Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas vowed to give incentives to investors of natural gas and other forms of clean energy as part of the Philippine’s balancing act on the country’s need for stable source of energy and the contribution to lessen the negative impact of climate change.
Under the current set up, the Philippines is heavily-dependent on coal and oil as sources of energy, with more coal-fired power plants are expected to be constructed to meet the country’s demand for more electricity due to booming economy.
“The point here is we really need energy. If I become President, I will give incentives to the natural gas and other clean energy such as geothermal, hydroelectric so that our energy, which is 50 percent coal and oil, would be reduced and eventually use more clean energy sources,” said Roxas.
Roxas, however, prefers natural gas, citing that it is cheaper compared to other clean or renewable sources of energy.
It takes huge fund to set up renewable energy plans and Roxas said the cost of its construction would eventually pass on the consumers, defeating the purpose of coming up with stable and cheaper electricity.
Citing some data, Roxas said the cost of solar and wind energy ranges from R8 to P8.50 per kilowatt hour while the natural gas ranges from P3.50 to P4.
