The 10th Transdisciplinary (TD) Brown Bag Series

Date： July 17th (Wed), 12:15~13:00
Venue： Tonan-tei (Room 201), 2nd floor, Inamori Foundation Building　
Language： English

Anyone who are interested in the topic are welcome. Please bring your own food and join us.

Speaker：
Julie Ann DELOS REYES (CSEAS)

MC: Mario Ivan LOPEZ (CSEAS)

Title & Abstract:
“The political ecology of energy transition: Lock-ins, regime change and prospects for coal phase out in the Philippine electricity sector”

Transitioning to a low-carbon energy system will require a dramatic reduction in society’s reliance on fossil fuel for energy. Estimates suggest that about a third of oil reserves, half of gas reserves and 80 per cent of coal reserves must remain unused to keep to a below 2 degree global temperature rise as set out in the Paris agreement. Coal in particular, the most carbon rich of all fuel sources, has been singled out as the largest contributor to climate change prompting calls for its phase out. Yet in countries like the Philippines, and in the Southeast Asian region in general, it is forecasted to remain the main fuel source up until 2040 to service growing energy demand.Through a case study of the Philippine electricity sector, my research will look at the interplay of political, social, economic and biophysical factors that favour coal energy dependence and the relations of power across multiple scales through which it is constituted. Drawing from the interdisciplinary field of political ecology, I seek to recast energy transition as more than just a technological shift by bringing into focus the ‘conditions of possibility’ of the incumbent energy regime and the challenge to hegemonic power required to open up alternative energy pathways.