Senator Sherwin Gatchalian is looking for ways on how the Senate Committee on Ways and Means Committee, which he chairs, could further push for energy development in the country.
“I share the dream with Alex that energy efficiency should not a novel idea, rather it should be mainstream and form part of our generation mix. I say generation because I also believe that energy efficiency is a mode of adding supply by reducing demand,” Gatchalian said during the World Clean Energy Conference held last Thursday, referring to Alexander Ablaza, president of the Philippine Energy Alliance.
“One thing the incident in Ukraine taught us is we need to get out of our addiction to imported oil and imported feedstock. Half of our electricity comes from Indonesia, because of coal. We import almost 100% of our coal from Indonesia,” Gatchalian added.
Gatchalian, who chaired the Senate Committee on Energy in the 17th and 18th Congress, is also pushing for Senate Bill No. 157 or the “Energy Transition Act” which aims to put the public and private sectors to achieve a net-zero goal in the country.
“This law aims to put everyone together and give a lot of power to the climate change commission to craft that road map and the net zero goal we’re looking at is around 2050 for the Philippines,” the senator said.
Ablaza, who also graced the event, said that energy efficiency must be mobilized as a form of clean energy and is hopeful to see it in the country’s energy supply mix in five to 10 years.
“This is an ambitious target but we should start investments, and policies, to make this possible,” Ablanza said during the event.
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