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WITHOUT
the appropriate incentives and policy framework in
place, the country stands to lose as much as $3.6
billion in savings should it pursue the development of
its renewable energy sources.
“In
turn, these savings of $3.6 billion can be used to build
much-needed classrooms, send children to school, and
build health centers, and roads,” said Catherine P.
Maceda, spokesman of the Renewable Energy (RE)
Coalition.
She said
the
Philippines has
renewable energy resources that are more than sufficient
to meet its growing power requirements.
Citing
studies done by the US National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (US-NREL) and the Department of Energy (DOE),
Maceda said the country has vast renewable energy
potential, including wind resources.
She
cited studies indicating that wind resources can
generate as much as 76,600-megawatt (MW) of potential
installed capacity.
Ocean
energy resource, on the other hand, has a potential
capacity of about 170,000-MW—far exceeding the 4,350-MW
additional power requirement of the country in the next
six years.
The
development of renewable energy resources, Maceda said,
will help the country achieve 60-percent energy
self-sufficiency by 2010 and help address environmental
concerns and climate change imperatives.
The
measure is visionary in ways that it will establish the
environment to address upcoming demands and preferences
for green energy options by consumers.
Maceda
made the remarks in one of the workshops of the ongoing
Energy Summit.
“The
Philippines should learn from the experiences of other
countries like Iceland and Denmark which have not only
promoted energy sufficiency through their renewable
energy policies, but have also become stewards of RE use
in many countries,” said Maceda, citing renewable energy
development experiences of other countries.
Iceland,
for instance, derives 70 percent of its primary needs
from renewable energy since 1999, the highest proportion
in any country all over the world.
The
Philippines, just like Iceland, has a unique geological
make-up that will allow it to make optimum use of its
renewable energy resources.
Iceland
has over 200 volcanoes and 600 hot springs, enabling it
to harness geothermal energy.
Denmark,
considered to be the cradle of modern wind turbine
industry, she said, had 2,500 wind turbines as early as
the 1900s.
Various
groups and industry players have been awaiting the
enactment of the bill. In September last year, Manila
Archbishop Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, in his pastoral
letters said, “let us call on the government to
encourage and prioritize the use of renewable sources of
energy which the Philippines is abundantly blessed
with.”
The
Joint Business Chambers, in a statement last year, also
called for the early passage of the measure in the light
of the energy situation in the global market.
There
are 18 bills filed in both Houses of the Congress and
their respective Energy Committees have started
deliberating on these measures.
The
passage of the renewable energy bill is one of the key
measures identified by the Legislative-Executive
Development Advisory Council (Ledac) as a priority
measure requiring immediate action by Congress.
Among
the country’s renewable energy sources, geothermal and
hydro are relatively the most developed, accounting for
18 percent and 15 percent, respectively, of the total
power generation. The Philippines is also the world’s
second-largest producer of geothermal energy next to the
US.
Aside
from geothermal and hydro, the proposed Renewable Energy
Act will provide the needed impetus to promote the
development of the country’s wind, solar, biomass and
ocean energy sources. |
