EU unit okays grant to boost use of renewable energy in RP

The European Commission-ASEAN Energy Facility has approved the provision of grants worth 400,000 euros or P35.2 million to International Resources Group-Philippines to help boost the use of renewable energy sources in the country.

The European Commission said that of this amount, a total of 200,000 euros is allocated for a series of capacity building seminars on the operation and maintenance of a biogas facility.

The EC said the facility will rely on a solid waste management system using the experience of European and ASEAN countries in the use of biogas technology.

A total of 250 local government officers, barangay officials, public market vendors will benefit from the capacity building seminars.

Ultimately, the EC said an estimated 6,000 households from six barangays of Calaca in Batangas province will become end-users of biogas technology.

Biogas technology makes optimal utilization of the valuable natural resource of dung. As a cooking fuel, it is cheap and extremely convenient. It can be used for lighting, too.

While biogas has multiple benefits at the individual family level, it also has several qualitative and quantitative benefits at the societal level. A shift to biogas from traditional biomass fuels results in less dependence on natural resources such as forests.

The EC said since dung is collected systematically when used in biogas, the environment can be kept clean and hygienic.

It said considering the limited employment opportunities in communities such as Calaca cheaper options for basic energy supplies such as cooking and lighting are very much needed, hence, biogas makes a very good alternative energy source.

The other 200,000 euros is intended for training of project developers/investors, providers of technical engineering consulting services and government planners on wind power project development in the Philippines and in Vietnam.

This one-year project will look into the experiences of EU countries like Denmark and Germany which have successfully implemented wind farm projects.

Wind energy is an ideal renewable energy because it is a pollution-free, infinitely sustainable form of energy and doesn’t require fuel. Each megawatt-hour of electricity that is generated by wind energy helps to reduce from 0.8 to 0.9 tons of greenhouse gas emissions that are produced by coal or diesel fuel generation each year. – Donnabelle Gatdula