WB in carbon trading deal with PNOC-EDC
Saturday, February 17, 2007
By MYRNA M. VELASCO
With the intensifying debates on the effects of global warming, the Philippine National Oil Company-Energy Development Corporation (PNOC-EDC) has moved ahead in doing its share in climate change abatement through a carbon credit deal it firmed up with the World Bank for its 49.37 megawatt Northern Negros geothermal power project..
The company on Friday signed an Emission Reductions Purchase Agreement (ERPA) with the multilateral lending firm for its preference to promote "green energy" project.
The signing of the carbon emissions trading deal was spearheaded by PNOC-EDC president Paul A. Aquino and World Bank Philippines Country Director Joachim von Amsberg.
With the ERPA, company officials noted that all certified emission reductions generated by the project will be purchased by the government of Netherlands via its Clean Development Mechanism Facility (NCDMF) with the World Bank acting as its trustee.
The ERPA has a contract value of about 7.2 million for the guaranteed purchase of a minimum of 929,000 tons of carbon dioxide from NNGP between 2007 and 2012.
The power project’s blueprint has indicated that PNOC-EDC will harness clean, indigenous geothermal energy to meet the increasing demand for electricity in the Visayas region.
"This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by displacing the equivalent generation of a diesel-fired power plant," the state-run geothermal firm said in a press statement.
On top of the tangible benefit it would cause the environment, the utilization of geothermal steam to produce electricity will also help prop up the country’s quest for energy independence.
Carbon emissions trading is one of the mechanisms set forth under the Kyoto Protocol to slow down impact of global warming.
This is an international treaty signed by more than 100 countries, but was not able to entice the so-called biggest global polluters, such as the United States, to take part in the agreement.
The recent events showing extreme swings in climate changes are being linked largely to the neglectful use of fuels and technologies in the past to slow down carbon emissions.
With such dilemma, the energy sector is among those pointed to as biggest contributor to toxic emissions; thus, the greater push now for cleaner sources of energy and the application of technologies that will capture noxious substances before they could be spewed out into the air. (MMV)
posted by philpower @ 9:08 PM,
