In such a fast-paced world, when are you going to make time to take a look at what’s happening around you?
With rampant development happening all over the world, there always seems to be a race to be better, to develop more, to be the first to innovate. However, such innovations and progress do not always lead to good things for the environment – and we now continue to experience the effects of such neglect.
Not many people know this, but we had the opportunity to solve the climate crisis back in 1979 to 1989, particularly at the First World Climate Conference in 1979. However, efforts have been unsuccessful.
During this decade, we have already been able to successfully identify the warming of the earth and its threats, while policies have been proposed to properly guide people on how to address them. If only affirmative action was taken to solve the impending climate crisis then, carbon emissions would have been frozen with a 20% reduction by 2005, and we could have been able to hold warming to less than 1.5 degrees.
It is unfortunate that we have failed to do the necessary actions that were proposed in various conferences and summits like the Villach Conference in 1985, Noordwijk Conference in 1989, etc., as such, the world is now in an irreversible position where we can only try to “manage” the ill effects of our changing climate.
Despite being blessed with rich natural resources, the Philippines’ ecosystem and biodiversity have become increasingly vulnerable to tropical cyclones, rising temperatures, and long dry periods.
The Philippines is no stranger to natural calamities devastating our cities where Typhoon “Ompong” (international name: “Mangkhut”) left the country with P4.4 billion worth of damages on public infrastructure and P14.3 billion on agriculture in Regions I, II, III, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), V and CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region), according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
The weather has been increasingly unpredictable and tend to be in extremes, our seasons no longer based on certain months. Climate change has clearly caught up.
As we are now pressed for time in saving the earth, every action must start now. Climate change is a worldwide phenomenon, it affects everyone, which is why there has been attempts to create a global framework to address this threat.
Through the signing of an international environmental treaty like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the weight of the problem is now shared among nations, yet the effects are personal. The implementation stays dependent on the policy makers and corporations in the local setting.
Still, the goal remains – to create a space that is safe and livable especially for future generations. The same soil where we stand offers us an option to lessen the effects of climate change. Geographically, the Philippines has the capacity to shift its major energy source from fossil fuels to renewable energy, like geothermal.
About 10% of the world’s land area carries high thermal gradients that ensure heat flow to the surface of the earth. These zones are situated along the Pacific Ring of Fire, the southern part of which includes the Philippines. Geothermal leader Energy Development Corporation (EDC) has been championing this cause for years.
More than 40 years ago, EDC has emerged as the largest producer of geothermal energy in the Philippines, and has put the Philippines on the map as the third largest geothermal producer in the world, next to the United States and Indonesia. Its track record and pool of geoscientists and engineers gives the assurance to the successful assessment of every exploration. EDC’s advocacy on the development of sustainable energy has paved the way to the seven geothermal steam fields in five geothermal contract areas, and the operation of eleven geothermal power plants in the country—power plants that release only a tenth of carbon dioxide in comparison to coal power plants.
True to its roots, EDC continues to search for alternative energy sources in the middle of a crisis. Established during the oil crisis in the 1970s, EDC provides a cleaner alternative in the midst of the climate crisis. Geothermal energy remains to be the most reliable among other natural sources of energy, as it is the only source of power that can provide clean, renewable, and reliable baseload power, operating 24/7.
The possibilities of geothermal energy for power production are endless. Even now, it has not yet reached the peak of its potential development. According to a Stanford coursework by Aloysius Makalinao, a Schneider fellow for Climate and Clean Energy, who also has a diverse background in energy resources engineering and earth systems, the existing trend showcases that by 2030, much of the energy will come from geothermal in addition to the growth of renewable energy. The earth will continue to provide us what we need. It gives what it can take. This opens more opportunities to save the earth from a crisis that we’ve caused and should have addressed a decades ago.