MEMBERS OF the Ateneo de Manila University community gathered at Gate 2.5 last September 20 to stage a demonstration for the Global Climate Strike movement. The Ateneo protesters joined millions of others from around the world to strike against supranational corporations that abuse nonrenewable resources and politicians who refuse to support policies for ecologically sustainable development.
The world’s climate is rapidly approaching what scientists call the point of no return: A catastrophic 2oC increase in global temperature—the effects of which, humanity may not survive. Foremost among the largest contributors to climate change is the use of carbon-based fossil fuels, which supply around 80% of the world’s energy at the cost of releasing copious amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. At the current CO2 production rates, it is estimated that there are only around 15 to 20 years left until that point.
The participation of the Ateneo community in this recent climate strike demonstrates the University’s social involvement in environmental issues. However, in the previous years, Ateneo as an institution has also done more to raise awareness for the global climate crisis aside from mobilizing. With the necessary resources and research at hand to take an even larger step towards sustainability, Ateneo uses its position to exemplify how larger institutions can take immediate and dramatic action to combat climate change. With efforts ranging from “green technology” development on campus and scientific collaborations with external institutions, the University’s progress towards environmental sustainability further challenges the entire Ateneo community towards involving themselves in the fight to combat manmade climate change.
Taking the lead
Ateneo’s involvement in renewable energy and sustainability may be traced back to ambitious solar-powered water filtration systems implemented by the Ateneo Innovation Center in resource-poor provinces across the country as early as January 2012.
On an even larger scale, the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG) proposed the Clean Energy Living Laboratories (CELLs) project in 2015, following requests from the European Union (EU) for Philippine-based sustainable energy projects.
CELLs was launched alongside similar environmental technology projects from other organizations across the country in January 2019 as part of the larger Access to Sustainable Energy Programme collaboration between the EU and the Department of Energy (DoE).
“The idea of the CELLs is that it’s a think tank…that will put forward policies. Policy proposals on energy that’s good for [the] environment…good for poverty,” states former ASoG Dean Antonio La Viña. ASoG will be collaborating under the cooperative thrust of CELLs with other universities, local governments, and scientific institutions for research, policy development, and capacity building towards the end of developing more environmentally sensitive policies and systems.
This type of wide-scale collaboration is necessary to fulfill CELLs’ primary goal, which ASoG Senior Technical Advisor Josef Yap, PhD states is to prepare communities for the gradual shift from coal-based energy systems to sustainable ones. The focus of ASoG will be economic analysis and research into energy policy, as well as assistance in the formation of a new institute called the Philippine Energy Research and Policy Institute, scheduled to begin operations in 2020.
Other institutions located within the Ateneo campus will be more heavily involved with scientific research. According to both La Viña and Yap, the Manila Observatory as a primary CELLs collaborator will devote their efforts towards climate research and the development of science policies and technologies to address the energy trilemma: Affordability, access and security, and sustainability.
In order to ensure their research is well applied, CELLs will integrate training programs for policymakers, students, and community leaders. Yap and La Viña stated that this capacity building would involve teaching governmental and educational institutions, as well as communities across the Philippines the skills, information, and tools needed to effectively implement these climate policies.
The bright path
These academic and technological advancements championed by the University’s research centers find eager participation from the Ateneo’s own Central Facilities Management Office (CFMO), which is ready to test and implement proposed methods of improving the campus’ energy sustainability.
Over the years, the University has been attempting to cut down the campus’ electricity usage by enacting measures and technological upgrades to reduce energy consumption. For instance, all incandescent lightbulbs on campus have been replaced with energy-efficient LED lights since the promulgation of the University’s Sustainability Policies in 2016. CFMO Director Michael Canlas also notes the electricity efficiency improvement of air conditioning systems after the University’s upgrade to “inverter-type” cooling technologies, which regulates the air conditioners’ cooling mechanism and reduces their electrical energy use.
However, minimizing energy consumption through fixture upgrades is only the first step in the CFMO’s current plans for the University’s environmentally-friendly technological development. More recently, the CFMO has been planning to further reduce carbon emissions and fossil fuel dependencies on campus by researching and planning for the installation of renewable power sources on campus.
Under the direction of Canlas, CFMO has been planning for the installation of solar panels on campus for the past four years. “Because of the studies made, we’re looking into eight pilot projects spread [out] over the University,” Canlas says
The first phase of the solar panel initiative is targeted to begin by December 2019, and it will involve the strategic installation of solar panels across different buildings within the
University. Target buildings for the first array of solar panels within the Loyola Schools (LS) include the Areté, the John Gokongwei School of Management building, PLDT Convergent Technologies Center, and the New Rizal Library.
Seeing as how the solar panel initiative is a significant investment of time, manpower and finances for the University, Canlas notes that this goes beyond how much money Ateneo can save through sustainable energy sourcing. “Yes, we want to achieve savings in terms of cost [of electricity], but one more important thing is the [reduction of the school’s] carbon footprint,” says Canlas.
Nevertheless, the CMFO still has to overcome certain obstacles before moving forward with the project, such as securing building and installation clearances from the relevant government agencies such as the DoE. Canlas also acknowledges that “going renewable” may put a strain on the Ateneo’s relationship with Meralco, and so the CMFO is still in the process of seeking legal consent and implementation clearance from the energy distributors. Even if energy providers such as Meralco acknowledge the necessity of using green energy, they still stand to lose money due to a decrease in the energy they supply to large institutions such as the Ateneo.
A greenlit future
The University has shown its dedication towards mitigating the campus’ environmental impact and its drive to research renewable energy projects for the country through projects like CELLs. However, the major projects for the campus’ transition to more sustainable operations will not happen overnight. These are likely still just small steps on the journey towards lessening humankind’s drastic impact on climate change.
Social movements like the Global Climate Strike remind entire societies of the ongoing climate crisis; such vocal unrest naturally spurs conscious community efforts to change and become more environmentally sensitive. While small steps such as shutting down idle water and electricity fixtures indeed set a precedent for ingrained sustainability habits in the future, the urgency of the climate crisis emphasizes the necessity of taking more dramatic action and the turn to renewable energy could feasibly provide this drastic, yet necessary change. By inserting themselves in the fight to win back hope for the global climate, the current generation of expected leaders may shape society to better care for the planet, before it is far too late.
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