Fuel for the future

In continuing efforts to search for solutions to what might arguably be the most serious threat to his existence mankind has ever faced, world leaders, scholars and even celebrities gathered in New York last week for the annual Clinton Global Initiative conference to offer suggestions and give contributions — financial or otherwise — to the pursuit of this global concern. The conference actually had four main topics — poverty, health and education — but climate change took center stage.

One noteworthy commitment came from Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who promised to reduce his state’s carbon emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020 and to 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050. Florida Power & Light, for its part, announced plans to build  a solar plant as part of a $2.4 billion clean energy program by the United States. Once operational, the solar plant can help lessen the country’s use of fossil fuels, the main cause of the ozone layer’s depletion. Actually, since the discovery of the depletion of the ozone layer in 1985, there have been many alternative energy sources that have been discovered and developed.

These include biodiesel, ethanol, butanol, chemically stored electricity (e.g. batteries and fuel cells), hydrogen, methane, natural gas, vegetable oil, biomass, LPG, and peanut oil. In 2000, there were already about eight million vehicles around the globe that ran on alternative fuels, indicating a growing public sentiment about the need for the development of alternative fuel sources. Here in the Philippines, programs encouraging the development of alternative energy sources have been in place before the year 2000. The passing of Republic Act 8749 or the Clean Air Act of 1999 encouraged the use of Autogas or Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). In 2005, the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) program was initiated. An initial fleet of 200 buses ran using CNG. The government also passed Republic Act 9637 or the Biofuels Act of 2006, mandating the use of biofuels as a measure to develop and utilize indigenous, renewable and sustainably-sourced clean energy sources.

Being an agricultural country, the Philippines can very well benefit from the development of biofuels as an alternative energy source. Aside from saving our country millions of dollars in foreign exchange, our farmers stand to benefit from this as well because biofuels are sourced from agricultural crops like sugar cane, cassava, corn, grain sorghum and wheat grown mostly in the countryside. Another source of biofuel can come from coconuts. Pacific island countries like the Marshall Islands have been experimenting with coconut oil as an alternative to diesel fuel for vehicles, power generators and even ships for several years already. Like these Pacific island countries, the Philippines is abundant in coconut trees. Our country would surely profit if we can develop these types of biofuels for export. However, there can also be serious repercussions to this. Exporting biofuels may trigger a food shortage and cause price increases.

We must continue looking for feasible and sustainable solutions to this continuing problem. But we also have to toe that delicate balance between economic growth and ensuring our planet’s health. Although all is not lost, we must not be complacent. Our planet is already sending us warning signals through the manifestation of extreme weather changes. If unchecked, global warming and climate change could spell catastrophic changes to our planet. Are we ready to face these dire consequences?