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?
FOLKS WHO FARM
I have created a new Facebook Messenger group for the purpose of bringing together all Filipinos who are either planning to go into farming or are already into farming but would like to share ideas and experiences with other farmers.
What do I mean by “farmer”?
Normally that would mean anyone who works on farmland for a living, either as a worker, as a tenant or as a farm owner.
I would say that all three types are welcome to join the group, but I would also want to attract and invite the so-called “gentleman farmers” or those who are simply just enjoying farming as a hobby.
To put it simply, the purpose of the group is to share information about farming in general, and about growing specific crops or animals in particular.
Yes, we are not just talking about agricultural crops, but also poultry, livestock and even fish. That could even include beekeeping, to produce honey.
Hopefully, some of our members will be able to conduct seminars and lectures so that we could be internally self-reliant, but of course we could also invite experts and other resource persons both from the government and the private sector to give us talks.
Aside from training, we also hope to share ideas about financing and marketing. Email me at iseneres@yahoo.com./PN
