world of such energy by capacity, after the United States.

Indonesia can only tap 1.4 percent of its estimated 28,994 megawatts in reserves — the largest in the world — as the country is yet to resolve issues such as conflicting laws that forbid geothermal exploitation in conservation areas, pricing, and opposition from indigenous people.

Agnes de Jesus, senior vice president for environment and external relations at the Energy Development Corporation — the Philippines’ largest geothermal power producer — recalled similar challenges in 1988 when the Philippine government decided to build geothermal power plants in the middle of Mount Apo Natural Park following the El Nino weather phenomenon that reduced hydropower generation.

The plan was highly controversial at that time, de Jesus said, citing the lack of legal basis to establish plants in a conservation area, which is also an ancestral domain for indigenous people.

“We conducted scientific surveys on the site to asses the environmental impact and held many consultations with stakeholders to explain about the project,” she said. It took four years for the project to start after securing approval from indigenous people and a presidential decree that granted exploitation permits in the forested area.

The EDC currently operates two generators in Mount Apo — a dormant volcano on Mindanao island, which is in the southern Philippines — with total capacity at 106 megawatts. The power plants use about 15,000 metric tons of steam tapped from underground reservoirs to power the generators, and as much as 40 percent of the steam escapes to the air because of evaporation.

Steam generation

The steam is captured through pipes that go through the turbines, and the steam then goes through a series of pipes that condense the vapor into water, which is then cycled back into the underground reservoir to produce more steam.

That steam loss cannot be converted back into water through this process, so conservation remains critical for the Mount Apo geothermal project because the forest captures rainwater and replenishes the reservoir, de Jesus said.

“The key to Mount Apo’s geothermal coexistence with the protected area or park was to locate it in less critical sites of the forest — in the openings or amongst secondary vegetation,” she said.

The company’s conservation efforts range from forest patrols to reforestation using native species of plants, de Jesus said.

Mount Apo is considered to be one of the richest botanical mountains in Southeast Asia, hosting hundreds of rare, endemic and threatened species of flora. It is being proposed as a world heritage site by Unesco.

Since the geothermal project commenced in Mount Apo, the national park was better protected from encroachment, thanks to increasing efforts from the EDC and the government in securing the geothermal plant site, said Eduardo Ragaza, chief of protected areas and wildlife division at the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The geothermal project also benefits indigenous people.

Samuel Asicam Sr., chairman of the Cotabato Consultative Tribal Council, which represents some indigenous people in Mount Apo, remembered the days when the natives’ houses were only made by wood, bamboo splits and banana leaves.

“Now we have good houses, many have refrigerators,” Asicam said. “But the best thing is we can have access to education, and we believe it will change our lives.”

The EDC projects provide support for indigenous people, including scholarships, free electricity, emergency health care and assistance in developing livelihoods for them.

Divina Sillador, manager at Lake Agco Hot Spring, which is the only resort within the park, said the arrival of EDC provided jobs. She also said the indigenous Ilomavis tribe benefited from the subsidy on their electricity bills — meaning that the cost for electricity at less than 650 pesos ($15) was free. Divina is an Ilomavis.

All children go to school now, she said, and most of them return to work with the EDC project. Last year, 259 people worked at the facility.

“I hope some day the indigenous people can lead the project,” she said.

Mario C. Marasigan, a renewable energy management director at the Philippine Department of Energy, said success at Mount Apo provided a platform for the country to continue tapping its geothermal potential. The Philippines aims to be the world’s largest producer of geothermal energy by 2030, increasing its installed capacity from 1,848 MW to 3,293 MW, Marasigan said.

“We want to achieve energy self-reliance,” Marasigan said, “Unlike Indonesia, which has coal and fuel, we have very [little] of it.”

Investment incentives

In order to achieve its goal, the Philippines provides generous incentives for companies to develop geothermal in the country, including an income tax holiday lasting seven years; a 10-year duty-free import period on machinery, equipment and materials; and a 10 percent corporate tax after the end of the seven-year tax holiday, which is lower than the normal 30 percent corporate tax, Marasigan said.

And thanks to a market-driven electricity pricing policy in the Philippines, companies like EDC are able to take risks in exploring for new resources while having sound assurance on profitability, Marasigan said.

Such incentives may be small compared to the 17 million barrels of fuel-oil-equivalent — valued at $1.6 billion at current rates — that the country saves annually from having geothermal power plants.

Only 5 percent of the Philippines’ energy sources comes from fuel — which is mostly imported — and that has helped keep the country’s current account balance in the surplus for the last 15 quarters.

By comparison, Indonesia’s current account reached a record deficit of 4.4 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product in the second quarter, after seven consecutive quarters being in the red as reliance of fuel imports grows amid its declining oil production.

Indra Sari Wardani, WWF-Indonesia Ring of Fire coordinator, said EDC’s geothermal project in Mount Apo shows that engagement with indigenous people and forest conservation can be achieved.

“As one of the geothermal projects located within in conservation forest, EDC has one of the best practices,” Sari said.

Ring of Fire is a WWF program launched in 2011 to promote sustainable production and use of geothermal energy in the Philippines and Indonesia. WWF identified challenges in Indonesia’s geothermal energy, including a subsidy policy that distorts the market price for electricity, and the law on conservation forests that prohibits mining activities — under which geothermal energy is categorized.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has estimated that 42 percent of the country’s geothermal resources are located in protected forest areas.

Bambang Purbiyantoro, head of preparation and evaluation for geothermal work area division at the energy ministry, said the government is now working on revising the geothermal law to resolve the issues.

“In the end the main challenge is the politics,” Bambang said.

The Jakarta Globe was invited by the WWF’s Ring of Fire project to observe the Mount Apo geothermal project in the Philippines last week.

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Geothermal Bill Step Closer to Law

Geothermal Bill Step Closer to Law

Jakarta Globe, Tito Summa Siahaan, October 22, 2013

Trucks at Patuha Geothermal plant in Bandung, West Java. Indonesia holds
40 percent of world’s geothermal potential. (JG Photo/Reza Estily)

A special committee at the House of Representatives approved on Monday the geothermal bill proposed by the government, which would make it a step closer to becoming law, as the nation seeks to wean itself from reliance on fossil fuel to produce electricity.

All of the nine factions in the committee supported the bill, and all of the speakers highlighted the country’s enormous geothermal potential, the need to attract investment, and the inadequacy of the current geothermal law.

Should the bill become law, it will replace the existing law on geothermal issued in 2003.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said the aim of the bill is to optimize the country’s geothermal potential.

“Indonesia holds 40 percent of the world’s geothermal potential, or 28,617 megawatts, but only 1,341 megawatts, or 4.6 percent of that amount had been harnessed,” he said.

Jero said that one of the key points in the proposed bill is the removal of the words “mining activities” in the definition of geothermal activities. Inclusion of such wording could create unnecessary complication in the exploitation of geothermal energy.

Another law bans any form of “mining activities” to be performed in areas of conservation, according to the minister.

“Most of our geothermal potential is located within conservation areas,” Jero said.

Such overlapping policies in Indonesia have, in many cases, created disadvantages for investors — especially among international investors that want to invest in the country’s energy business.

Aside from that, regulation on conservation areas had been widely blamed as the main reason as to why development of many geothermal projects has stalled.

Ali Kasela, a lawmaker for People’s Conscience Party (Hanura), said that his party supported the bill as it would bring more benefits from geothermal energy to regional development.

Jero said that the problem is rooted in the misunderstanding of the impact of geothermal projects.

“Unlike mining operations, a geothermal power plant takes only little space within a protected forested area,” Jero said.

State utility firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara estimated that Indonesia would need at least $77.3 billion in new investment to produce 13,000 megawatts of renewable energy, including geothermal, to the country’s electricity grid until 2021.

Tisnaldi, the director for geothermal at the Energy Ministry, said that another highlight in the proposed bill is the obligation for geothermal concession holders to sell a 10 percent interest to regionally owned enterprises or state-owned enterprises after it enters the exploitation stage.

“It aims to share the benefits of the geothermal project to local governments,” Trisnaldi said.

Jero said that the government is also looking to use geothermal to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuel and help the objective in carbon emission reduction.

Milton Pakpahan, the chairman of the special committee, said that the bill is scheduled to be approved by the House plenary meeting in April 2014.

The National Energy Council (DEN) forecast early this year that the country may not achieve its target to have a more balanced energy mix by 2025, which is designed to reduce the country’s oil consumption and carbon emissions.

Based on the council’s projections, Indonesia’s energy consumption in 2025 would be made up of 23.9 percent oil, 19.7 percent natural gas, 30.7 percent coal and 25.7 percent renewables.

In 2010, the country’s energy mix was 49.8 percent oil, 24.5 percent coal, 20 percent gas and 5.7 percent renewables.

Related Article:

The Future of Sustainable Energy in a Growing Asia Pacific Is a Common, Very Necessary Goal

The Future of Sustainable Energy in a Growing Asia Pacific Is a Common, Very Necessary Goal

Jakarta Globe, Noeleen Heyzer, October 18, 2013

Indonesia has only exploited around five percent of its world-leading
geothermal potential (JG Photo/Rezza Estily)

The world is at a critical juncture, with energy consumption rising dramatically. Even allowing for the positive impacts of the policy commitments and plans announced by countries to address global climate change, total primary energy demand in Asia and the Pacific alone is expected to nearly double between 2010 and 2030.

How will the Asia Pacific region meet this demand? How will we grow in a sustainable way that is both equitable and efficient? How can universal energy access be achieved?

These are some of the key questions being addressed at the 22nd World Energy Congress in Daegu, South Korea, which begins on Sunday.

The world faces two main energy challenges: providing enough light, warmth and power for every household — and at the same time shifting to cleaner energy sources to protect our increasingly fragile natural environment.

Just over a year ago, at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, 191 member states and observers recognized the critical role that energy plays in development.

This is why the UN General Assembly declared 2014-2024 the “Decade of Sustainable Energy for All” and why UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched his “Sustainable Energy for All” initiative in 2011, focusing on three major goals: improving energy access, energy efficiency and the share of renewable sources in our energy mix. Ensuring sustainable energy for all is additionally challenging in Asia and the Pacific.

Despite great progress in improving peoples’ lives, the Asia Pacific region still has 628 million people without access to electricity and 1.8 billion who still use traditional fuels such as wood, charcoal, agricultural residue and animal waste.

Widespread energy poverty condemns billions to darkness, ill health and missed opportunities: children cannot study at night, clinics and hospitals cannot offer quality health care and many people cannot make use of the opportunities and information accessible through modern technology.

We must end this inequality, but we need to do so in a way that is intelligent and sustainable, utilizing natural resources while preserving the integrity of the ecosystems on which we depend.

In addition to the hundreds of millions without access to modern energy services, the Asia Pacific region also has some of the highest levels of carbon intensity. Our primary energy intensity is among the highest in the world, despite rapid and significant reductions in recent decades. This limits long-term national and regional competitiveness, jeopardizing employment opportunities and income levels.

The Asia Pacific region has some of the largest exporters and importers of fossil fuels, as well as the highest rates of fossil fuel subsidies. Worldwide, these subsidies were six times greater than the financial support for renewable energy.

The increasing dependency on fossil fuel imports in both the largest economies and the most vulnerable small island states exposes our region to the risks of oil price volatility and the impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather events.

Rebalancing our mix is therefore critical. The countries in our region have some of the fastest growing rates of investment in and added capacity for renewable energy, taking advantage of our ample supplies of solar, hydroelectric, wind, biomass, geothermal and ocean energies.

Still, the current energy mix remains mostly fossil fuel-based — especially coal — with renewable resources, including hydro, accounting for only 16 per cent of total electricity production.

These additional challenges are why a comprehensive, long-term understanding of “enhanced energy security” is evolving in the Asia Pacific region. This concept moves beyond calculations of supply and demand alone towards a holistic consideration of multiple aspects, including access, efficiency, renewables, environment, economics, trade and investment and, last but not least, connectivity.

As early as 2008, member states of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap) were developing a regional framework to address these challenges, passing a resolution at the its annual session on promoting renewables for energy security and sustainable development.

In a lecture last year to the Energy Market Authority in Singapore, I also proposed that the region should explore the creation of a game-changing Asian Energy Highway — an integrated regional “smart grid.”

These discussions culminated in May, when Escap organized the Asian and Pacific Energy Forum, the first conference of energy ministers held under the auspices of the UN in the region.

Hosted by the Russian Federation, 34 countries met in Vladivostok and adopted a groundbreaking framework — a Ministerial Declaration and five-year plan of action on regional cooperation for enhanced energy security and the sustainable use of energy.

One key area of action is to develop common infrastructure and to promote energy policies that accelerate regional economic integration.

Energy connectivity is not something new here. The Asean Power Grid (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the SAME or Saarc Market for Electricity (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and the GMS Power Market (Greater Mekong Subregion), are key instances of initiatives that could be linked and expanded under a common goal.

The lesson of these initiatives is that regional cooperation works best when it is based on a unified vision.

As evidenced by the Asia Pacific countries in Vladivostok, our region is committed to shaping the regional energy future we want: one of equity, efficiency and resilience, to benefit our people and our planet.

Noeleen Heyzer is the under secretary general of the United Nations, executive secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and special adviser of the UN secretary general for East Timor.

A solar investment in California’s Imperial Valley: Google

Google Green Blog, 10/10/13

We’re celebrating Halloween early with our “lucky thirteenth” renewable energy investment: a $103 million commitment to Mount Signal Solar, a 265.7 MW solar photovoltaic plant in Imperial County, CA. The project will generate enough energy to power 80,000 homes.

Like many states, California has a goal of increasing the amount of energy procured from renewable sources. The energy from Mount Signal Solar, which has been contracted to San Diego Gas & Electric, will help California meet this goal. The project, which is owned and operated by Silver Ridge Power (formerly AES Solar), will also create over 900 construction jobs in a part of the state that suffers from high unemployment.

Thirteen renewable energy investments in three years! That’s a lot of energy—the over $1 billion we’ve committed to these projects will generate enough electricity each year to power more than 500,000 U.S. homes. Why are we making these investments? It’s simple: we believe in a clean energy future, and we think that companies like ours can help make it happen. We invest in these projects because they make business sense, because they help put more renewable energy on the grid, and because they have a positive impact on the local economies where they operate.

The Mount Signal Solar project in Imperial County, CA

 Posted by Kojo Ako-Asare, Head of Corporate Finance

Joko Wants Solar Panels for Jakarta Low-Cost Apartments

Jakarta Globe, SP/Deti Mega P. on 5:06 pm October 8, 2013

People walk across a yard inside the Pinus Elok low-cost apartment
complex in East Jakarta on Sept. 30, 2013. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)

Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo said on Tuesday that he wanted to install solar panels on the 100 low-cost apartment towers that his administration planned to construct next year.

“I think we need to apply an environmentally friendly concept for next year’s low-cost apartment construction,” Joko said on the sidelines of a visit to electronics manufacturer Panasonic Gobel’s plant in East Jakarta. “So solar panels should be installed on all the low-cost apartments that will be built next year.”

Joko said he was aware that solar panels would boost the upfront construction cost, but emphasized the savings that would be made over the longer term.

Yonathan Pasodung, the head of Jakarta Housing and Building Agency, said last month the Jakarta administration was ready to build 100 low-cost apartment towers next year in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Housing.

Each tower would consist of six floors and was planned to host 100 apartment units, with construction cost set at between Rp 20 billion ($1.7 million) and Rp 22 billion per tower.

The towers will be built across five Jakarta municipalities and offered for rent at Rp 150,000 per month per unit to low-income residents.

“That will include those displaced by [Jakarta's] river normalization project,” Yonathan said, according to Indonesian news portal tempo.co.

He added the towers would use precast concrete to make them more resistant to earthquakes.

Australian building giant in graft scandal

Google – AFP, 3 October 2013

Australian construction giant Leighton Holdings is at the centre of a

 corruption scandal with allegations of bribery among senior executives 

(AFP/File, Greg Wood)

Sydney — Australian construction giant Leighton Holdings, which operates in more than 20 countries, said Thursday it was "deeply concerned" by allegations of bribery and widespread corruption within the company.

A six-month investigation by Fairfax Media, which obtained hundreds of confidential company documents, exposed what it said were "plans to pay alleged multi-million dollar kickbacks in Iraq, Indonesia, Malaysia and elsewhere, along with other serious corporate misconduct".

In one case, it alleged, former chief executive Wal King approved a Aus$42 million (US$39 million) bribe to a firm in Monaco nominated by Iraqi officials who gave Leighton an Aus$750 million oil pipeline contract.

Fairfax cited a memo written on November 23, 2010 by then-acting chief executive David Stewart, in which Leighton International managing director David Savage had revealed he and King knew of the massive kickback.

"I asked did Wal K approve this? And he said 'yes'," the memo reportedly said.

King, who was the company's chief executive for 23 years before retiring in late 2010, refuted the allegations.

"Well, I deny the allegations that I had any prior knowledge of circumstances in Iraq. I've never visited Iraq," he told ABC radio, adding that he could not comment further because he was bound by confidentiality agreements with Leighton.

Leighton is a US$7 billion company active around the world in the telecommunications, engineering and infrastructure, building and property, mining and resources and environmental services industries.

The revelations hit its share price hard, with the stock down more than 10 percent in late afternoon trade at Aus$17.60.

In a three-page statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Leighton said it "takes these accusations seriously and is deeply concerned about the suggestions of impropriety", but added that the allegations were "exceptional instances".

It said that in 2011 Leighton voluntarily reported to Australian police a possible breach of its code of ethics relating to accusations of bribery in Iraq, and this was still under investigation.

"We are not aware of any new allegations or instances of breach of our ethics," it said.

The statement added that a senior executive was dismissed in 2012 and "over recent years, Leighton Holdings has continued to strengthen and improve its corporate governance and risk management processes".

"The directors of Leighton's subsidiary companies and of Leighton Holdings are aware of their responsibilities and have at all times executed their duties with the appropriate care and diligence, and in the best interests of each relevant company," it added.

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Indonesia Allocates $302 Million to Back Geothermal Exploration

Jakarta Globe, Fitri Wulandari,  June 18, 2013.

Indonesia started a fund to finance the exploration of geothermal energy resources as the nation seeks to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels for electricity.

The finance ministry’s investment agency will manage Rp 3 trillion ($302 million) this year for geothermal exploration, Saritaon Siregar, the agency’s chairman, said in an interview at a conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Local governments that have geothermal areas can use the fund to determine their potential, he said.

“If exploration shows good results, the local government can put the area for bidding and investors that win can repay the exploration funds to us,” Siregar said.

The energy source produces 1,341 megawatts, or less than 5 percent of Indonesia’s potential geothermal generating capacity of 29,038 megawatts, according to data from the energy and mineral resources ministry.

Private investors can also apply for loans for geothermal exploration, Siregar said. The agency hasn’t started distributing funds, he said.

Bloomberg