Environmentalists score big win in House

First posted 04:38am (Mla time) Sept 26, 2006
By Blanche RiveraInquirer

http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=23084

Editor's Note: Published on page A7 of the September 26, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

ENVIRONMENTALISTS scored a major victory with the approval on third reading by the House of Representatives of the Renewable Energy bill that is designed to combat climate change and reduce the country’s overdependence on imported oil.

The bill, which hurdled the House committee on energy on Sept. 19, promotes the use of clean and renewable indigenous sources of energy, resulting in lower carbon dioxide and other toxic emissions from power generation through fossil fuel.

The World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines, a member of the Renewable Energy Coalition actively campaigning for the passage of the bill, said the landmark legislation would benefit not only the Philippines but the entire planet as the adverse effects of climate change are increasingly being felt.
“This will help prevent dangerous climate change while enhancing the country’s energy security through renewable energy sources like wind, geothermal, biomass, solar and hydropower,” WWF Climate and Energy Program head Raf Senga said in a statement.

A University of the Philippines study commissioned by the WWF-Philippines estimated that the country could save up to $2.9 billion from importing less fossil fuel such as coal and oil if the government increases the share of indigenous renewable energy in power generation mix to 41 percent.

Less than one percent of the entire energy needs of the Philippines are currently sourced from renewable sources such as wind, sun and modern biomass.

The Renewable Energy Bill offers fiscal and non-fiscal incentives such as zero value-added tax and priority dispatch for wind power and other projects that use renewable indigenous energy sources to promote the use of cleaner energy sources.

The passage of the bill in the Lower House came as a new study by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) composed of some 1,500 companies, organizations and institutions in over 50 countries, confirmed the Philippines’ vast wind power potential.

The “Global Wind Energy Outlook 2006” launched in Australia by the GWEC and Greenpeace International said the Philippines had the highest wind energy potential in Southeast Asia.

“The report firmly places wind power as one of the world’s most important energy sources for the 21st century. The Philippines has the potential to become a leading player in this field,” Greenpeace Southeast Asia Climate and Energy campaigner Jasper Inventor said in a separate statement.

The US-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory has placed the Philippines’ wind energy potential at 70,000-MW, which is enough to meet the country’s current energy demand seven times over, according to Greenpeace.

The Renewable Energy Coalition, which kicked off its multi-sectoral campaign for the Renewable Energy Bill last year, has gathered 300,000 signatures from concerned individuals worldwide for its Positibong Alternatibo ang Renewable Energy (P.A.R.E. ni Juan) signature campaign.