I came across two articles from the GMA news feed several weeks ago, both about the establishment of proposed renewable energy power plants and the opposition they presently face from local constituents. While the articles are not as recent, the issues they present are ever as fresh. I quote them both at some length here:
Class suit vs. geothermal project in Kanlaon filed
MANILA, Philippines — At least 200 people, including children, will lodge before the Bacolod Regional Trial Court Wednesday a petition to stop the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) from entering the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park (MKNP) buffer zone for geothermal development.
…the petitioners’ lawyer Andrea Si said they would seek a temporary retraining order and a permanent injunction on the EDC move. Si said the petitioners remain opposed to the tapping of geothermal power from the buffer zone and to the purchase of power for Negros Occidental from a coal-fired plant in Cebu.
They said government and the business sector should push for alternative renewable power, such as hydro, solar and wind, and should not compromise what little is left of the province’s forest.
…Si said the class suit will ask the court to stop EDC from entering the buffer zone because of questions on the constitutionality of Republic Act 9154, which established MKNP as a protected area and a peripheral area as a buffer zone. The suit will also question the Energy Development Corporations’ (EDC) Environment Compliance Certificate and the firm’s plan to drill for geothermal energy from the buffer zone to the MKNP protected area.
…Tapping 40 megawatts of geothermal power from the buffer zone is not worth destroying irreplaceable rich biodiversity in the area, she added.
Energy officials earlier warned that Negros Occidental no longer has reserve power and its power shortage will worsen by 2010 if it does not have new sources of energy in place by then.
Cooperative eyes P2.8 hydro plant
KORONADAL CITY, Philippines — An electric cooperative here plans to build a 20-megawatt hydropower plant in Lake Sebu, the tourism capital of South Cotabato province, as it anticipates a supply shortage in the area two to three years from now.
Santiago C. Tudio, general manager of the South Cotabato Electric Cooperative said, “…the generated power from the waters of the Seven Falls of Lake Sebu will be used to supply the power requirement of South Cotabato in anticipation of the power shortage…” Mr. Tudio said a hydropower plant is safer than a coal-fired power plant.
But Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Jose M. Madanguit, chairman of the environment committee, said residents of Lake Sebu would oppose the project due to concerns about biodiversity. This could affect the area’s eco-tourism potentials and might displace the T’boli tribe.
But Mr. Tudio said a hydropower plant is the best option given the rising cost of diesel fuel. A hydropower plant is also more environment-friendly than one fired by coal, he pointed out.
Lake Sebu’s mountains are rich in coal pursued by several mining firms. But the local electric cooperative here, Mr. Tudio said, prefers a hydropower plant given the town’s abundant water resources. Lake Sebu is home to waterfalls and several lakes.
Mindanao has a generating capacity of 1,850 megawatts, but the dependable capacity is only 1,520 megawatts. Peak demand is projected to hit 1,440 megawatts this year. Industry regulations, however, require the Mindanao grid to maintain a reserve capacity of at least 23.4% of its generating capacity. Peak demand for power supply by 2015 is expected to hit 1,750 megawatts.
At the onset, I can recognize the potential benefits that the introduction of power sources—let alone renewable energy sources—will bring to these areas. Not only does it provide electricity for communities that did not used to have it, it can also augment the much needed energy demands of the province or the region. Communities that used to rely on diesel generators running for just several hours in a given day can now enjoy continuous power supply. Power generation can stimulate trade; refrigeration, for example, is now made possible unlike before when it was too costly to run on generators, and consequently, perishable goods like fish and other meats can now be stored longer periods and stocked more for mass volume trading in the market. The scales of production increase as a consequence, which in turn enhances the livelihoods of people.
Apart from the tangible benefits of electricity to local communities, the generated power to begin with is cleaner; it comes from cleaner energy sources such as geothermal plumes or hydropower, as opposed to coal-fired plants which emit harmful CO2 into the atmosphere. The national government presently promotes the shift to cleaner, renewable energy sources in pursuit of its commitment to mitigate global climate change. By utilizing these cleaner energy sources, not only is the country’s carbon emissions reduced, but so is its dependence on imported oil for power generation minimized; thereby, lowering the risks of its constituents to inflation and food price hikes due to exorbitant oil price surges.
Nevertheless, I don’t dispute the importance of biodiversity. Negros Island is one such key biodiversity area in the country, and is one of the most biologically critical areas in the Philippines, if not the world. Much of its forests have been decimated just in the previous century, leaving a few fragmented patches that are hardly able to maintain the necessary ecological services. Nonetheless, one square meter of forest in Mt. Kanlaon probably holds more species of plants and animals than those that can be found in the forests of Europe or the United States. Birds such as the Negros Fruit-dove and the Negros Bleeding-heart, for example, are endemic species in the country and can be found nowhere else in the world. Sadly, both are similarly threatened species under the IUCN Red List. What’s more astounding is the fact that the only existing type specimen of the Negros Fruit-dove was found in Mt. Kanlaon. So Negros’ remaining forest habitats and threatened species does not make it only a matter of national importance, but rather of a magnitude of global significance. From conserving forest habitats and biodiversity, communities can derive other benefits such as stability of micro-climate, security of water supply, provision of raw materials, protection of farms against pests, and even revenue from tourism especially for scenic areas such as those found in Lake Sebu and Mt. Kanlaon. Indigenous T’boli tribes also consider Lake Sebu as their ancestral home.
Now, if the development of these power plants is pursued, the fragile state of remaining forest habitats may be exacerbated; indigenous T’boli communities may either be displaced from their home or restricted from accessing their lands as a result of the infrastructure. These are hardly baseless fears as these incidents have occurred in other parts of the country, notoriously because of mining operation and exploration. Possibly, revenues from eco-tourism may be adversely affected, or may no longer materialize. On the other hand, neglecting the needs for clean energy development is similarly costly: opportunities for trade are sacrificed, and vulnerability to petroleum price shocks is left unaddressed. Either way, both options address globally significant concerns, and neither can be treated more important than the other.
The point that I’m driving at is that benefits between the possible options should be carefully weighed; both pros and cons should be evaluated. And so comes the difficult part of finding out which option is better, of determining alternatives and seeking the right solution that will yield the most benefits for communities. But in this search for the optimum solution, one should bear in mind that there will be trade-offs.
It is easy to reject development, particularly when it comes in the form of technological advance and industrialization, or if it serves just the interests of a select group. And that prevalent approach cannot be helped especially in this country where a lot of communities have been marginalized in the face of development; negative experiences have fuelled aversion to mostly anything that can be equated to the extraction of natural capital, especially on massive scales induced by outsiders from the communities.
The example of Mt. Kanlaon alone is not new, and in fact has been a matter of deep contention between local stakeholders for a long time. Geothermal development has incessantly knocked at the doors of the protected area. But while the protection of the area is of both national and global significance, so is renewable energy development in addressing climate change. I am not discounting the right to self-determination of local communities to choose for what is right and best for them. But without carefully weighing the options, flippant rejections of what may be worthy endeavors may truly come at the cost of losing opportunities at various levels.
[Also posted earlier here]
