Like a beam of LED light reaching out farther as it becomes more powerful, the 3rd Philippine Energy Efficiency Forum (PEEF) this July ranged wider and partnered with more companies, financial institutions and government agencies to attain the common aim of institutionalizing the practice of energy efficiency.

Energy efficiency or using less energy remains the cheapest form of power available to business firms. It also serves as the foundation of a grand design crafted by the government and the private sector to increase the Philippines' use of renewable or sustainable energy as a hedge against future power crises.

The expanded breadth of the energy efficiency campaign was reflected in the theme of the 3rd PEEF: "Driving Efficiency and Competitiveness Across the Power Sector Value Chain."

PEEF's major goal over the past three years has been to promote the national effort towards energy supply security, increased competitiveness and low carbon economic growth through energy efficiency.

Unlike its predecessors, however, the 3rd PEEF focused on energy efficiency from the perspective of business firms (who are huge energy users) along the energy value chain, from generation through transmission and distribution to the plug. New to this year’s PEEF were the separate Technical Briefings where sponsors, energy technology companies and exhibitors presented their unique energy efficiency solutions. The new business matching sessions were a success, as was the widely visited product exhibition.

As noted by Hubert d’Aboville, President of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) in his welcoming remarks, the forum reaffirms that energy efficiency has the potential for “. . . huge savings in total power use and large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions."

"The return on investment from energy efficiency will benefit the whole country," he said.

He added that the private sector and the government are able to do more and operate more efficiently with limited resources through energy efficiency.

d'Aboville acknowledged the firms and institutions that have partnered with ECCP in promoting PEEF since the start of the chamber's energy efficiency campaign three years ago.

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