Clean energy gets new chance

Smart homes and smart grid — that is what we see in the future, in 2040, not only in terms of the consumption, but also the production of electricity

The vicious global pandemic had resulted to individuals to turning to technology and new schemes to comply with mainly physical distancing requirement which is being strictly enforced to prevent contamination.

“Not only to produce their own energy, by, say, putting a solar panel on their rooftops, but also to explore the use of information and communication technology. We have smartphone applications right now that allow us to control our appliances,” Department of Energy (DoE) Undersecretary Felix Fuentebella said on an exclusive with webcast “Straight Talk.”

“Smart homes and smart grid — that is what we see in the future, in 2040, not only in terms of the consumption, but also the production of electricity,” he noted.

The smart-grid policy of DoE Secretary Alfonso Cusi was released last year in preparing the future energy-sector landscape that gives consumers more varied options in terms of energy supply and the kinds of technology they’ll use to harness it.

Nuke, a viable option

Moreover, President Rodrigo Duterte recently issued Executive Order 116, which seeks a renewed push for nuclear energy as a long-term supply option.

“We have a policy on clean energy. In fact, what’s stated in the Constitution is that we have to develop indigenous sources of energy. But, with the Philippine population fast ballooning so that our demand for energy grows just as exponentially, coal has been our major energy supply. We know that coal is detrimental to the environment. At DoE, we have to study more options for our consumers which include the nuclear program, which has been here since time immemorial,” Fuentebella said.

The Philippines would have been among the first in Asia to employ a nuclear plant to produce electricity if not for protests from militant groups and accidents that hit Russia and the United States at the time.