In energy talks, fuel security now a regional concern

‘All forms of energy must be developed to meet demand’
By: Amy R. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
11:34 pm | Friday, November 4th, 2011


With an uncertain global economic outlook and heightened price volatility, energy security is no longer just about securing oil supply. It is more vital now to develop every available sources of fuel, said Nobuo Tanaka, global associate for Energy Security and Sustainability at The Institute of Energy Economics in Japan.
“The future of energy security is more complex and difficult today. It requires us to work with neighboring countries to secure and supply energy needs in an affordable and sustainable way,” Tanaka said during the recent Singapore Energy Summit. “I would like to see Asian countries work together in the future to create a framework that will achieve an interconnected grid in the region.”
Heads of various agencies, governments, private energy companies and other institutions shared Tanaka’s view as all concerns point to a growing power demand fueled by a growing global population that is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050.
In a separate interview here, Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras himself also stressed the need for the Philippines to diversify its energy sources as this could help insulate power and transport consumers from the volatility of prices in the global market.
With economic life of traditional petroleum supplies dwindling to only about 40 years, Almendras told the Inquirer that the Philippine government has been focusing more on developing the country’s own resources——like coal, considered to be a stop-gap intermediate solution, as well as oil, natural gas and renewable energy sources—to secure adequate supply for power and transport.
“The priority of the Philippine government is indigenous resource development, and so there are two sides to that—oil and gas exploration for fuel for your transport and power generation, but also indigenous generation of renewable energy capacity, which is really more geothermal and hydro,” Almendras said on the sidelines of the Singapore Energy Summit.
Almendras likewise stressed the importance of boosting energy efficiency measures as these could significantly cut costs. This move has been commended by representatives of neighboring countries, who also believe in pushing for energy efficiency measures to help manage demand.
Also, Peter Voser of Royal Dutch Shell noted that securing global energy would require the concerted effort of governments to develop all available energy resources in order to meet increasing demand, especially that of the emerging economies.
“Even if the global energy mix gets to 30 percent renewables, all forms of energy will need to be developed to meet future demand,” he stressed.
Voser told delegates at the Singapore Energy Summit that by 2020, the world will need to produce an estimated 40 million barrels of oil per day from fields that have not been developed yet, due to a combination of heightened demand and production lost through the natural decline of today’s fields.
“To put that in perspective, that’s four times what Saudi Arabia produces today, or 10 times the Norwegian production in the North Sea,” Voser explained. “Now is when we should be building a consensus to address our future energy challenge.”