Greenpeace urges 'energy revolution' in Philippines

(JAN. 23, 2013) Environmental group Greenpeace on Wednesday urged the Filipino government to foment an energy revolution by turning its back on fossil fuels and leading the way in utilizing renewable energy in Southeast Asia. "The future is in renewable energy, not in outdated and environmentally destructive fossil fuels," said Anna Abad, a climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia. Currently, the Philippines gets 17 percent of its power from alternative sources of energy, but Greenpeace says the country has the means and opportunity to get much more. In its report “Green is Gold: How Renewable Energy Can Save us Money and Generate Jobs”, Greenpeace says the Philippines can profit from massive renewable energy - RE investments. The report outlines how RE can save the government money, create wealth, generate thousands of jobs, make electricity available and more affordable to all Filipinos, and promote national energy independence.
The report also states that the Philippines has the natural resources to propel itself as an RE leader in Southeast Asia. However the country’s vast RE potential of about 261,000 MW remains untapped, with investors now moving to other markets in the region after being locked out by future coal projects.
Greenpeace believes one of the reasons why renewable energy has not taken off faster in the Philippines is the prevalence of misconceptions that seek to discredit cleaner electricity sources, in order to keep the coal industry profitable.