From Promise to Progress: Clean Energy Future of Mindanao

It is said that a country’s prosperity is determined by the availability of basic necessities,

especially in electricity and energy demands. As such, then the sinews of progress are not money,
but instead a well-defined and sustainable energy source.

Mindanao, an island of the Philippine archipelago, is undoubtedly a landmass of promises

and opportunities. Aside from the tourism the island offers, its potential for a progressive city is
just waiting to be developed. With vast land areas, Mindanao can host and be home of various
industries; in turn provides a vast array of job opportunities. Nevertheless, apart from the civil
strife and religion indifferences, key areas in Mindanao have relatively high prices in industrial
maintenance because of one factor: expensive electricity1.

Such a miserable status quo, Mindanao suffers from underdevelopment. Though it cannot
be denied that certain cities and municipalities are reliant on hydroelectric power plants and
geothermal energy, they are relatively outnumbered in terms of usage by the coal powered plants.
Indeed, coal as a raw material is cheap than the known renewable sources of energy. But, coal
power plants should never be the main source of energy since aside from the environmentally
hazardous carbon emissions, the supposedly cheap coal turn expensive as coal is not fuel efficient.
A huge amount of coal is needed to provide an adequate amount of energy, thus the “cheap” status
now becomes an expensive one.

As it is the land of promise, all hope is not lost. A future of cheap, renewable, sustainable
and most importantly, cleaner sources of energy are lying around the corner; or perhaps waiting
from up above. The forests of Mindanao offers rich collection of flora and fauna, a promising area
for development of biofuels.2 Called as green fuels, biofuels are similar in fuel efficiency towards
other carbon fuels, but the carbon emission from the said fuel’s combustion is minimal. Biofuels

1
https://www.mindanaodailynews.com/news/the-region/northern-mindanao/cdo-power-rates-growing-faster-
than-ph-national-average
2

https://irena.org/DigitalArticles/2020/Apr/Renewable_energy_for_a_low_carbon_future?fbclid=IwAR0UaMY1xUq
KdpykEwSu8hSornFBMEiu9uwn_rm7Yagng-PkwLfM_LFXUz8
are extracted from plants and animals so they are cheaper and sustainable than coal. Several
choices are still left aside from biofuels for a cleaner and greener energy waiting in store for
Mindanao’s future like hydroelectric and geothermal, which just need further research for more
efficiency.

However, the most promising source is waiting from up above. The sun, an ever prevailing
source of energy, is waiting to be harvested. Though expensive peripherals are needed for solar
energy harvesters, the rewards are great since it is available anywhere. One hour of solar energy
for the planet is enough to satisfy a year’s worth of global energy demands3; indeed a promising
future for Mindanao as it is cost efficient and has low carbon emissions from other sources of
renewable energy4.

Though it is a far-fetched idea, the developments towards energy, sustainability and nature-
friendliness are indeed the sinews of progress of any country or place. Time will tell when will
Mindanao acknowledge its capabilities; then turning the land of promises into a land of progress.

3
https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/new-energy-landscape/low-carbon-economy/clean-energy/
4
https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/2014/09/7-benefits-of-using-solar-energy