APEC energy ministers set to award low-carbon model town

THE Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Energy Working Group will announce tomorrow the winner of a technical assistance package under its Low-Carbon Model Town (LCMT) Project.

Mandaue City is one of three nominees for the award. The other nominees are Krasnoyarsk City, Russia and Subang Jaya, Malaysia.

“I think we should keep our fingers crossed that the Philippines will get it (award),” Energy Undersecretary Loreta Ayson, Philippine Senior Official on Energy (SOE) Leader, said in a press briefing yesterday.

She cited Mandaue for its program to develop green growth areas which “will be linked or interconnected with other neighboring cities within Cebu.”

She also said Mandaue is working on an ordinance promoting energy- and disaster-resilient buildings, “green buildings” that use energy more efficiently and are built with a higher percentage of renewable materials.

Mandaue has also set “clear targets in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions,” she added.

The winner of the LCMT Project will receive technical assistance in the implementation of projects aimed at reducing carbon emission levels. The winner will be selected based on its policies, practices, and ability to be replicated in other nations as a possible model.

In a previous press statement, the Department of Energy said the LCMT project has encouraged communities in the Asia-Pacific region to undertake projects promoting low carbon technologies.

Previous winners include Da Nang in Vietnam, which implemented an innovative system of electric motorbikes and charging facilities. Samui Island in Thailand also got support for its feasibility study to utilize solar, wind and small hydro power.

The 12th APEC Energy Ministers’ Meeting on Tuesday, which will discuss how to design energy-resilient infrastructures so they can recover from either natural or man-made disasters as quickly as possible, will focus on four major sub-themes.

The first is “Climate-proofing the Energy Infrastructure” to prevent climate change and disasters from interrupting energy supply in the region.

The second is “Advancing Cutting-Edge Energy Efficiency Technologies,” which will discuss measures to reduce the amount of energy needed to sustain economic growth and support citizens in the region.

The third is “Promoting Community-Based Clean Energy Use in Poverty-Stricken Areas” as part of a continuing goal of including all members of the economy in the benefits of cleaner energy. The fourth is “Improving Energy Trade and Investment,” which Ayson said was “the heart of APEC.”

Other topics to be reviewed as part of the ministerial meeting will include: alternative technologies which support both renewable resources and clean energy generation techniques, capacity building in the science and deployment of new energy resources throughout the region, and “gender fair” approaches to ensure that women as well as men participate equally in all aspects of energy research, deployment, and utilization.