M/S Tûranor Planet Solar Powerded by Philippines Solar SunPower

M/S Tûranor Planet Solar: exclusively powered by 38,000 high-efficiency solar cells all produced in the Philippines at the manufacturing facilities of SunPower Corporation, a German-built vessel measures 31 by 15 meters and tips the scales at 85 tons. Over 537 square meters of photovoltaic solar panels provide up to 127 horsepower – enough to keep the craft moving at a constant speed of 14 kilometers per hour.

The world’s largest and most advanced solar-powered boat, the M/S Tûranor Planet Solar, is proof that energy harnessed from the heat of the sun can power practically everything—from pocket-sized calculators to cruise ships.

M/S Tûranor Planet Solar has finally arrived in Manila Philippines, not only showcasing the potential of environmentally responsible mobility concepts, but also largely demonstrating the immense potential of solar energy, among other renewable energy sources, as a sustainable resource that can power the future.

“The sun has always been our planet’s most important source of power—wind, rainfall and waves—are all indirectly generated by the sun. Harnessing even a tiny portion of its immense power can provide us with limitless amounts of clean energy,” said World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Philippines) chair Vincent Pérez  in a statement.

“The message of M/S Tûranor Planet Solar is clear: clean and dependable renewable energy technology is here,” added Pérez, who served as Philippine energy secretary from 2001 to 2005 and has since been active in promoting renewable energy.

The German-built vessel measures 31 by 15 meters and tips the scales at 85 tons. Over 537 square meters of photovoltaic solar panels provide up to 127 horsepower – enough to keep the craft moving at a constant speed of 14 kilometers per hour.

The ship is exclusively powered by 38,000 high-efficiency solar cells all produced in the Philippines at the manufacturing facilities of SunPower Corporation. Already, it has won two accolades – the fastest crossing of the Atlantic by a solar-powered vessel and the longest distance covered by a solar-powered electric vehicle, according to WWF.

The catamaran now targets to be the first solar-powered boat to circumnavigate the world. Traveling over 55,000 kilometers westward across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, the M/S Tûranor set sail from Monaco in southern France on September 27, 2010 and has just arrived in Manila from Australia.

WWF claimed that the Philippines’ stop of the Solar cruise ship was recognition of the country’s strong support for renewable energy.

Over the next 20 years, the Philippine government, through the Department of Energy, targets to increase the use of renewable energy by threefold as clean energy is now being seen as a another way to secure the country’s energy supply.

Specifically, the Philippines will target to increase renewable energy-based power capacity to over 15,200 megawatts in installed capacity. This target will allow the country to have a power mix in which RE resources will account for over 50 percent. As of end 2010, total RE generation stood at 26.3 percent.

These goals set under the National Renewable Energy Program can be achieved given that the country has abundant renewable energy sources, with various estimates ranging from 200,000 MW to as high as 276,000 MW in potential capacity. These resources included biomass, geothermal, solar, hydro, ocean and wind.

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China: "We owned everything" in Spratlys - asked talk with the Philippines

China is ready to sit down with the Philippines in one-on-one talks regarding their ownership dispute over portions of the Spratly Islands, Beijing's envoy to Manila said Monday (July 25, 2011).

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao said the issue is a bilateral one and China is ready to discuss with the Philippines how to settle the dispute.

Liu issued the statement after President Benigno Aquino III said in his State of the Nation Address on Monday that the Philippines may bring the dispute over the West Philippine Sea, or the South China Sea, before the United Nations International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

China: “I owned everything”

It is hard for the Philippines to decide for between two countries talk as China has already invaded the Philippines waters more than 7 times during the first 2 quarter of this year.

The loser appears to be always as the Philippines because the disputes in the Spratlys pushed by China until inside Philippines Water most particularly the Reed Bank which is just 84 Nautical Miles from the shore of Palawan Province.

In spite of the UNCLOS laws of sea guaranteeing 200 Nautical Miles, invaders push the dispute to the Philippines shore even within less than 100 nautical miles from the Philippines shore.

The Philippines want to separate the dispute from the disputed islands and waters but it seems that the disputes infected the undisputed areas in less than 100 nautical miles from the shore of the Southern Philippines.

When Philippines questioned China for their belligerent action in the west Philippines Sea they will just replied “No intrusion happen because it is under our sovereignty”

Philippines Foreign Secretary already quoted “how could we have a bilateral talks with china when we sit down, they will just say; “We owned everything”.

President Aquino Stands over Spratlys 

"We do not wish to increase tensions with anyone, but we must let the world know we are ready to protect what is ours," Aquino said.

Aquino said the Philippines would no longer allow other countries to enforce their will over territorial disputes.

"There was a time when we couldn't appropriately respond to threats in our own backyard," he said.

"Now our message to the world is clear. What is ours is ours; setting foot on Recto Bank is no different from setting foot on Recto Avenue. In Manila"

Recto Bank is the Philippine name for Reed Bank, a group of tiny islands in the South China Sea that is claimed by the Philippines and China, while Recto Avenue is a major road in the heart of the capital, Manila.

Recto bank is just 84 Nautical Miles from the shore of Palawan Province and more than 700 Nautical miles from the closest Hainan Island of China.

Between 2 countries talk (Philippines – China)

Liu, meanwhile, insisted that the issue is "between our two countries."

"Talks are going on in Bali, in Indonesia. I hope that progress would continue to be made. So let's be diplomatic, let's give diplomacy a chance so that we all conform to the interests of all countries that this area, this region, remains peaceful and stable," he said.

"I take it as a claim that is repeated. Now, China and the countries in this region are working very hard in making sure that this place, this area in peaceful and stable one," the Chinese envoy added.

Manila has accused Chinese navy boats of harassing a Philippine oil exploration vessel near Reed Bank in March, one of the incidents that triggered a dramatic rise in bilateral tensions.

China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping claims to all or parts of the South China Sea, which is believed to be extremely rich in oil and gas deposits.

Tensions in the decades-long dispute escalated this year amid accusations from the Philippines and Vietnam that China was becoming increasingly aggressive in staking its claims to the sea.

Aside from harassing the oil exploration vessel at Reed Bank, the Philippines accused Chinese forces of shooting at Filipino fishermen and placing markers on some of the islets.

The Philippines has one of the weakest military forces in the region, with its airforce lacking any fighter aircraft and its navy made up mainly of World War II-vintage US ships.

However the Philippines secured a promise from the United States in June 2011 for help in modernizing its armed forces, after appealing to its longtime ally for protection amid its rift with China.

A decommissioned US Coast Guard patrol vessel that will become the Philippines' biggest navy ship is due to reach Philippine shores next month early August 2011 , which Aquino highlighted in his speech in the State of the Nation Address (SONA).

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Philippines to buy more arms to defend Spratlys, SONA: Aquino

Amid rising tensions with China over the hotly-contested Spratly Islands in the Kalayaan Island Group or Freedom land Philippines, President Benigno Aquino III announced during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) that the Philippines was ready to defend its territory by acquiring more armaments.

"We do not wish to increase tensions with anyone, but we must let the world know that we are ready to protect what is ours," Mr. Aquino said in his State of the Nation Address (SONA), drawing loud applause at the packed House of Representatives.

Mr. Aquino did not mention China, which claims the entire South China Sea including the shore of the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei & Malaysia, where the Spratlys are located, as its own, and has been accused by both the Philippines and Vietnam of becoming increasingly aggressive in staking its claims to the area. But the President clearly referred to Asia's rising military power when he mentioned Recto Bank - internationally known as the Reed Bank - as clearly belonging to the Philippines as a popular downtown Manila Street bears the same name which is 84 Nautical Miles from the shore of Palawan, province of the Philippines which failed to escape from the china’s incursion.

"There was a time when we couldn't appropriately respond to threats in our own backyard. Now, our message to the world is clear: What is ours is ours; setting foot on Recto Bank is no different from setting foot on Recto Avenue, Manila" said Mr. Aquino, whose office announced last month that it was renaming the South China Sea as the "West Philippines Sea".

The President said the Philippines' very first Hamilton-class cutter, which was acquired from the United States, was already on its way to the country.

"We may acquire more vessels in the future, these in addition to helicopters and patrol craft and the weapons that (we) will buy in bulk to get a significant discount," said Mr Aquino, whose country has one of the weakest military forces in the region.

The Philippines has alleged that Chinese forces have repeatedly intruded into Manila-claimed areas in and near the Spratlys since February, including at the Reed Bank. Chinese officials have said there were no intrusions because those waters belonged to China with distance of more than 700 Nautical Miles compare to the Philippines with only 85 Nautical Miles from the Philippines’ shore.

The chain of barren, largely uninhabited islands, reefs and banks in the West Philippines Sea which is also known as South China Sea are claimed in its entirety or partly by China, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei. They are believed to be the 4^th largest Oil and Gas deposit in the World.

The Philippines has said it intends to bring the Spratlys disputes before the UN's International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea. China opposed the plan and wants to negotiate bilaterally instead which troubled the Philippines because when they will set down with china; China will just say we owned everything..

Mr. Aquino said in his State of the nation Address (SONA) July 25, 2011 that bringing the case before an international arbiter would ensure that "all involved nations approach the dispute with calm and forbearance".

The President's reference to the Spratlys in an address to mark the one-year anniversary of his inauguration followed a visit by Filipino lawmakers on July 20 to a Philippine-occupied island in the disputed area.

The one-day visit to Pag-asa Island led (Freedom Land Visit)

a Chinese Embassy spokesman to say that Beijing would relay its "great concern" to the Philippines government over the trip.

The Philippines' push to secure energy resources in the Spratlys despite China's opposition may ensnare the United States, Manila's treaty ally. Washington has said the peaceful resolution of the territorial disputes and ensuring the freedom of navigation there were in the US' interest, a position that has irked China.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned on Sunday (July 23, 2011) that disputes in the South China Sea threaten to disrupt one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

There has been an increase in "intimidations, the ramming, the cuttings of cables - the kinds of things that will raise the cost of business for everyone", Mrs Clinton said on Sunday in Bali, Indonesia, where she had attended a meeting of Asian security officials.

" ... It's important for us to support freedom of navigation, unimpeded commerce," she added.

At the Bali meeting, China and the 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to draft guidelines for behaviour in the South China Sea. However, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario was quoted as saying that with no teeth; even such guidelines would be meaningless.

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