Let a thousand windmills bloom to produce power
LOURDES, France — On our way to this holy site in Lourdes, I saw some windmills. And I remembered the windmills in Bangui, Ilocos Norte. I asked myself: Why can't our leaders envision a Philippines dotted with windmills and be freed finally from being enslaved by our seemingly perpetual dependence on oil as the only source of energy?
We have seen some windmills here in France, but very few compared to those we saw in Burgos, Spain, where perhaps a thousand windmills were making the landscapes look more kinetic with the rhythmic movements of the giant blades striking the clouds. From where I was inside the tourist bus, I saw a vision of man's technology, dancing in cadence and perfect harmony with nature, God's creation. And so, I wonder why our politicians could not think of windmills as a means of our country's salvation from being a virtual slave to the oil-producing countries. Our Congress focuses on the trivial and mundane legislations and neglects the critical few strategic priorities for national development.
In the ‘70s, President Marcos assembled a few brilliant technocrats led by Geronimo Velasco and ordered them to explore non-traditional sources of energy, like geothermal, hydro, dendro and, yes, wind energy. The Cory government and all the administrations that followed, were not as smart as to think outside the box where the oil tycoons have encapsulated our national paradigm. Even if we call Marcos a dictator, he was a visionary whose mind was ahead of his times. Most trapos today are myopic, parochial and do not even have visions. They are all desperate, second-rate, trying-hard copy cats, to borrow Cherie Gil's famous line. And yet, they talk too much. All wind and no solid legislative measures.
I figure that there is a lot of wind in the Batasan Hills, especially when Congress is in session. Our deputies are well known for their oral energy. And this could be transformed into electricity. Our nation could benefit from the power that emanates from our parliamentarians' grandiose egos and their excessive mania and love to talk and talk, ad nauseam, especially in investigations in aid of reelections. Our legislative and executive bigwigs should put together a think tank to put more focus on the energy sector. They should think of windmills and target at least a third of our energy needs to be supplied by wind energy. Instead of wasting time debating whether or not to require separate toilets for LGBTs, they should focused on the more compelling needs of our country.
In Spain, the government partners with a private company, Vestas, which shall install and supply a 15 V100 to 1.8 MW turbines for the wind farm in Burgos, Spain. For its initial operations, the country will have 20% of energy needs supplied by the wind. The cost is competitive to oil energy and if this emerging alternative to crude oil starts to prove feasible, it could very well give the Middle East oil emirs a run for their money and oil. Wind turbines convert the wind's kinetic energy into mechanical power. Generators in turn convert these mechanical powers into electricity to power homes, businesses, industries, communications, transportation, government operations, and public service.
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