Local govt allows project to contain pollutants

SARANGANI, Philippines — A company has forged an agreement with the local government for a system to contain pollutants from a power plant. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Alcantara-led Conal Holdings Corp. and the local government unit will require the establishment of a "carbon sink" in a 10,000-hectare area to catch pollutants from the proposed 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant. The memorandum, a copy of which was obtained by BusinessWorld, was signed by Mayor Aniceto P. Lopez and Joseph C. Nocos, Conal Holdings vice-president. The parties noted that the proposed plant will emit greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere. Rolando D. Tubales, municipal environment and natural resources officer, said the locality has vast areas of brushlands and grasslands which can be utilized for the "carbon sink" component of the coal plant project. "Maasim has around 50 million hectares of land, of which 91% is public land where the carbon sink project can be implemented," Mr. Tubales said. Mr. Nocos explained that carbon sink is a method of capturing carbon emissions through photosynthesis. "In science, we are taught that plants grab carbon dioxide, and in return will emit oxygen needed by living things to exist. That’s what precisely why we are establishing a carbon sink that will utilize massive planting of trees," he said in an interview. In the MoU, Conal Holdings will use the "circulating fluidized bed combustion" technology, which "reduces pollutant emissions to levels below the ceilings set by Republic Act 8749 or the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999." Conal Holdings announced last month that it will build the $450-million, 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Kamanga village. — Romer S. Sarmiento, BusinessWorld