News

Stakeholder Consulation

BULALACAO, ORIENTAL MINDORO - The Stakeholder Consultation was announced through various media such as posters, local radio station and websites. It was well-attended by the municipal and barangay officials of Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro. The issues and questions raised during the consultation included the following: target completion date of the project;percentage of involvement of the Municipality of Bulalacao in the project; potential benefits;disadvantage and risks of the project;conflict of land use are some of the questions that were answered directly by our team of experts.

The barangay and municipal officials, as well as other stakeholders present in the consultation, expressed their full support of the project. They signed a resolution in favor of the construction of the wind farm in the area. Further, the officials raised their willingness to aid the proponent in resolving any issues associated with the realization of the wind energy project.

Sagada & Besao Public Consultation

BESAO - The first public consultation was in St. James Highschool in Besao,. Mr Rufino Bomasang gave his opening speech to his fellow "kankana-eys" in their native dialect. Ms. Ruth Yu-Owen took over the presentation, the consultation was attended by the members of the Sangguniang Bayan, Barangay Captains local residents and Vice Mayor Harry Baliaga and Mayor Wellington Pooten of Besao. Jude Domoguen, Mountain Province Electric Cooperative’s General Manager was also present in the said event.

Philcarbon donated 20 Fluorescent lamps and 75 Compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) to the Municipal Hall to create awareness on "Energy Efficiency" and to reduce the amount of energy required to attain the same level of illumination compared to using traditional incandescent light bulbs.

SAGADA - The intent of renewable energy firm PhilCarbon to develop a 15-MW wind farm at the boundary of Sagada and Besao got an initial backing of the host communities in a consultation at the Sagada Town Hall last February 28. Sagada Mayor Eduardo Latawan Jr. urged the consulting parties to consider the development opportunities offered by the renewable energy project.

This is the ceremonial turnover of the Energy Efficiency Lightings for the Municipal Hall of Sagada.

Speech of President Aquino at Renewable Energy Conference and Expo Manila 2010

The Philippines adopted Republic Act No. 9513 or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 in December 2008 — a critical legislation seen to be the missing link in the pursuit for a more aggressive exploration, development, and utilization of the country's renewable energy resources. This move comes amidst the global challenges of energy security and climate change, increasing power demands, and the need to balance the goals of economic growth and development with the protection of health and the environment.

The passage of the RE Act was intended to increase the country's RE capacities, through increased investments and activities in the sector. It is also expected to help the country move closer to its goal of attaining energy self-sufficiency and environmental sustainability, as well as to promote the development of local communities.

One and a half years since the passage of the RE Law, it is time to examine the progress made, the impacts gained, and the challenges that remain. It is also imperative that opportunities for investment are fully harnessed to ensure the growth of the RE sector.

It is against this backdrop that key players in the RE sector, including the RE Coalition, in cooperation with the Department of Energy, have organized the Renewable Energy Conference and Expo Manila 2010. The event aims to assess the impact of the RE Act in the context of advancing the growth of the RE sector and addressing energy security and climate change; identify milestones reached in the implementation of the RE Action Plan adopted during the 2008 Energy Summit; facilitate dialogue on identifying issues that constrain the RE sector from fully developing at the scale and pace envisioned by advocates of the RE Act; formulate recommendations to address identified constraints; and facilitate multi-stakeholder partnership or networking to sustain the growth of the Philippines' RE sector.

Basic Energy signs joint venture with Australian Firm

MANILA, Philippines - Basic Energy Corp. has signed an agreement with New World Energy Ltd. (NWE) of Australia to jointly undertake development of the Mabini geothermal energy project in Batangas.

NWE has existing geothermal energy exploration projects within Australia. It has formed Geoenergy together with local partners Filtech Energy Drilling Corp. and PhilCarbon Inc. to acquire, explore and develop geothermal energy resources in the Philippines for power generation.

In its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, Basic Energy said it would prepare a farm-in agreement that would grant Geoenergy the right to acquire up to a 70-percent interest in the project for funding 100 percent of the exploration costs up to the completion of drilling one geothermal exploration well.

The funding requirements of this project shall be handled by NWE.

Basic Energy signed last week a memorandum of understanding with British Virgin Islands-based Prime Energy Consult Ltd. to jointly develop business opportunities in the oil and gas industry.

Prime Energy, whose offices are based in Dubai, UAE, is currently in the business of providing technical advisory and consulting services to the oil and gas industry. Its current projects are focused on the Arabian Gulf and East Africa regions.

Aside from its oil and gas projects, Basic is into the exploration and development of renewable energy resources such as geothermal biomass and hydropower. Its wholly-owned subsidiaries include Basic Petroleum & Minerals Inc. (BPMI), an oil and gas exploration and mining company; Basic Diversified Industrial Holdings Inc., an investment holding company and iBasic Inc., an information technology management company and service integrator.

It also owns 72.58 percent of Southwest Resources Inc., an oil exploration company.

Its two other wholly-owned subsidiaries are Basic Biofuels Corp., which is into the development of biofuels and Basic Ecomarket Farms Inc., which is into agriculture, focusing initially on cassava development and production.

Basic Energy is presently a party, together with other oil exploration companies, in the exploration, development and production of contract areas in Service Contract 47 in offshore Mindoro and Service Contract 53 in onshore Mindoro.

The Philippine Star

Philcarbon supports Earth Hour Plus - Going beyond the Hour

It was year 2008 that Philippines first embraced the ‘Earth Hour’ event to empower people to address climate change via a 60-minute switch-off.

The Philippines topped global Earth Hour participation levels for both 2009 and 2010. Ten million Filipinos in 647 towns, cities and municipalities switched off in 2009, while 15 million Filipinos in 1076 towns and cities joined the 2010 switch-off. Over a billion people from 128 countries participated in Earth Hour 2010 – marking it as the largest environmental event in known human history.

Now on its fourth year, the Earth Hour 2011 focuses on what citizens can do beyond the switch-off.

The main switch-off event will begin at 6PM on 26 March at the SM Mall of Asia Globe area. The event also serves as a kick-off for a planned year-long WWF climate change solutions campaign. Still, thousands of Filipino towns, cities and landmarks are expected to join the switch-off.

The said event will be supported by both private and public sectors. Mainly, Yuchengco Group of Companies, Coca-Cola, Honda Cars Philippines, McDonald’s, SM Malls, Discovery Suites, Meralco, Smart Communications and Philips.

Media allies have grown to include ABS-CBN, TV5, GMA-7, Net-25, Solar TV, CLTV-36, Discovery Channel, AXN, AXN Beyond, Animax, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, BusinessMirror, Expat, Aftercall Magazine, Mega Publishing Group, Radyo Veritas, Globaltronics, QCreativs, Click the City, Sulit.ph and numerous other stations and publications.

Public allies include the Philippine Climate Change Commission, Department of Energy, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Education, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Transportation and Communications, League of Cities of the Philippines, League of Municipalities of the Philippines and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. The list of Earth Hour allies grows by the day.

“Earth Hour is a simple act that emphasizes both the ease and importance of adopting energy-efficient practices and lifestyles,” says Earth Hour National Director Atty. Gia Ibay

So it’s our time again not only to beat the record but making the event more meaningful in our lives.

Photo (L-R) Ms. Ruth Yu-Owen (President Philcarbon), Mr. Vince Perez (WWF Philippines Chairman), Mr. Gabby Gabinete (Pepsi-Cola Commercial Director) and Dr. Peter Pembleton (President-Carbonergy)

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