ADB urges Asian governments to boost investments in clean energy

The Jakarta Post

BANGKOK (AP): Asian governments must promote clean energy sources, including wind and solar power, if they want to maintain their booming economies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in coming decades, the Asian Development Bank said Tuesday.

Traditional energy resources such as oil, gas and coal will not last forever and are becoming increasingly expensive, and bolstering investment in clean energy sources is the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda said in a speech Tuesday.

"Asia faces a particularly daunting challenge in securing the energy it needs to support growth and poverty reduction in a responsible, sustainable manner," Kuroda said at the opening of a three-day clean energy forum at the ADB headquarters in Manila.

"Clean energy, including energy efficiency and renewable energy, needs to be actively promoted," he said, according to a statement from the bank. "Developing countries should be encouraged to explore possibilities for renewable energy sources,such as wind, solar, and biofuels."

Delegates at the conference - co-sponsored by the ADB and the United States Agency for International Development - are expected to discuss how to promote and roll out clean energy projects in Asia, the bank said. They will also address how to finance cleanenergy projects, including establishing carbon trading schemes which are relatively unknown in Asia.

The Philippines Energy Minister Raphael Lotilla told attendees that the challenge many developing countries like his face is financing renewable energy projects, which he said are often up to 3 times more costly than conventional sources.

Despite Philippine requirements that 5 percent of fuels come from ethanol by 2008 and a draft bill that would mandate up to 10 percent of energy come from renewable sources, the Philippines still is struggling to boost its amount of energy that comes for renewables, Lotilla said.

Among the solutions, Lotilla said, would be allowing the Philippines to use payments due on outstanding debt to finance renewable projects.

Asian Development Bank's Web Site: http://adb.org/