OFFBEAT MAIL

"It's midnight. You're standing in the middle of a remote desert in Central Asia, surrounded by over a million lights, and you just think 'Wow'." The world record for the largest light picture using LEDs has been smashed using over a million lights spread across over three quarters of a million square meters - the equivalent of approximately one hundred full-sized soccer pitches. The successful attempt broke the previous record of 50,010 lights. The light picture, a full scale plan of an energy plant, used 1,012,840 lights and needed twenty four kilometres of lighting cables, fourteen kilometres of power cables and 302 kilowatts of power from three generators, a railway station and a nearby gas plant. At the award ceremony in London, Guinness adjudicator Jack Brockbank described the achievement as: "The perfect marriage of engineering, technology and creativity." The new record was set at Shurtan in southern Uzbekistan as part o...

After the media briefing for the 2012 MyView Asia-Pacific Video Contest, from left: Principal Director Ann Quon, principal director of ADB's external relations, MyView winner Adrian Sibal from the Philippines; and ADB Senior Advisor and Practice Leader (Energy), Pil-Bae Song. Adrian Sibal, a 26-tear-old Filipino filmmaker was awarded the grand prize in a recent video contest sponsored by the Asian Development Bank for this year. In an ADB press statement: " Mr. Sibal’s video entry, ‘The Rivals’, beat out more than 150 other entries in the contest, which focused on the theme ‘Energy for All/Renewable energy.’  “Over 700 million people in the Asia-Pacific region still lack access to electricity, and Mr. Sibal eloquently addressed this issue in his winning film,” said ADB’s Principal Director, Department of External Relations, Ann Quon. “The interest in MyView is growing each year, with entries from aspiring filmmakers across the globe. MyView provides a showcase for filmma...

MANILA – Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda opened Tuesday (June 5) a new rooftop solar power project that will provide clean, renewable energy to ADB’s 20-year-old headquarters in Manila. “Using rooftops and other open spaces is an efficient way for businesses and homes to capture and use the energy of the sun,” said S. Chander, Director General of ADB’s Regional and Sustainable Development Department. “We hope other companies will follow ADB’s example.” The 2,040 photovoltaic panels occupying 6,640 square meters on the roof of ADB’s main building will generate 613 megawatt hours of electricity per year to run a portion of the Bank’s air conditioning, lighting, and computer systems, reducing its carbon footprint. The solar rooftop project received support from Philippine government agencies, such as the Department of Energy, the City Government of Mandaluyong, the Manila Electric Company, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Department of Environment and Natural ...

If there is anything that the Filipino citizenry should be happy about, it is the latest announcement by the government to cancel its tripartite agreement with China and Vietnam for the joint seismic geographical survey on the portion of the Spratly Group of Islands for energy exploration. Why not? After all these shenanigans in government, nobody is certain what the government's agenda are in dealing with communist governments like China and Vietnam. And what makes matters questionable is that the impending joint seismic survey leans more on the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines, where the Kalayaan Group of islands are now occupied by Philippine Marine soldiers. Some political experts are questioning as to why the present administration has entered into a secret deal with these two communist countries, knowing fully well that there is an Asean bloc agreement that allows first for consultation before any agreement is sealed with countries outside the Asean . Anot...

Would you believe that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) controls the world's economy? And that nobody, even the technologically advanced nations like the United States, can impose its will on these oil-producing countries. A case in point is Venezuela, an OPEC member and one of the biggest oil producers in South America. In that country, President Hugo Chavez wields power more than any leaders in that region do. On the contrary, what he does to his constituents and the Venezuelan economy are far-reaching and redounds to the benefits of the people in so far as economic benefits and privileges are concerned. Like the rest of the OPEC members, mostly located in the Middle East, Venezuelan consumers are extremely happy as to the way huge profits from oil exports are being distributed to the people themselves. With the price of gasoline so cheap, almost all Venezuelans enjoy the fruits of the natural resource God has endowed to them. And in some ways, Venezuela k...