5 August 2002 Wind energy powers Negros village as
Greenpeace pushes Renewables Revolution
Manila/Negros:
Greenpeace installed wind turbines in a Philippine village which
had no electricity, to illustrate to the national government that
local communities of Negros Occidental are serious in their desire
to harness clean energy alternatives in the province. Negros is
currently embroiled in an intense energy debate between a coal-fired
power station proposed in Pulupandan town and utilising the province's
vast renewable energy alternatives.
"We chose
the village of Sojoton Point for this wind turbine installation
because it has been mapped as having a minimum 180-MW in wind-power
potential, enough to power the future energy needs of Negros,"
said Athena Ballesteros, Greenpeace Southeast Asia campaign director,
and a resident of the province of Negros. "People here want
electricity, but they don't want dirty coal technology. The people
of Negros are pushing for 100 percent renewable, clean energy. Greenpeace
has installed the turbines not only to show that wind power works
but more importantly to catalyse investments in the province in
clean, renewable energy."
A team from the
Greenpeace ship MV Arctic Sunrise installed three 400-watt wind
turbines in the village of Sojoton Point, Cauayan. The turbines
will supply power for the lighting needs of about 20 houses. The
installation is part of the Philippine leg of the Southeast Asia-wide
Choose Positive Energy tour, which intends to promote the viability
of renewable energy especially in meeting local community needs.
Cauayan Mayor
Jerry Tabujara praised Greenpeace for supporting the local community's
campaign for 100 percent renewable energy for Negros. "Clean
energy is what the province needs right now. Cauayan wants clean
energy investments to further bring development and progress to
our town," said Mayor Tabujara. "This confirms the alternative
energy potential of Cauayan. I hope our clean energy partnership
will go a long way towards the realisation of our town's mission
and goals."
"The village
of Sojoton Point is a classic example of how wind can provide clean,
sustainable power on-site without expensive main grid connection
and without greenhouse gas pollution," said Ballesteros. Wind
energy has a massive potential in the Philippines, wind power alone
could provide seven times the current electricity demand in the
country.
According to Laetitia
DeMarez of Greenpeace France, "Wind power only needs the right
sort of investment. Instead of dumping dirty coal technology that
the local people do not want, foreign companies such as the UK-French
fossil corporation Alstom could be driving the renewable energy
revolution here in the Philippines." Alstom currently supplies
the equipment that produces 20 percent of the world's energy.
Alstom is one
of the investors in the proposed Pulupandan coal-fired power station
in Negros. The company refuses to withdraw from the project, despite
the fact that the developers have lost the majority of their funding,
and several required government permits have either been cancelled
or frozen. "Because the pollution that Alstom will create is
global, so will our opposition to Alstom's dirty coal plant be international.
The protests here in Bacolod will be joined by Greenpeace France
as well as Greenpeace Southeast Asia and we will make sure that
the investment that Alstom seeks to put in the proposed Pulupandan
coal plant suffers," said DeMarez.
The Arctic Sunrise
arrived last August 3rd in the port of Bacolod to launch the 'Negros:
Go Renewable' campaign. Yesterday, Greenpeace activists installed
solar panels in a school in the town of Pulupandan where a coal
plant is being proposed. The installed solar powered system will
provide for 100 percent of the energy needs of the school's new
library. The ship will leave Negros on August 7th to visit Thailand
on the next phase of the Choose Positive Energy Tour of Southeast
Asia, where many communities are rejecting dirty energy technology
like coal-fired power stations, and demanding clean renewable energy
to fill the growing demand.
The Greenpeace
flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, is presently campaigning in the North
Sea against nuclear and fossil fuel energy on the northern leg of
the Choose Positive Energy Tour.
The Choose Positive
Energy Tour is part of Greenpeace's countdown to the Earth Summit
that will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa next month. Greenpeace
is campaigning for governments to make a commitment at the Johannesburg
Earth Summit, to provide clean and affordable renewable energy to
the two billion people around the world who currently live without
decent energy services. Greenpeace is likewise asking OECD governments
to immediately move 20 percent of their energy investments to renewable
energy and at the same time, phase out financial support for all
dirty energy sources within five years.
Note to Editors:
For more information
or interviews, in the Philippines contact Athena Ballesteros on
+63-917-8131562 or Red Constantino on board the Arctic Sunrise at
+63 917-5241123.
Greenpeace at the Johannesburg Earth Summit - 2002
Manila/Negros:
Greenpeace installed wind turbines in a Philippine village which
had no electricity, to illustrate to the national government that
local communities of Negros Occidental are serious in their desire
to harness clean energy alternatives in the province. Negros is
currently embroiled in an intense energy debate between a coal-fired
power station proposed in Pulupandan town and utilising the province's
vast renewable energy alternatives.