Press Release
November 21, 2008

IMPACT OF OIL CRISIS IS BEST CUSHIONED BY PROMOTING CLEAN DEV'T THROUGH RE - ANGARA

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today said the best way to cushion environmental impacts worldwide is by promoting clean development through renewable energy (RE).

Speaking before the Western Visayas Renewable Energy Congress in Iloilo, Angara stressed the need to do something about the issue of energy usage, saying that the country's socio-political culture is tied to oil and every time it moves up the end result is a transport strike.

"Last year alone, we used up almost ten million barrels of oil and around seven million tons of coal. We spent around $7.5 billion last year to pay for our oil imports. Although we found an oil field in the Galoc area, the oil from that source cannot be used for our local needs. So oil will still continue to have a major impact on our economy and our psyche for some time," said Angara, who chairs Senate Committee on Science and Technology.

He added, "Since we need energy for growth, we will continue to burn even more oil in the future. In ten years, if we do nothing, we expect that we will increase our oil requirements by almost fifty percent to 14.5 million barrels of oil and our coal usage will increase to around 15.7 million metric tons."

Angara emphasized that with the signing into law of the new Renewable Energy Act, the country will be able to reduce its oil and coal requirements.

"Our country is abundant in renewable energy if we tap it. We are the second largest user of geothermal energy in the world. We are the leading wind energy producer in Asia, and our potential in wind is around 76,000 megawatts. Right now, we have a 33 megawatt wind farm in Bangui, Ilocos Norte and hopefully more areas will setup their own. Our seas have an estimated 170,000 megawatt potential, and biomass can save us 80 million barrels of oil annually. In solar, Filipino engineers are working with SunPower, the leading solar photovoltaic manufacturer that has factories in Laguna and Batangas. In Cagayan de Oro, CEPALCO operates a 1 megawatt solar plant which they hope to upgrade to 14 megawatts when the RE law takes effect," he said.

In his recent visit in Shanghai, China to attend the Biennial Forum of the Asia Pacific Finance and Development Center (AFDC), Angara was chosen to speak on financial policies for clean development, with special focus on renewable energy.

"The investors I met were excited about the Philippines because we have one of the (if not the) best Renewable Energy incentives in the world. We looked at 56 different incentives around the world and crafted a law that features what we believe were the best incentives for us," Angara noted.

Under the RE bill, a provision for a Renewable Portfolio Standard was placed which mandates energy suppliers to sources a minimum percentage of their annual energy demand from RE-based sources. Also, a feed-in-tariff mechanism that sets a fixed price for electricity sourced from RE for 12 years has been established.

Fiscal incentives such as income tax holiday for 7 years, duty-free importation for RE equipment and materials, tax credit on domestic capital equipment and services and tax exemption of carbon credits are also placed.

He also said that apart from developing of the country's vast alternative energy resources, the RE bill served as an avenue to reach out to a number of people scattered across the archipelago and still living without any access to basic energy.

"We are in a position in our history to make a difference. We can let the status quo reign, and simply let growth be equated to an increase in our usage of fossil fuels. Or we, as a society, can make a choice and minimize our usage of oil and coal, by both conserving energy, and adopting RE widely. The incentives and technology are there. It is simply up to us to make the move to conserve energy and install RE systems. Most important to note is that RE served as a vital response to the challenge for a Green Revolution," Angara said.

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