Renewables can provide more than half of RP's energy needs by 2030

MANILA, Philippines - Energy from renewable sources can provide more than half of the Philippines’ energy needs by 2030, a report made by a global environmental group said. In a statement, Greenpeace said that a report it commissioned “shows how renewable energy can become the country’s energy backbone." Entitled Energy Revolution: A Sustainable Philippine Energy Outlook, the report will be presented to the Philippine government “with a concrete action plan to make that Energy Revolution possible." Through what it considers as an “energy revolution," the group said the Philippines can generate as much as 70 percent of its electricity needs from renewable energy by 2050, with ‘new’ renewables, such as wind, biomass, geothermal and solar energy, contributing 58% of this capacity. However, the right decisions in energy infrastructure that will make all this possible need to happen now. To catalyze the Energy Revolution, the government must immediately phase out all subsidies for fossil fuel technologies and internalize their external costs; set out legally-binding targets for renewable energy and new laws to implement those targets; provide defined and stable returns for RE investors; and guarantee priority access to the grid for renewables, its statement said. “More aggressive energy efficiency measures should also take place. The government’s plan to ban incandescent bulbs is a good first step. However, efficiency efforts should not end there. Congress, together with the Department of Energy, must implement strict energy efficiency efforts for all energy consuming sectors, such as transport, buildings, and appliances," said Jasper Inventor of Greenpeace. But the passage of the RE Bill remains key to this transformation. Currently, renewable energy in the Philippines is up against a market which heavily favors the use of fossil fuels such as coal. In order for RE technologies to gain a foothold in the Philippine power sector, it is both necessary and urgent to adopt a Renewable Energy Law that genuinely promotes the massive utilization of clean energy even as it secures the energy security and sovereignty of the country and provides great environmental benefits to the Philippines. “All that is needed is the political will to transform vision into reality," the group said. - GMANews.TV