Pursuing Development of New Energy Techs
RP HOSTS RENEWABLE ENERGY & AGRICULTURE CONFERENCE

The passage of the Renewable Energy Act, which was authored by Senator Edgardo J. Angara, creates an innovative leverage for the Philippines to establish and enhance a domestic clean energy industry affecting other critical areas of development in science and technology. Complemented by the fact that the country's Clean Energy Initiative is a Global Initiative, the Philippines is now poised to harness other countries' technological and business experience, and match them with the country's great renewable energy potential.

The Philippines is undoubtedly among the world's best-endowed with natural resources, rich minerals and fertile agri-fisheries environment. But little is it known--yet--that it also holds massive potentials for renewable energy development. "Harnessing and utilizing renewable energy is a sure investment of the country in the future as the world veers from non-renewable energies into developing new technologies to balance economic promotion and environment protection," said Angara, chair of the country's Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering (COMSTE).

Renewable Energy & Agriculture Conference by COMSTE (REACCT) is a two-day forum initiated by Angara and organized by COMSTE brings together international leaders in renewable energy - specifically in solar energy, wind energy, and ocean technologies - as well as local industry players to discuss current and future technologies and investment opportunities resulting from linkages and partnerships brought about by this event.

REACCT aims to discuss prospects in carbon financing and other renewable energy technologies and support systems. The presentation and discussion of the business and technological successes of these entities with the Philippines' RE players and affected stakeholders will further allow the RE law's potential and opportunities to be "unleashed" (as coined by Her Excellency Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo).

On top of the possible economic and technological benefits this will bring to the Philippines and to the international players attending the event, the result of the RE Forum's discussions and proceedings will aid the Philippine government in crafting its national strategy and policy on clean and renewable energy technologies, which shall be presented in the forthcoming United Nations International Development Organization (UNIDO) Ministerial Conference on Green Industries in Asia on September 9-11, 2009 in Manila. The UNIDO conference, on its part, aims to adopt a unified ministerial declaration among ASEAN nations that will then be utilized in the 14th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen in December 2009, which is set to deal with a post-Kyoto Protocol framework for 2013.

Hence, the RE Forum's objective will be very vital in both the short and long term, as they will not just affect the course of the Philippine RE industry's global competitiveness, but as well as the country's national policy on renewables and climate change in relation to the rest of the international community.

Specifically, the Forum objectives are:

• To banner enterprise ideas and investment opportunities in renewable energy, and stimulate investor interest in RE in order to propagate clean development mechanisms, resource-efficient and low-carbon production patterns;

• To have industries better appreciate renewable energies and the economic opportunities arising from these, with the view of enabling them to secure a share in the market for renewable energies and the opportunities it gives for wealth creation;

• To set initiatives for the creation of a cooperating network of R&D organizations for renewable energy in the Philippines through public-private partnerships;

• To formulate private and non-government sector recommendations to the Manila ministerial conference on renewable energies; and

• To pave the way for the establishment of an ASEAN-wide network for renewable energy.

Speakers in the forum are HE Choi Joong-Kyung, Ambassador of South Korea to the Philippines; Joel Cuello, Professor of Biosystems Engineering of the University of Arizona (US); Alelie Funcell, President of the Renewable Energy Test Center in the Philippines; Niels Jacobsen, President of Northwind Power Development Corporation in the Philippines; and Robert Wimmer, Process Engineering Chair of the Austria's Gruppe Angepasste Technologie (GrAT).

"This forum also brings to the fore the goal of achieving balance on issues of economic viability, sustainable environment and poverty reduction," ended Angara.