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Thursday, August 03, 2006
Power firm joins advocacy for renewable energy law
Hedcor Inc. has joined other companies and non-government agencies in an exhibit that is meant to lobby for the passing of the Renewable Energy (RE) Bill.
The recent exhibit featured existing renewable energy projects and potential sources of alternative renewable energy in the country. The exhibit also sought to create awareness on the causes and effects of climate change on the Philippines.
During the opening of the exhibit, House Speaker Jose de Venecia announced the creation of a bipartisan coalition to promote cheaper alternative renewable energy sources in the country.
“We are launching a campaign with the moral equivalent of war,” he said.
RE Bill author Rep. Alipio Badelles said earlier that “there is no alternative to alternative energy,” and warned of the detrimental effects of hydrocarbon fuels to the environment whose prices continue to rise.
Pam Palma, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Philippines climate change campaign officer, said global warming is no longer debatable.
“It is real, and is already upon us,” she said, citing the rising world temperature–which has resulted in the gradual melting of polar ice and glaciers that, in turn, causes a rise in sea level. Global warming has also been blamed for extreme weather patterns causing droughts and floods.
Global warming is primarily caused by carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuel that creates an enhanced greenhouse effect on the planet. The worst offenders are outdated coal-fired power plants and other fossil-fuel fed power stations.
Alternative
But the Philippines does not have to rely on outdated coal-fired plants.
A study commissioned by WWF-Philippines with the University of the Philippines –National Engineering Center showed that the country has a potential installed capacity of 7,404 megawatts from wind power; 2,308 megawatts from small hydro; 4,000 megawatts from geothermal; and 235 megawatts from biomass sources.
The RE Bill seeks to tap these clean energy sources and provide attractive fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to encourage clean energy projects in the country. It will provide access to energy grids for all renewable energy sources, and prioritize dispatch for intermittent generators.
It will also require power generators to have a fixed percentage of power coming from renewable sources.
Hedcor, Inc. is one of the country’s leading clean energy producers and a pioneer in the development of run-of-river mini hydropower plants in the Philippines.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Hedcor operates 19 hydropower plants in Benguet, Ilocos Sur and Davao with a total installed capacity of 119 megawatts of clean energy.
Other organizations that participated in the exhibit include: WWF, Klima Climate Change Center, the Capacity Building to Remove Barriers to Renewable Energy Development Project, the Renewable Energy Coalition, USAID-Energy and Clean Air Project and Philippine National Oil Co., Bronzeoak-Philippines and NorthWind. (PR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 3, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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