THE City Government of Tacloban on Saturday, November 17, lauded the relaunching of RE (Renewal Energy)-Hub, a community resource center on renewable energy and sustainable solutions by RE-Charge Pilipinas.

“As the ground zero of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), it is imperative that Tacloban City leads in championing renewal energy against the use of fossil fuels that harm the environment and contributes to global warming,” said Tacloban Vice Mayor Jerry Yaokasin.

The launching of the community resource center is for the people to get information regarding renewal energy, its importance, and options for households, businesses and local government units, Yaokasin added.

In June 2014, the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) formally inaugurated RE-Charge Tacloban “to show how renewable energy can aid in disaster response and reconstruction in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, and bolster development.”

ICSC said the facility is powered by a 9.75-kilowatt hybrid solar power system that provides most of the facility’s electricity needs.

It was integrated with a sustainable transport initiative in the form of electric jeepneys (e-jeepneys) and recovered bodies of multicabs that were converted into e-multicabs, it added.

As RE-Charge Tacloban evolved through the years, it has been renamed as RE-Charge Pilipinas, noting that the reach of the Solar Scholars training has expanded beyond Eastern Visayas.

In a statement, ICSC said that Re-Charge Pilipinas has also reached as far as Cagayan Province in north Luzon, in communities surrounding Laguna Lake in Laguna and Rizal Provinces, and the remote island communities of Polopina, Concepcion, Iloilo.

“Located within the RE-Charge Pilipinas facility, the Hub is a place where people can inquire about appropriate RE systems to address their household and community needs while renewable energy technology providers showcase their products and services,” according to ICSC.

RE-Charge Pilipinas is located at 58 Burgos Street, Barangay 38 in the city. (SunStar Philippines)