DOE, PIA to hold consultation on CDM, Climate Change

by MA Loterte

Legazpi City (26 October) — The Department of Energy (DOE), in cooperation with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Bicol, will hold a public consultation meeting on October 28, at the Casablanca Hotel Social Hall here on Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Climate Change in relation to the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) distribution Program.

DOE said the program intends to increase consumer awareness on the use of more energy efficient lighting systems to reduce electricity consumption as well as greenhouse gas emissions which highly contribute in the depletion of the environment.

Target participants to the interfacing are the chief executive and chair of the legislative committee on energy of the city government, punong barangays of the different villages in this city, business groups and major stakeholders of the power industry.

The program, one of the seven project areas of the Philippines Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP), is in line with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s nationwide campaign to save on fuel costs and mitigate climate change.

The campaign involves the distribution of free CFLs to eligible beneficiaries to encourage the shift from the inefficient incandescent bulbs (IBs) to CFLs.

DOE stressed the government is targeting to distribute 13,000,000 CFLs nationwide in the coming months, entailing an energy savings of approximately 611,000 MWh per year with an end result of lessening 611,000 MWh per year displaced from fossil fuel power plants connected to the Philippine grid system.

A CFL utilized for 1,000 hours per year only consumed around 13kWh, compared to around 60kWh used up by one incandescent bulb utilized for the same period, saving 47kWh per bulb in one year, the agency stated.

By switching to CFL, households can save on electricity consumption as much as P400 up to P2,400 annually.

In addition to the energy savings that can be derived from the use of CFLs, the project will also benefit from the Certified Emission Reduction (CER) credits that can be secured from the CDM of the Kyoto Protocol.

The program will also reduce the country’s carbon emission by approximately 305,500 tons per year, thus allowing the Philippines to receive at least 200,000 tons of CER credits annually.

The agency also averred sustainable development benefits from the program include achieving energy independence, increased awareness on climate change issues and mitigating measures, participation of communities in mitigating GHG emissions and climate change, work and jobs for distribution and monitoring personnel.

The stakeholders’ consultation also intends to elucidate the salient technical features of the project and associated environmental and social impacts to the participants, on the other hands solicit feedbacks or the populace concerns on the project. (PIA V)