First Gen pitches for ‘carbon capture and storage’ for PH decarbonization strategy
By Myrna M. Velasco – October 6, 2022, 8:37 AM
from Manila Bulletin
Leading clean energy company First Gen Corporation has set the initial pitch on the deployment of carbon capture use and storage (CCUS) technology as one of the cornerstones that must be brought into play on the country’s decarbonization strategy to rein in the devastating impact of climate change risks.
During a multi-stakeholder forum convened by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), First Gen Chairman and CEO Federico R. Lopez laid down five cornerstones on how the Philippines could triumph on its energy transition agenda and win the battle versus global warming.
On the sphere of CCUS technology deployment which currently is still at experimental phase, Lopez noted that “a zero emissions grid will be a critical component for deeper deployment of electricity-run carbon capture and sequestration technology to arrest more emissions from other hard-to-reach sectors.”
He qualified that “innovation in CCUS technology is expected to accelerate in the coming decades.”
Lopez fleshed out that the other key cornerstones to a low carbon economy would be: reduction in carbon intensity of the electricity sector; the need to scale up energy efficiency efforts; electrification of industries and supply chains; and the use of carbon-neutral fuels for hard-to-reach sectors.
The First Gen chairman expounded that it is a major requirement to “clean up the electricity grid’s generation sources with the intent of progressively lowering carbon intensity per kilowatt hour,” with him stressing that “we must keep in mind that as we do this, we need to keep the lights on and keep power prices affordable.”
To date, the Philippines has been advancing its “energy transition agenda” that is anchored on cleaning up the power mix from the current dominance of fossil fuels in the power supply chain by accelerating the installation of renewable energy (RE) facilities with concrete targets of 35-percent share in the power mix by 2030; and 50-percent in 2040.
Lopez similarly highlighted the need to “scale up energy efficiency as the ‘first fuel’ and encourage and incentivize its use everywhere.”
In his recommendation to “electrify everything”, the First Gen chief executive propounded that in the pursuit of a greener grid, the country will have to push for the electrification of key industries and business segments that is from the transport sector to various industrial processes.
Additionally, on the introduction of carbon-neutral fuels, he indicated that emerging technologies like green hydrogen and green ammonia may be deployed for industrial activities as well as in the transport segment such as in long distance trucking, shipping and aviation or the sectors which may not still be feasible to be electrified by 2050.
He, nevertheless, stated that the rollout of these technologies must be carried out when they mature and when they reach affordable price points in the years ahead.
Lopez put it across though that solving the world’s predicament over climate change “has many facets beyond energy” and that it spans agricultural practices, food production, waste management practices, industrial processes, deforestation, and f-gases used in refrigeration, among others.
On the part of the energy sector, he opined that “decarbonizing and scaling up a green electricity grid over the next three decades is probably the greatest energy transition in the history of mankind…and these also need well-coordinated and timely action on the part of leaders, policymakers and regulators who must be decisive and well-versed on the elements that make for a successful and just energy transition.”
