Topic: Environmental Impacts of Emerging Energy Technology
Country: Philippines
Delegate Name: Michael Zeng
School: Northville High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Philippines position papers GLIMUN 2010 committees
The Republic of the Philippines advocates the research of the effects and of the continued development of emerging technology and further believes that alternative and renewable sources of energy that emit less pollutants, such as solar energy, wind power, hydroelectric power, and ethanol, should be implemented much more often in developed and developing countries globally with set guidelines. Even if these technologies have other side effects, the Republic of the Philippines believes that the advantages of this move will severely outweigh the disadvantages. By implementing these energy sources, the Republic of the Philippines believes that global emissions will decrease, each country will lessen energy dependence on foreign nations, and that new jobs will be created in the renewable industry.
As the Republic of the Philippines however, we are opposed to the development of nuclear energy. Nuclear power plants can cause health problems in the general vicinity and in workers at the plant. This is not the only cause for concern. As shown by the previous Chernobyl accident, a nuclear accident is not only dangerous and globally felt, but also costly in lives and in monetary value. Of further concern is the nuclear waste produced by a plant. Exposure to waste can also lead to health concerns. Considering that half-lifes of nuclear waste can reach thousands of years, such as Pu-239 which has a half-life of 24,110 years, eventual accumulation will lead to huge amounts of nuclear waste and increased health risk. Safer and cleaner alternatives offer a long term solution that is not only safer but usually more tolerated by local populations.
Other side effects have come with the development of alternative energy. Wind turbines are shown to kill an average of 6000 birds a year in the United States. This is indeed a problem as if wind turbines are to be implemented as environmentally-friendly globally this would become a problem. A larger amount of wind turbines around the world would lead to a significant increase in bird deaths. Over time bird populations could come to be affected by such problems as population decrease. The Republic of the Philippines believes however, that further development and research may lead to new and innovative solutions to this problem.
As for lithium ion batteries, the Republic of the Philippines believes that they pose a new problem. There are issues regarding the obtaining of lithium and the disposal of the actual battery. Mining of lithium should be done under stricter safety regulations and recycling of lithium ion batteries may lead a lesser demand for these batteries. We must also keep in mind however, that while recycling these batteries is a viable and agreeable solution to battery disposal therein lays the problem of having the population of the country recycle their batteries. By increasing awareness of recycling lithium ion batteries however, the Republic of the Philippines believes that we can resolve this problem.
To summarize, the Republic of the Philippines believes strongly in the research into and development of emerging energy excluding dangerous energy sources such as nuclear energy. The Republic of the Philippines believes in alleviating negative side effects due to emerging energy and thinks additional research and development can resolve current and future problems.
