THE Senate and the House ratified Wednesday night a consolidated version of the renewable-energy (RE) bill containing a package of incentives aimed at attracting investors to develop the country’s vast alternative- energy resources in order to reduce heavy reliance on imported fuel.

Sen. Edgardo Angara said the final version of the bill endorsed by the bicameral conference committee lays down the framework for the development of renewable-energy sources, including mini-hydro, wind, solar, ocean and biomass.

“The future is in clean, renewable energy, which is predicted to be one of the biggest industries in the next five years,” Angara said. “The benefits of renewable-energy use are considerable. It will foster sustainable growth, energy independence and economic security for the country, and unite us with the global effort to stop climate change.”

According to Angara, estimates provided to Congress during deliberations on the bill indicated that 2,500 megawatts (MW) of electricity produced by RE facilities between now and 2014 would result in an about $5-billion reduction in the country’s oil-import bill, or “at least $1 billion a year.”

“It could generate big savings for the country in terms of import cost [of fossil fuels] which we can translate into more projects like additional classrooms and teachers,” he said, adding that “once enacted into law, the government could save up to P5 billion annually in oil-import costs while the prices of gasoline will be reduced.”

Angara added that RE use can also save the country valuable foreign exchange of as much as $3.6 billion or almost P200 billion in fuel purchases. 

“Every 600 million kilowatt-hour (kWh) of RE generation saves one million barrels of oil. The Philippines could avoid having to buy more than 100 million barrels of oil by developing 2,500 MW of RE-based plants by 2014,” he said.

The senator said that the Renewable Energy 2007 Global Status Report showed that more than 65 countries have already set targets for their own renewable-energy futures, many of which have enacted policies to meet those goals.

He said Germany leads the world in new capacity investment, followed by China, the US, Spain and Japan. Countries like India, Spain and China have greatly increased their wind-power capacity; Turkey, its solar-power capacity; and Brazil, its ethanol production.

He noted that the investment community has similarly trained its focus on RE, with almost 100 clean-tech companies now adding to the ranks of top performers in the Canadian stock exchange, with a market value of more than $13 billion as of the end of 2007.

“Investors are banking on the steady returns from companies that produce power from wind farms and other clean sources, such as geothermal and hydro,” he said. By 2014, it is expected that market demand for wind energy will be up at $48 billion, followed by solar at $40 billion and fuel cells at $15 billion, he added.

“Based on the experience of other countries, there is a link between electricity rate and the level by which a country is able to develop its indigenous energy resources. This is especially important to a country like ours, which has the second most expensive power rates in the region. Vietnam’s power rates are almost half of ours because it has diversified [sources] and tapped its renewable-energy sources,” Angara said.

Meanwhile, environmental group Greenpeace lauded the Senate and the House of Representatives for finally moving a step closer in passing the RE bill.

Von Hernandez, Greenpece Southeast Asia campaigner, said once it is enacted, they expect the landmark legislation “not only to end our dependence on climate changing fossil fuels, but also help propel the Philippines towards a low-carbon path of economic prosperity and genuine sustainable development. Through this law, we hope to see less and less development of dirty coal power plants and more investments in clean, renewable energy systems,” he said.

Lakas Rep. Mikey Arroyo of Pampanga, chairman of the House Committee on Energy, said the approval was a landmark achievement as it had taken more than 20 years, or since the Eighth Congress for such a measure to be approved.

According to Arroyo, the measure will help the government achieve its goal to boost the country’s energy self-sufficiency from 56.6 percent in 2005 to the desired level of 60 percent by 2010. This will be achieved by tapping RE resources like solar, wind, hydropower, and ocean and biomass energy. (Butch Fernandez, Jonathan Mayuga, Fernan Marasigan)

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