Philippines to slash coal use – DoE

The Philippines plans to reduce its energy dependence on coal over the next five years to lessen carbon emissions which contribute to climate change, an energy official said yesterday.

“Part of the plan is to reduce the share of coal in the total energy generation mix from more than 20 percent at present to a range of 10 to 15 percent in five years,” Energy Undersecretary Zamzamin Ampatuan said.

He said this is part of a five-year Clean Energy Investment Plan that the government will release in three months.

Ampatuan told a press conference that the plan will encourage the development of renewable energy through incentives to investors.

The plan will also include building more electric-powered mass transport systems, like overhead railways, to reduce oil use, he said.

A recent Asian Development Bank study said climate change “could cut the country’s gross domestic product by about seven percent annually towards the end of this century.”

It also emphasized that the Philippines, along with Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, were “vulnerable” to climate change caused by carbon emissions. –AFP