By Ruben Cruz Jr. / Online Editor
President Rodrigo Duterte may not intend to honor the country’s commitment to limit its carbon emissions, which it pledged during the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, but that does not preclude other Filipinos from trying to do so.
Indeed, many local governments and communities are proving to be leaders and innovators in voluntarily implementing their own climate change policies.
Last week, a resolution proposed in the Provincial Board of Ilocos Norte hopes to make it the first province to phase out coal use and become a total renewable energy consumer.
With a 264-MW installed wind energy capacity as of 2015, Ilocos Norte is already dubbed the undisputed wind energy capital of the Philippines.
Since 2010 local government initiatives have paved the way for Ilocos Norte to become home to the 150-megawatt (MW) wind-power project of Energy Development Corporation (EDC), a unit of First Gen Corp., in Burgos; the 81-MW Caparispisan wind station of Northern Luzon UPC Asia Corp.; and the 52-MW Bangui wind project of Northwind Power and Development Corporation. The latter is also planning to build a 2-MW solar project to match its wind power generators in the province.
Ongoing RE projects in the province include the near completion of EDC’s 4.1-MW solar project within the Burgos wind project area.
In February, the first grid-connected solar power farm was launched in the province. The 20-megawatt solar power farm, run by the provincial government of Ilocos Norte and Soleq Philippines Inc., in Bgy. Paguludan in the nearby Currimao town can generate electricity enough to power some 26,000 households. Another 20-MW plant in the same area is underway.
With the solar farm, Ilocos Norte will generate 50 percent of its power requirement from clean energy.
Provincial Board member Mariano Marcos II, author of the resolution, has proposed the declaration of Ilocos Norte as a clean, green and coal-free province.
To ensure that the province maintains its state as the emerging “renewable energy capital of Southeast Asia”, Marcos also proposed that a multisectoral forum of stakeholders come out with a concrete action plan to further promote the province as an investment hub for sustainable energy projects.
Reelected governor Imee Marcos, the Board member’s cousin, noted that Ilocos Norte is an ideal investment site for renewable-energy facilities because of its strong and consistent wind conditions, and the presence of solar and hydropower sources, the latter in several coastal towns in the province like Pagudpud and Adams.
In April 2015 Ilocos Norte played host to at least 70 international delegates and members of the Expert Group on New and Renewable Energy Technologies (EGNRET), a subcommittee of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), who held a 3-day forum in the province to discuss and conduct workshops in “doubling the Apec region’s goal of generating renewable energy.”
The leading role of local governments in climate change action may well be a critical matter right now after Duterte’s disavowal of the country’s commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) held in France last December, despite his inaugural speech promise that the Philippine government under his administration will honor all international agreements it has signed.
COP21 is an international agreement that seeks to limit global warming to below 2°C while the Philippines also pledged to reduce its carbon emissions by 70 percent by the year 2030.
But even before COP21 and despite the wishy-washiness of the executive department’s climate change commitment, many local governments like that of Ilocos Norte have, on their own, tried to limit their carbon emissions.
Proposals to put up coal-fired power plants have been strongly rejected in Negros, Palawan, Quezon, Batangas and in other parts of the country because of its environmental and health impacts.
For instance, in 1997 the UK-based Ogden Energy Group proposed to construct a 50MW coal-fired power plant in Pulupandan, Negros Occidental, with a total investment of $100 million. Prior to Pulupandan, Ogden had also proposed to put up coal plants in Bago City, Silay and San Carlos City. All 3 municipalities strongly rejected the proposed coal plants and the Pulupandan coal plant was also rejected.
Ironically, now the Ogden Energy Group has turned away from all coal projects and proudly declares in its website that it is “the leading choice for Renewable Energy Solutions in the UK” and that it specializes in solar, biomass, wind turbines and other renewable energy technologies.
Negros Occidental also now hosts six solar power facilities, making it the Philippines’ solar power capital. The province has a total solar generation capacity of 341.5 megawatts, according to the Negros Occidental Investment Promotions Center-Public Information Section.
The province has the P4.9-billion solar power facility of San Carlos Sun Power Inc. (SaCaSun), a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corp., situated in a 75-hectare property inside the San Carlos Ecozone; Helios Solar Energy’s 132.5-MW farm in Cadiz City, the biggest in Southeast Asia; Citicor Power’s 25-MW plant in Silay City; Negros Island Solar Power’s 48-MW and 32-MW farms in Manapla town and La Carlota City, respectively; and San Carlos Solar Energy’s 45-MW facility also in San Carlos City.
The province also has six major river systems–Himogaan, Sicaba, Malugo, Bago, Binalbagan, and Ilog-Hilabangan—which can be tapped for run-of-the-river hydroelectricity (ROR) with an estimated capacity of 200 megawatts, according to the provincial government.
Aside from LGUs, religious leaders, social movements, and civil society groups have also come together to add their voice to the global call to reduce our country’s carbon footprint by weaning it from its dependence on dirty and harmful energy from coal and fossil fuels.
Strong opposition from citizens, LGUs, the Church and NGOs pressured former Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje to declare he will not grant any more environmental compliance certificates (ECCs) for coal-fired power plants in the province of Palawan under his watch.
“First, the people of Palawan strongly oppose coal. LGUs and NGOs oppose it. Second, this policy is to protect and conserve Palawan’s environment,” Paje said.
Palawan is rich in potential renewable-energy sources, and environmental activists are pushing for the development of hydropower and solar-power projects in the province rather than “dirty coal.”
Expect no reversal of Paje’s ‘no new ECC for coal plants’ stance in Palawan with newly-appointed DENR Secretary Gina Lopez at the helm. Lopez is known for her advocacy against large-scale mining and coal-fired power plants.
Cities and communities have also shown their own initiatives in climate change mitigation, particularly in the transport sector.
The use of electric vehicles is growing in Philippine cities. There are now electric buses, jeepneys and tricycles plying the country’s central business districts, particularly in Makati and Taguig.
For instance, there is the so-called Makati Green Route (MGR) introduced by the Institute of Climate and Sustainable Cities and EV manufacturer PhUV Inc., where electric jeepneys ply the Legaspi and Salcedo Villages in Makati, ferrying office workers around designated routes.
Aside from cities, there are also universities and private companies that have now shifted to EVs for their service vehicles including the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), Filinvest, the Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University, which have a fleet of e-jeepneys going around their compounds and campuses.
Philippine tourist destinations such as Boracay, Davao and Surigao are also utilizing electric tricycles.
The Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP), the umbrella organization of EV sellers in the country said close to 40,000 EVs are being used on Philippine roads by the end of 2015. In the long run, the target is to roll out one million EVs in the Philippines.
These EVs will certainly help lessen pollution in our cities and reduce the country’s carbon emissions.
All these voluntary actions and movements only show that even in the absence of national leadership in tackling climate change, Filipinos can do a lot and have done a lot of things to lower their emissions and to create a greener, healthier place to live.
(With PNA, Bloomberg)
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