Philippines walks a thin line in quest for cleaner energy

By John Grafilo Apr 26, 2007, 9:26 GMT

Manila - Despite being battered by some of the worst calamities brought about by global warming in recent years, the Philippines has no plans of dropping coal - a major pollutant - as a vital energy source even as it taps cleaner alternatives.

While the government aims to reduce the country's dependence on imported coal by 20 per cent in 10 years, it aims to do this by turning to indigenous coal resources, which have largely been untapped.

Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the use of domestic coal is a key part of the government's efforts to attain energy self-sufficiency.

At the same time, the government also hopes to increase the energy generation capacity from renewable sources.

In 2006, coal contributed 27 per cent to the country's power generation mix, next only to natural gas which accounted for 29 per cent.

'The Philippines' coal usage has increased over the past five years,' Lotilla told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. 'The rate of increase of the country's coal usage is 4 per cent per year for power use.'

According to the DOE, the country's annual average coal demand is 10 million metric tons. In the past three years, local production has already increased to three million metric tons per year from 1.5 million metric tons previously.

'Continued exploration of indigenous coal resources is being encouraged,' Lotilla said. 'Increased production is expected in the near future as new contracts get to full blown production and exploration contracts convert to production agreements.'

Amid concerns over the adverse impact of fossil fuels on the environment, Lotilla said two of the country's existing 14 coal-fired power plants are already utilizing clean coal technologies while the rest have already instituted 'mitigating measures.'

At the same time, he said the government also aims to develop more environment-friendly alternative energy sources, such as wind, hydropower, solar, geothermal and natural gas.

According to the DOE, the government is targeting the installation of a total of 15,100 solar home systems at the end of the year in far-flung areas of the northern mountains of the Cordilleras and the strife-torn island of Mindanao in the south.

The Philippines also hopes to be a leading wind energy producer in South-East Asia with the operation of the 25-megawatt Northwind Project in the northern province of Ilocos, the first in the region.

Some 18 more wind power projects will be offered to investors within the next 10 years with a total installed capacity of 425 megawatts.

The government is also in the thick of promoting hydro and geothermal energy, which are found in great abundance in the country's more than 7,000 islands.

The Philippines' mini-hydro resource potential has been estimated at about 1,132.47 megawatts, of which only a mere 8 per cent or 91 megawatts are currently being harnessed through 55 existing mini-hydroelectric power plants.

The current geothermal power generated by six operating geothermal fields also only total 1,997 megawatts out of the 4,339 megawatt total geothermal resource potential, the DOE said.

While environment groups have hailed the government's efforts to develop the country's renewable and clean energy resources, they expressed concern over the increasing use of coal - whether imported or domestic - for power generation.

Jasper Inventor, Greenpeace campaigner for energy and climate change, took exception to the clean coal technologies utilized to control pollution in coal-fired power plants.

'These so-called clean coal technologies are just marketing strategies to make coal-fired power plants acceptable to the communities,' he said.

He noted that based on studies by Greenpeace, clean coal technologies are ineffective in controlling emissions of carbon dioxide, lead, arsenic mercury and other toxic chemicals that are harmful to the people and the environment.

More importantly, Inventor warned that the continued use of fossil fuels results in huge social and environmental costs, such as air, land and water pollution, as well as diseases.

'The cheapness of coal as an energy source is a myth because what is happening right now is we don't incorporate external costs or huge social and environmental costs of coal-fired power plants,' he said.

According to Greenpeace reports, the Philippines is facing a major climate change catastrophe due to global warming unless the government takes urgent action.

'The entire Philippines is a climate hotspot vunerable to the worst manifestation of climate change,' Greenpeace said in a paper presented to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change meeting in Europe earlier in the month.

It noted that a one-metre rise in the sea level brought about by global warming will inundate almost 700 million square metres of land in 64 of the Philippines' 81 provinces, while more powerful typhoons were also expected to batter the country.

Last year alone, a huge portion of the Philippines was devastated by successive powerful typhoons that triggering massive floods and landslides, wiping out towns and villages and killing thousands of people. Many are still homeless from the deluge.