By Iris Gonzales (The
Philippine Star) | Updated February 15, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The energy
sector is a significant contributor to climate change, which underscores why
industry players – government, investors and consumers – should act
collectively to switch to low carbon options.
This was the main point raised by
Richard Tantoco, president and chief operating officer (COO) of geothermal
leader Energy Development Corporation (EDC), at the 1st Philippine Environment
Summit.
Tantoco highlighted the fact
that notwithstanding the seeming lull offered by cheaper electricity prices,
countries that have depended on coal plants as their main source of electricity
have learned that such reliance can ultimately be very costly.
“On an ex-plant basis, coal may
readily appear to be the cheaper option – especially with the recent crash in
global coal prices – but what other countries may have saved in electricity
prices by taking the fast and cheaper route, is quickly being eroded by the
mounting social and environmental costs they did not foresee or simply chose to
ignore. The truth is coal has costly externalities, way beyond the
ex-plant price, and these have not been priced-in to the illusory ‘least cost’
equation,” Tantoco said.
Tantoco cited a study by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the environmental and health costs not
included in the price of fossil fuels like coal which amounted to $5.3 trillion
for 2015 alone, or about $10 million per minute. He also cited figures from the
World Health Organization (WHO) on diseases and premature deaths that can be
traced to outdoor air pollution caused largely by burning coal.
In terms of disasters, the
Philippines and 19 other countries comprising the V20 or nations most
vulnerable to the effects of climate change, face an average of around 50,000
climate change related deaths per year. The number is expected to rise by 2030
and the Philippines faces escalating annual losses of at least 2.5 percent of
gross domestic product (GDP) per year.
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