Energy Development Corporation LogoEnergy Development Corporation (EDC) has collaborated with local and international scientific organizations to establish within EDC’s Burgos wind farm in Ilocos Norte a hi-tech monitoring station to measure in precise terms atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs), mainly carbon gases, behind global warming leading to climate change.

The scientific facility now forms part of the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON), a global linkup of scientific stations dedicated to the precise measurements of atmospheric GHGs such as carbon dioxide and methane.

“We at [FPH] believe that every business has a choice and we chose to go beyond our ‘business fence’ and contribute to the common good for the benefit of our environment and the Filipino people. Thus, in 2016 we declared to commit all our businesses to a low-carbon and sustainable operation to keep our employees, the communities and our assets out of harm from climate change,” said First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPH) chairman and CEO Federico R. Lopez during the formal launch of the partnership behind the TCCONPhilippines project. EDC president and COO Richard Tantoco said the government can use analyses derived from TCCON data to validate the Philippine carbon footprint. The footprint will contribute to the world’s aspiration of climate stabilization by 2050 and serve as a guide for Philippine climate actions.

The Burgos TCCON station—the 25th in the world but the only one in Southeast Asia—serves as the primary validation station in Southeast Asia for Japan’s Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite-2 or GOSAT and NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 or OCO-2.

EDC, with FPH, collaborated with the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) and Meteorological Research Institute of Japan, the University of Wollongong of Australia and the UP Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology to put up the TCCON station within the Burgos wind farm. NIES has agreed to finance the project. (Story/Photos by: J.Gaborni)