Planting ‘seeds’ for ‘power’

Michael Kho Lim · Nov 6, 2019, 12:20 AM

It is with this objective that the country’s premier renewable energy company, Energy Development Corporation, organizes the Battle of the Brains to help create more awareness on renewable energy, environmental conservation and global climate crisis.

THE geothermal plant of Energy Development Corporation up in the Cuernos de Negros mountains, in the town of Valencia, Negros Occidental.

Negros Island in the Visayas is rich in geothermal and solar energy sources but it is only getting 19 percent of its power from these renewable energy sources. Coal remains to be a primary energy source in the island because it is cheaper despite its known harmful effects on people’s health and the environment.

As such, there is still a need to educate the people of Negros or the Negrenses regarding the benefits of renewable energy. It is with this objective that the country’s premier renewable energy company, Energy Development Corporation (EDC), organizes the Battle of the Brains to help create more awareness on renewable energy, environmental conservation and global climate crisis.

In partnership with Drink Sustainability Communications, the regional science quiz bee for junior and senior high schools, EDC’s Battle of the Brains aims to continue spreading awareness on the importance of renewable energy as one of the solutions to fighting climate change.

Battle of the Brains is an island-wide school competition that aims to spread information about climate change, renewable energy and environmental and sustainable development among the youth.

EDC believes that the Filipino youth can play an active part in raising awareness on environmental issues and promoting more sustainable lifestyles. Hence, it is important to invest in young people and educate them about current and pressing issues such as the need to adopt sustainable energy practices that can help the environment. In effect, the next generation will be inspired and empowered in securing their future with the knowledge that they gain. EDC envisions to develop and produce more youth who will be future leaders and decision-makers, with the likes of 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

STUDENTS from all over Negros Island showed their mettle on environment and the natural world in EDC’s Battle of the Brains at Foundation University.

In his opening remarks at the grand finals of Battle of the Brains held at Foundation University in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, on 3 October, EDC’s integrated planning head Joel Jay Soriano cited efforts of the Negrenses toward a more sustainable Negros: “Even the youth have their own efforts to fight climate change. They plant native trees through our Binhi program or through the 10 million in 10 trees for a Greener Negros movement. They organize environmental clean-ups. They join environment education programs such as today’s Battle of the Brains. Some of you have even heeded Greta Thunberg’s call to go on climate strike last week to fight for your future.”

The competition is geared toward junior and senior high school students between 13 and 18 years old because this age group will be more affected by the worsening climate conditions and will be more invested in crafting a low-carbon, climate-resilient future.

On its fourth year, EDC’s Battle of the Brains returned to Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental to further acquaint the youth about renewable energy, biodiversity and the environment.

Negros became anideal setting for the competition because of its active efforts to maintain its stature as a green island and remain at the forefront of environmental preservation in our country.

This year, 77 schools across the Negros region participated in EDC’s Battle of the Brains. Each participating school sends a team composed of two student representatives and one adviser to compete in the district level semi-final competitions.

WINNERS from Southland College Kabankalan City, Nergos Occidental, with the judges and EDC officials including integrated planning head Joel Jay Soriano.

With an endorsement from the Department of Energy (DoE) five semi-finals were held last August and September in key locations across Negros Oriental and Occidental, namely, Bais, Dumaguete/Valencia, Bacolod, Bago and Kabankalan. The champion and first runner-up from each leg then moved up to compete at the grand finals.

The grand finalists from Negros Oriental come from Cambagahan National High School and Guihulngan National High School in Bais City, and Balugo National High School and Foundation Preparatory Academy in Valencia; while those from Negros Occidental include students from STI West Negros University and Dr. Vicente F. Gustilo Memorial National High School in Bacolod, Technological Foundation Institute and Ramon Torres National High School in Bago, and Southland College of Kabankalan City Inc. and Mabinay Science High School in Kabankalan.

According to Norreen Bautista, head of EDC’s corporate social responsibility in in Negros Island and Mount Apo, “Since we started in 2016, each leg of the competition has been so engaging and educational for all the participants, as they learned more about our changing climate and possible solutions to curb it — from simple practices like avoiding single use plastics to complex topics like achieving carbon neutrality.”

Most of the questions in the competition focus on how the youth can contribute to sustainable development by supporting the call for geothermal energy production. Quiz bee participants familiarized themselves with how renewable energy works, its impact on their lives and its significance in the fight against climate change.

Subject matter experts in the fields of energy utilities, environmental science, and climate change are consulted and tapped as judges for the quiz bee. The panel of judges is comprised of Norreen Bautista and engineer Ferdinand Lantaca of EDC; Ludwig Federigan, executive director of Young Environmental Forum; Dr. Paciencia Milan, former president of the Visayas State University; and OIC-director and engineer Rey Maleza of the DoE-Visayas field office.

This year’s theme is “Renewable Energy for a Brighter Future” and emphasizes the importance of shifting to clean, renewable energy sources to decarbonize our planet and make it livable way beyond our lifetime.

“Scientists have proven that not all sources of energy are equal and beneficial to people and to the environment,” Bautista added. “This quiz bee tackles that and serves as a wake-up call for all of us. The growing number of participating schools and the positive feedback that we get from the teachers and students are good indications of our Negrense youth’s growing concern for the environment.”

EDC’s Battle of the Brains is not just all about knowing the correct answers to true-or-false or multiple-choice questions or filling in the blanks with the right information, it is also about being able to demonstrate the students’ comprehension and articulate their thoughts on the benefits of utilizing renewable energy in their daily lives.

This year, EDC has added the final question-and-answer portion to the competition, which requires the finalists from the top five schools to showcase their oratorical prowess in answering a question from the judge that they will pick.

This year’s grand winner went to the Southland College of Kabankalan City Inc., represented by Paul Peralta and Jandale Samillano. They received a trophy, medals, cash prize of P30,000 and an exposure trip to EDC’s geothermal site in Valencia.

The final question was “There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Choose one goal and explain how the Energy Development Corporation can further promote or contribute to that goal.”

The winning response was: “I believe that unity in diversity is the highest possible attainment of the civilization. Why does climate change happen? It’s because all of us are not communicating with each other. For EDC, one thing that would further succeed your goal is SDG number 17: the partnerships for the goals.”

First runners-up were Balugo National High School’s John Loyd Villamil and Jessica Carpe; and second runners-up were Guihulngan National High School’s Austin John Callao and Krishna Faith Delara.

EDC is well aware that the climate crisis is an ongoing battle that everyone needs to conquer. Through the Battle of the Brains, EDC continues its mission of spreading valuable information about renewable energy and empowers the Filipino youth to champion sustainability in helping them secure a brighter future not just for Negros Island but for the whole country.

In Negros, people are already familiar with the concept of being green and are doing their share in fighting climate change. For instance, on 28 March 2018, Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo released Executive Order number 9, which mandates all six cities and 19 towns in the province to use clean and renewable energy and prohibits all offices and local government instrumentalities to issue any permit, authorize, endorse or support any development of coal-fired and other fossil fuel-powered plants. Governor Degamo subsequently issued Executive Order 22-18 and declared 5 March as Renewable Energy Day.

Later, former Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Maranon Jr. followed suit when he signed Executive Order 19-08, declaring the province coal-free by also banning the construction of coal plants in the locality.

Geothermal energy is regarded as the “Holy Grail” of all renewable energy sources because it is the only form of renewable energy that can provide sustainable power round the clock. Hence, EDC refers to it as “geo 24/7.”

For almost 40 years, EDC has been fully committed to providing clean, renewable, reliable energy for Filipinos. Proof to this is the 222.5MW of geothermal power that EDC supplies to Negros, which prevents 1.7 million tons of carbon dioxide emission each year.

Today, EDC is the world’s largest vertically integrated geothermal company and the only diversified renewable energy firm in the Philippines. EDC’s geothermal, wind, hydro and solar power plants generate 1,475 MW of clean power and account for 37 percent of the total generated renewable energy in the country.