Energy Development Co. aims to make geothermal power plants as base load facilities, instead of coal-fired power plants. Base load plants are those that operate 24/7 to provide electricity generation.

This is part of their proposed solutions to address climate change from electricity generation.

EDC head of strategic initiatives, legal and regulatory office Miguel S. De Vera said that almost 61 percent of all carbon emissions worldwide comes from electricity production and industrial processes.

“Even if we take into account other sectors that emit carbon and other greenhouse gases, as much as 93 percent of total emissions can already be addressed with the singular act of moving toward renewable energy sources,” he was quoted in a Philippine Daily Inquirer report.

He added that coal power plants are the single largest contributor to emissions.

Coal is continued to be the choice of energy source due to cheaper costs, De Vera mentioned.

“This is a wrong notion because the tradeoff with coal is permanent and irreversible damage to our environment and to our overall health and well-being, as well as to the future of our natural resources,” he said.

“The Philippines should join the global pivot toward cleaner energy sources and do our share in contributing to the fight against worldwide climate change,” he added.

De Vera noted that geothermal remains to be the experts’ choice of base load power as it is reliable and stable.

“Geothermal is a pioneering energy source that played a big role in saving our nation from economic and political turmoil in the 1970s,” he said. “It is what will save us from the threats of climate change today and in the future.”