By Jonathan L. Mayuga - February 3,
2016
DEATHS due to stroke, heart and
other cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory illnesses due to air pollution
may go up from the current 960 annual premature deaths to 2,410 deaths per
year, with the construction and operation of more coal power plants in the
Philippines, a Greenpeace report said.
The report—Coal: A Public Health
Crisis (Diseases and deaths attributed to coal use in the Philippines)—was
released on Wednesday at a news conference in Manila by
environmental and public-health interest groups to warn the government and the
public about the health impacts of existing coal-fired power plants and the
plan to construct more in the future.
“Results of the research show that
coal-fired power plants expose everyone in the Philippines to toxic pollution,
resulting in hundreds of premature deaths every year,” said Lauri Myllyvirta,
senior global coal campaigner at Greenpeace International and also one of the
authors of the report.
“Leading economies from the United
States to China and Europe are already relying on modern, renewable energy
sources for their additional power needs, showing that this is a real option
for the Philippines, as well,” Myllyvirta said.
According to Greenpeace, more
than one-third of the energy used to generate electricity in the Philippines
come from burning coal.
Currently, the country has 17
operational coal plants, with 29 more approved by the Department of Energy
(DOE), set to begin commercial operations in 2020.
The report is based on a research
carried out at Harvard University on the impacts of emissions coming from
coal-fired power plants on the air quality of selected countries in Asia. For
the Philippine version, Greenpeace collaborated with HealthJustice-Philippines
to write the report, with support from Health Care Without Harm-Asia and the
Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ). Coal use harms the environment
and public health at every stage of its life cycle. Coal-fired power plants
emit sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NO2) and other gaseous pollutants in
the air that can react chemically to form particulate matter that is 2.5
micrometer in diameter.
Aside from generating particulate
matter, coal combustion also affects health indirectly by contributing to
greenhouse-gas emissions. Climate change can bring extreme heat, lead to
natural disasters and, eventually, increase diseases transmitted through
insects, such as malaria and dengue.
The study evaluated 13 operational
coal-fired power plants in the Philippines with a combined installed capacity
of 3,799.10 megawatts (MW), as well as the potential impacts of plans to build
29 new coal-fired power plants, with a total capacity of 11,700 MW, which could
dramatically increase levels of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and PM
2.5 emissions.
“This pioneering study is an
important addition to the growing body of health and scientific research on the
adverse impacts of coal-fired power plants, not only to the environment, but to
human health, as well,” said Reuben Andrew Muni, climate and energy campaigner
for Greenpeace Philippines.
“We strongly recommend for the DOE,
the Department of Health and other policy-makers to read the report and take
heed its warning as it presents a strong case on why the Philippines should end
its dependence on coal-generated electricity now, not only for economic,
environmental and climate-change reasons, but on public-health grounds, as
well,” Muni said.
“This new study just confirms what
we already know about the health effects of coal based on international
evidence. For the longest time, we have been ignoring the environmental case
for the phaseout of coal. I hope that this time, the public-health argument
will convince us that coal is not the way to go toward a clean, sustainable and
healthy energy future,” said Dr. Renzo Guinto, campaigner for the healthy
energy initiative at Health Care Without Harm-Asia.
“New coal plants are a lose-lose
proposition for the public. Increasing dependence on coal will consign us to
dirty air for 30 or more years, as coal gets more expensive, and other
countries abandon it as an energy source. There is a way out of this vicious
cycle. We must embrace renewables through a strong, health-driven energy
policy,” said lawyer Ipat Luna, a trustee of HealthJustice-Philippines.
“Coal burning is a proven nuisance
to health and the climate. The more coal plants and mines are commissioned by
the government, the more people and communities are placed in the direct path
of perdition. Undoubtedly, it is a kiss of death to host communities and
vulnerable nations like the Philippines. We, thus, demand for a moratorium on
new coal plants, phaseout of existing ones and for a just transition to
renewable energy options,” said lawyer Aaron Pedrosa, Sanlakas secretary-general
and PMCJ Energy Working Group head.
Considering the Philippines’s rising
population, poor health outcomes and the scarcity of resources needed to adapt
to the worst effects of climate change, Greenpeace recommends that the country
should end its heavy dependence on coal as an energy source and accelerate
initiatives involving renewable energy (RE) resources to meet its energy
demands. RE is emerging as the energy of choice for an increasing number
of communities and local government units. The report recommends that the
government phases out the use of coal and fully embrace RE sources in the
Philippines based on public-health considerations.
No comments:
Post a Comment