Growing concern about greenhouse gas emissions released by conventional power plants, high oil prices and growing power demand have fuelled the popularity of geothermal power. As the price of oil, coal and natural gas continues to rise, power sources without the need for commodity fuels look more and more attractive. Traditional geothermal energy requires traditional resources - underground reserves of water that is hotter than 300 degrees farenheight. And not every part of the planet has such reserves, they can be found in regions where there is  volcanic activity or where two tectonic plates meet. This is why places like Philippines, Indonesia and California are such strong markets for geothermal technology.

The Philippines, which is situated on the "Pacific Ring of Fire", is the world's second largest producer of geothermal energy after the United States, has 22 active volcanoes. The government is eyeing to further boost the country's geothermal energy production as a long-term measure to minimize its reliance on expensive oil imports. Geothermal uses hot water from the earth which is free and reinjected into the ground to be sustainable, and maintenance cost only run $0.02-$0.03 per kwh. With coal, the traditional source of base-load power in the US costing $0.02-$0.03 kwh and rising, the ongoingcost of geothermal energy is appealing.

The country has an installed geothermal capacity of slightly more than 1,900 MW, most of which has been developed by hte PNOC - Phil Development Corporation, but the government estimates the country has the untapped geothermal resource of at least 2,600 MW. And when the government taps geothermal energy, it can expect to save as much as $5 billion in foreign exchange.

The DOE - Dept of Energy stressed that the country needs only 70 MW more to overtake the US and become the world's largest producer of geothermal power.

Recently, a group of American, Australian, Spanish and Filipino investors have committed to invest $450 million to develop a 40 MW power plant each in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, which could make the Philippines the biggest producer of geothermal energy in the world. The power  currently accounts for around 18% of the energy needs or accounts for less than a third of the country's power   mix , is estimated to power one out of every five light bulbs in the country today.

Further, the group called, Guidance Management Corporation (GMC) will initially spend $8 million to conduct geological surveys before drilling exploratory wells ar the Amacan geothermal prospect in Compostela Valley province in the Southern Mindanao region. Another group, Biliran Geothermal, Inc (BGI) expects to spend an initial $1 million for surface exploration. $15 million for drilling and $150-$450 million for a geothermal plant in Biliran province in Eastern Visayas. Another company that received a service contract from the government last week was Basic Energy Corporation (BEC) which will explore geothermal prospect in Mabini, Batangas province south of the capital.

Among renewable energy sources, geothermal is one of the most competitive of terms of generation cost unlike other energy resources. It presents no logistical concerns like transportation. It is also an environment-friendly since it does not use non-renewable fossils fuels that produce harmful emmisions. And unlike coal, oil and methane, geothermal energy emits around 80% less greenhouse gasses such as sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. Geothermal wells can be drilled like oil and natural gas wells to bring this dry steam, wet steam or hot water to the earth's surface. It is produced by tapping heat from beneath the sources and more stable than other alternative fuel sources. Although such sources are non-renewable, they are projected to last for 100 to 200 years in most places.

Philippines wants to raise its geothermal capacity to 3,131 MW. However, US National Renewable Energy Laboratory have shown the Philippines geothermal resources has a capacity to generate 200,000 MW of power. That's why the government wants to consider geothermal as a primary source of energy and maximize its use in the country.

I think, the development of geothermal energy resources in our country to produce electricity is the most logical the government policy that congress can come up with. The country is supposed to be away from the use of coal as source of electricity. Coal is the dirtiest, most carbon intensive of all fossil fuels. It is one of the leading contributors to climate change. Instead, the government must focus on harnessing geothermal energy to produce electricity. Besides, energy produced by coal is bought from countries whose price keeps on going up.