The province of Ilocos Norte is among the “brightest” in the Philippines, as every barangay now enjoys the benefits of electricity.

Playing a key role in the province’s rural electrification program is a forestry technology called high pressure sap displacement that is used in treating electric poles on-site.

Developed by the Department of Science and Technology’s Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI), this method prolongs the service life of power and telecommunication poles. It is also used in treating bamboo poles for fishpens, poles for bridges, wharves and mining operations, and pole-type building materials.

The technology entails using a water-borne preservative capped from one end of the pole that forces the sap of a freshly felled tree out of the wood.

According to the local electric company, the method shortens the waiting period for treating the poles, hastening the connection to the province’s power grid.

According to the cooperative’s OIC-General Manager Felino Herbert P. Agdigos, the technology has generated for INEC at least Php 22 million in savings for pole treatment. (Rizalina K. Araral and Maybel Mariella A. Amador, S&T Media Service, DOST-STII)

    
Introduced by the Department of Science and Technology - Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI), this method called high pressure sap displacement treats newly-felled trees for electric poles in a shorter period. The technique hastens the treatment period and prolongs the service life of power and telecommunication poles. (S&T Media Service)