Finalists of The Search for Energy Youth Leaders Essay Contest have been notified by organizers today, September 15.

The date for the Awarding Ceremonies will be announced very soon. The winners (for the main and special categories) will be notified accordingly.

On the request of various stakeholders, the deadline for the submission of entries for the Energy Essay Writing Contest will be extended to July 15, 2011 (until midnight Philippine time).

As part of the celebration of the National Energy Consciousness Month, industry partners and the Department of Energy are inviting college and graduate school students to participate in the nationwide Energy Essay Writing Contest which bestows recognition on the youth’s role as catalyst to improve the future of the energy industry.

With the theme, “Energy Access for More: How Can the Youth Be Involved in Solving the Country’s Energy Challenge?”, the contest now on its second year, has opened last December 2010 and will run until April 30 this year (extended to July 15). 

The Philippine government highlights the importance of finding and investing in renewable energy to respond to the challenges of climate change, energy security and local air pollution—whether it be wind, solar, biomass, biofuels, geothermal or hydropower. An underlying question is, how much more will Filipinos be willing to pay to shift the Philippine energy mix to green and lean?

Renewable energy—power generated from the nearly infinite elements of nature such as sunshine, wind, the movement of water, the internal heat of the Earth, and the combustion of replenishable crops—is widely popular because it is thought to be an inexhaustible and environmentally benign source of power, particularly compared with the supposedly finite and environmentally problematic alternative of reliance on fossil fuels and nuclear power.

I was watching an interview with former National Power Corporation President Guido Delgado last week where he categorically stated that we cannot depend on hydroelectric power as the existing plants are not able to generate enough supply.