ANGARA: TAP RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
TO ADDRESS POWER CRISIS

Amid the worsening power situation in the country, Senator Edgardo J. Angara today pressed the government to tap the country's alternative indigenous sources of power and energy to help address the problems of climate change, increasing fuel prices and rotating brownouts.

"There is a need now more than ever to explore our alternative sources of fuel and energy such as geothermal, biomass, solar, wind, ocean energy and hydropower. Our future is in renewable energy. Many countries have already begun the transition from total dependence on oil, and it would be to our great advantage to follow suit," Angara said.

He led the passage of the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 which promotes the development, utilization, and commercialization of renewable energy resources.

Angara noted that at least 56 countries worldwide now have some type of renewable energy promotion policy and that several countries are actively engaged in enacting policies.

According to the study made by the Renewable Energy Coalition, if the country saves even half of its net oil imports, it can use this amount for social and infrastructure programs such as: sending 17 million children to elementary school, building 250,000 classrooms, putting up 135,000 health centers, feeding 14 million families, and building 38,000 farm-to-market roads.

According to the Department of Energy (DoE), the country's resource potential for geothermal energy is 4,531 MW; hydro at 13,097 MW; biomass at 277 MMBFOE; solar at 5.0-5.1 kWh/m2/day; wind at 76,600 MW; and ocean at 170,000 MW.

"The future is in clean renewable energy, which is predicted to be one of the biggest industries in the next five years. The benefits of renewable energy use are considerable: it will foster sustainable growth, energy independence and economic security for the country, and unite us with the global effort to stop climate change," added Angara.