Coal, coal, coal
world’s top coal exporters. Asia’s, especially China’s, appetite for coal has driven up prices “depriving (Australian) domestic power generators of fuel and driving electricity prices September 13, noting that coal prices hit a high for the year.
The spike in the price of coal made another observer warn that “by locking themselves into 40-year life power plants fueled by imported - rent account pressures, pollution and expensive,
November 15). China is both the biggest importer and producer of coal. China’s share in world consumption is more than 50 percent, not least because of its steel and cement production, two industries that are “strongly dependent
Electricity consumption in the Philippines increased 10 percent from 2015 to 2016. The DOE attributes this increase to various factors, including temperature increase due to a strong El Niño and corresponding increase in utilization of cooling equipment, and strong economic growth The new capacity introduced in 2016 was barely enough to cover this increase in consumption.
On the natural gas front—natural gas accounting for 22 percent of power generation—the production cycle and is expected to be depleted in a few years ( Aug. 9).
Obviously, if the country is to sustain economic growth, it needs to generate more power. The government has been banking on the “reliable and inducing coal. But what are the alternatives?
The government has for years been looking at the perceived abundant oil and natural gas reserves in the Recto Bank. But China has been frustrating the Philippines’ attempts to explore and utilize the rich resources of the Recto Bank hundreds of nautical miles from China. A service contract granted to Forum Energy was suspended three years ago because of Chinese objections and Beijing has made it clear to the Philippine government that it would not tolerate any drilling in the area by the Philippines.
PXP Energy Corp. – which owns a controlling share of Forum Energy – have been talking - ing to PXP chairman Manuel Pangilinan are lifting of the moratorium on the exploration in the Recto Bank ( August 16). China and the Philippines recently issued a joint statement that included the possibility of cooperation in the exploration and exploitation of maritime oil and gas.
China will not allow the Philippines to tap this natural resource that legally belongs to us, unless we do it together. The government is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea and seems ready to embrace both. But maybe this is the time for a complete overhaul of our energy security strategy, a time to put real serious thought, commitment and action into developing a visionary, self-reliant, sustainable and clean energy security century.