On oil price hike, ASEAN meet
Zubiri calls for greater dispatch of power from renewable energy resources

"Higher pump price is just the start. If we can't dispatch more power from renewable energy resources, higher electricity bills are next," Senator Migz Zubiri said alarmed of forecasts of $100.13 per barrel of crude oil in mid-2008.

Asian electronic trading showed crude oil settling at $75.30 per barrel but earlier trading topped $77 per barrel. Data of the United States' declining oil inventories spurred trading with an all-time high for Nymex crude at $78.40 a barrel.

"We are hit badly by volatile oil prices because we are still largely dependent on imported oil. Consequently, we can expect higher generation cost for electricity produced from imported oil, " Zubiri said.

Over the weekend, local oil companies raised pump prices by 50-centavos per liter for petroleum products, a fossil fuel. The hike covered gasoline, diesel and kerosene. They justified the hike on rising world prices of crude oil to $71 per barrel from $65.80 per barrel. Petron, Chevron (formerly Caltex) and Shell raised prices one after the other while Flying V is poised to raise prices today (Monday),

Zubiri explained that "falling prey to volatile oil prices is not new." He recalled that the Philippines imported 100.8 million barrels (MMB) of oil last year at $ 6.8 Billion or 2.66 MMB less than 2005 import of 103.46 MMB. Yet, the 2006 import cost more compared to $5.7 B for the 2005 import because of higher prices.

"The solution to higher electricity and fuel costs lies in our vast renewable energy resources. Aside from shielding us from expensive import, renewable energy is clean and safe," Zubiri said. The father of the Biofuels Law renewed his call for larger investments in renewable energy infrastructure. He filed Senate Resolution No. 1303 or the Renewable Energy Bill.

"We are the second largest producer of geothermal power in the world but we have yet to tap our other RE resources," he said. He also expressed concern that hydro plants which supplied 9.9 million MWh or almost half of RE power last year may not deliver as much this year due to an extended dry spell.

Zubiri welcomed announcements that energy is a main topic at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial Meeting in Manila. The ASEAN will discuss energy issues alongside the mandates of the Kyoto Protocol. It will create a watchdog to ensure safety of the region as countries pursue nuclear energy plans.

The Kyoto Protocol wants renewable energy resources to supply 50% of world energy demand by 2050 to meet its health and environmental goals. (Renewable energy resources includes solar, wind, ocean, biomass, hydro and geothermal.)

One of the Protocol's main goals is to keep average rise in global temperature to less than 2 degrees Celsius. It mandates signatories to drastically cut their Green House Gases emissions of which the most pervasive is carbon due to extensive use of fossil fuels.