Leyte congressman and 2016 senatorial bet Martin Romualdez stressed on Wednesday that the initial costs of an “energy transition” may be high, but strategic investment in key alternative energy sources would benefit the country in the long run.
“Let’s start with small, incremental steps. Transferring to cleaner energy sources is a gradual process, and it needs solid policy and financial backing from a supportive government. It’s high time we look beyond fossil fuels,” Romualdez said.
Romualdez called the move “nothing less than a matter of national survival” given that the Philippines is one of the countries most vulnerable to global warming—a consequence of fossil fuel energy sources.
“Alternative and renewable energy can be integrated as one of the primary solutions to the energy crisis that’s looming in Mindanao and other developing areas in the country. We did it in the Seventies when we invested heavily in hydro and geothermal energy. These sources today now account for 13.67 and 14.4 percent of our electricity requirement,” the solon said.
Romualdez, a member of the House Committee on Climate Change, stressed the need to expand beyond hydro and geothermal, adding that other renewable energy sources such as wind, biomass, solar and ocean power should also be explored and funded.
“We don’t expect our dependence on fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas to vanish overnight. The government can start by slowly installing solar panels in government offices, or making more use of electric vehicles for officials instead of gas-guzzling SUVs,” added the legislator.
The Leyte native explained that simultaneous with setting an example on clean energy usage, the government needs to push the private sector to jump into the renewable energy bandwagon.
“Remember that under the government’s own feed-in-tariff or FiT system, renewable energy projects are guaranteed a fixed rate for electricity produced on a kilowatt hour basis for about 20 years. That’s an encouraging area of investment for the private sector.”
On a micro and consumer level, Romualdez said, government can offer imaginative means of support such as the creation of a “clean energy loan program” for those wanting to install solar panels in their homes.
“Solar power is now the cheapest source of electricity. You’d only be spending nine pesos per kilowatthour compared to electricity from non-renewable sources, which cost 11-11.50pesos per kilowatthour. When you sum these figures up, that’s a big amount of savings for households,” the UP-trained lawyer pointed out.