Coal news and updates

The Philippines’ new environment secretary will prioritize renewable energy over fossil fuels like coal in approving permits for new power plants.

Southeast Asia’s fastest growing economy should build wind, solar and geothermal projects to capitalize on falling costs and minimize emissions, Gina Lopez, named Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources by President Rodrigo Duterte last month, said in an interview in her office Thursday. Lopez said her family’s ties to renewable energy companies don’t affect her views.

Lopez, 62, whose office gives environmental approval for new power plants in the Philippines as it nearly doubles electricity generation by 2030, stopped short of promising to never approve a new coal-fired plant. She said she would make decisions in consultation with the Department of Energy, which has said the Philippines will have to continue to rely on coal.

“Why allow more coal plants? Why commit to a form of energy that has no future?” Lopez said in an interview with Bloomberg Thursday. “I’m not keen on it. I’d have to be very convinced.”

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Energy Department officials did not immediately respond to e-mails and phone calls for comment. New Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said at a July 4 press briefing the country couldn’t afford to not use coal as it seeks to reduce electricity costs while finding a balance between adequate supply and protecting the environment.

“We have to find that balance, not everything can be renewable,” he said.

Coal accounted for 45 percent of the nation’s electricity output in 2015, with natural gas at 23 percent, according to Energy Department statistics. Geothermal, hydro and other renewable sources accounted for about a quarter.

Source: Bloomberg