A LAWMAKER from Mindanao has filed a bill calling for the creation of a research and development agency aimed to harness deuterium, known as a fuel for nuclear fusion reactions, as an alternative energy source to address the rising fuel and energy costs in the country.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, lead chair of the Lower House’s Quad Committee and chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said some members of the scientific community have identified the Philippine trench, also known as the Mindanao Deep, located off the coast of Surigao del Norte, as having the largest deuterium deposits in the world.
“It is imperative to explore and invest in alternative energy sources like deuterium that are sustainable and environmentally friendly. The continued dependence on fossil fuels as the main energy source exacerbates global warming through excessive carbon emissions, threatening ecosystems and the well-being of future generations,” he said.
Under his House Bill No. 11295 filed last January 15, Barbers said to be able to prepare the country to take proactive steps toward exploring deuterium which is still an untapped energy resource, there is a need to establish an agency to be called the Philippine Deuterium Research and Development Authority (PDRDA).
Under the measure, the proposed PDRDA office will be an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) which, aside from being an R&D office for deuterium, would be authorized to facilitate the entry of foreign expertise and resources in order to accelerate the scientific information and technology transfer of local expertise on deuterium-based energy source.
Aside from the creation of Board of Trustees composed of government officials coming from energy research and related fields, representatives from the private sector and from organizations of scientists and engineers in energy research and development will be tapped or hired to work under the PDRDA.
Barbers said that since the 1980s, despite being debunked by some quarters, there had been persistent reports that the Philippines has the largest deposit of deuterium in the world, particularly in the Philippine Deep, and that mining it would pay off for the benefit of the country’s economy.
“Di natin maisasa-isantabi na ang mga malalaking oil companies at ang mga bansa na nagpro-produce nang langis ay threatened so potential ng deuterium as an alternative energy source dahil magigiba ang kanilang mga ekonomiya sakaling ma-explore, harness at makapag-mina tayo ng deuterium,” he said.
“So, hindi malayo na mag-e-exert sila ng effort or pressure o kaya disinformation para ma-diskaril and R&D natin sa deuterium na tinaguriang ‘fuel of the future’,” he added.
As of 2021, reports said the use of deuterium as a large-scale power source is still in the early research phase, and according to the Philippine National Oil Company, the study is still ongoing, thus “technologically speaking, deuterium as fuel has not been widely researched and has only been used for nuclear fusion reactor prototypes.”
Deuterium is a hydrogen isotope with a neutron, occurs in about one out of 6,400 hydrogen atoms, and is said to be naturally abundant in oceans.
“It is a clean energy source that produces no harmful carbon emissions, with its byproducts limited to water vapor or steam. It can also serve as a replacement for traditional fuels such as gasoline, LPG and aviation fuel, offering a versatile and sustainable solution for powering internal combustion engines,” Barbers explained.
a
About the Author
