Philippines leads in renewable electricity share, accdg to Green Innovation Index

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Who would have thunk? 

The Philippines has been cited as a worldwide leader in renewable electricity share and emissions per person in the Green Innovation Index (International Edition) of Next 10, a California-based non-partisan organization that advocates sustainable economic growth. 

Could it be because of Western Visayas’ new selfie spot, the Guimaras Windmills?

Renewable energy is any energy source generated form natural resources such as solar, wind, ocean, geothermal, hydro and biomass.

According to one columnist familiar with this issue, the country sourced around 26 per cent of its power consumption from hydropower and geothermal plants in 2013, while wind, solar and biomass contributed less than a per cent.

Next 10’s report findings will be presented on Tuesday at the Unesco headquarters in Paris, on the eve of Business & Climate Summit, the main event at Climate Week Paris.

Next 10’s GII charts country GDP, emissions, energy productivity, renewable energy generation, clean tech investments and other key metrics. Other Southeast Asia nations ranked poorly for high carbon intensity and low energy productivity levels. 

Top findings for the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia are:

• Philippines ranks #3 in the world for lowest emissions per capita and lowest electricity use per capita. The nation ranks #5 among top emitters worldwide for its share of electricity from renewables—it gets 15.1 percent from clean sources.
• Indonesia ranks #4 in the world for lowest electricity use per capita. While Indonesia is the 15th largest emitter of total greenhouse gas emissions, it also ranks #6 for lowest emissions per capita.
• Thailand ranks poorly (#41) in terms of energy productivity (GDP relative to energy consumption), but #13 and #14 in the world for low electricity use per capita and emissions per capita. 
• Singapore ranks poorly in a number of key indicators including emissions per capita (#47), carbon intensity (#38) (emissions relative to GDP), and total energy use per capita (#47). 

• Malaysia ranks poorly in terms of carbon intensity (#32) and energy productivity (#32), and in the middle of the top 50 emitters for energy and electricity use per capita (#20 and #23).

Photo: John Jethro Alejano