CHAPTER FOUR - Bringing energy to the rural sector – the Philippines

Abstract

This chapter discusses making energy available to the rural sector in the Philippines. The geographical and seismological features of the Philippines provide good indicators that it has rich potential energy reserves in terms of both conventional and nonconventional resources. Energy programs in the Philippines emphasize bioenergy development. The bioenergy development program covers biogas, gasifier, and dendrothermal and alcohol production. Both gasifier and dendrothermal technologies have biomass fuel requirements that can be more than adequately met by a massive tree-planting effort in the country's vast land area. The major concern in energy tree farming is to attain fast growth at an early stage. The project harnessed the collaborative capability of the community by organizing the farm family heads into a viable cooperative called the Integrated Services Association. The various enterprises of the project are developed by upgrading appropriate technologies and by providing economic services. The gasification technology and the other program components such as generator set, ice plant, charcoal kiln, rice mill, and thresher are refined to boost the productivity of the enterprises.