RE to power 18% emission drop in PH

The massive scale renewable energy (RE) investments being cornered by the Philippine government will drastically reduce the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the power industry by 18.34 percent around 2030, which is the timeframe when the country will hit strike on the first major milestone of its energy transition warpath, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).

- By MYRNA M. VELASCO

Energy Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara emphasized that as capacities of the green energy auction program (GEAP) winners will successively reach commercial stream, the energy sector will experience a significant 10.91-percent decline in CO2 emissions by 2026, which is considerably an early victory in the country's climate fight; then, that will accelerate beyond 18 percent by the turn of the decade.

"GEAP has obvious implications for environmental and socioeconomic benefits. One of the clearest indicators of this is the estimated avoidance of about 80 million metric tons (MT) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions over the duration of the 20-year contracts awarded under the first two rounds of GEAs [green energy auctions]," she expounded.