Thursday, October 15, 2015

APEC energy ministers eye energizing region's remotest areas to spur growth



Member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will push for the development of resilient APEC communities by providing energy access to their people, including in remote communities, APEC energy ministers said in a joint statement issued on Tuesday (Oct. 13).

"We note that clean energy technologies and traditional energy sources, including cleaner use of fossil fuels, are important in addressing energy access challenges," they said in the statement.

The energy ministers recognized the significant potential that exists to provide energy access to rural communities through the up-take of micro grids, energy storage and their integration with renewable energy resources.

Providing reliable, affordable and secure supplies of energy to remote communities will also drive income generation and simultaneously encourage economic growth, sustainable environmental outcomes and new opportunities, such as eco-tourism for the people, including women, they said in the statement.

The ministers further acknowledged that natural gas, including pipeline and liquefied forms, plays an increasingly important role in the Asia-Pacific region, and as such, they said they appreciate the member economies’ efforts to create favorable conditions for trade and investment to support a diversified, flexible and integrated natural gas market in the APEC region.

In keeping with the APEC’s goal of inclusive growth, the development of community-based clean energy strategies paves the way towards income-generating activities that benefit the marginalized and indigenous communities, they said.

"We envisage the APEC region to be the home of well-integrated power systems as well as a global model for satellite community-based micro independent grids that promote sustainable and inclusive growth as well as offer equal and gender-fair employment opportunities," the APEC ministers in the statement.

The APEC ministers on Tuesday concluded their two-day meeting that centered on energy resiliency. (PNA/PCOO News Release)

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