Sustainable energy security
Within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, several energy options are proffered, including nuclear and indigenous sources of electricity, all geared towards reducing polluting emissions.
The goal is to remove conventional power plants that produce energy but, in the process, generate byproducts that are harmful to the environment.
For the country, the new field is nuclear energy, which, despite the brickbats thrown at it, counts among the most viable solutions to reduce greenhouse gases.
Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar remain largely works in progress due to questions on sustainability that should be addressed when storage batteries with huge capacities become a reality.
Nuclear energy is low-carbon and can be deployed on a large scale at the timescale required, supplying the world with clean, reliable, and affordable electricity.
The government is moving towards a policy that will remove obstacles primarily resulting from political bias on the use of nuclear energy.
The United Nations has dubbed climate change "the defining issue of our time," which the 2015 Paris Agreement aims to mitigate by keeping the rise in global temperatures to well below two °C compared to pre-industrial levels and to limit the rise to 1.5 °C.
This is driven by the scientific consensus that limiting the rise to 1.5 °C would significantly reduce the risks posed by climate change.
Concerted international efforts over the past 20 years to increase the volume of electricity from wind, solar, and other renewable sources failed to displace conventional fuels.
In 2017, fossil fuels produced more electricity, in relative and absolute terms, than ever before.
In its 2018 report, "Global Warming of 1.5 °C," the UN-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that the world will likely breach the 1.5 °C threshold by as early as 2030.
Another relatively clean power source is natural gas that, fortunately, the Philippines produces through the Malampaya offshore production well that is now operated by Prime Energy of the group of global ports service tycoon Enrique K. Razon.
When Prime Energy Resources BV, an all-Filipino company, acquired control of the Malampaya gas field, the viability of indigenous sources of electricity was made plain.
The operations are now homegrown after the divestment of oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron.
The partners in the project now are Prime Energy, UC38 LLC, and state-owned Philippine National Oil Corp.
In retaining the all-Filipino team that has been running Malampaya for more than 20 years, Prime Energy showed faith in our people. But it did not stop there. By adding more Filipino experts to the team, Prime Energy showed confidence in a bright energy future with Filipinos at the helm.
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. extended Service Contract 38 covering Malampaya until 2039 to allow it to continue producing natural gas and to develop new gas wells.
Malampaya, thus, demonstrates Filipino excellence in securing the energy sector amid a booming economy.
A clean environment is not only its goal through the fuel it produces but also in the seas where it operates.
Its most recent voluntary effort to help in the Mindoro oil spill cleanup was done quietly and was barely mentioned in the news, but it played a crucial role in hastening the job of the Philippine Coast Guard.
Prime Energy provided cleanup materials and food for volunteers and villagers reeling from the environmental accident.
Such an effort was not seen by the other big companies believed to have had a key involvement in the environmental disaster.
Pursuing a sustainable and secure future in the energy sector requires a sense of responsibility instead of nurturing purely profit motives.
