LOCAL ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

LOCAL ENERGY INDEPENDENCE Energy independence is a concept that has seemingly not achieved popularity in the Philippines. Most everyone is familiar with either political independence or economic independence or both, but not with energy independence. At the national level, only a few countries have achieved energy independence, meaning that they are no longer importing energy. As a matter of fact, a few countries are already net exporters of energy. I have not heard of examples of local or municipal energy independence, but there are already some pockets of success in the case of some farms or factories that are producing their own renewable energy from at least one source such as solar panels or biogas digesters. Is it possible for a city, municipality or province to achieve local energy independence? The answer is yes, and it is a big yes, based on technologies that are already available. And mind you, I am talking about simple sciences and not rocket sciences. But aside from solar panels and biogas digesters, there are many other affordable and sustainable technologies such as wind and pyrolysis. In the United States, one company has already produced energy by combining algae and biochar. Is it not about time for our local electric cooperatives to start planning for their own energy independence? IKE SENERES/05-07-2024