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Primer on the Energy Balance Table (EBT) of the Philippines
Introduction
Energy is an indispensable factor in human development and economic growth. It fuels all economic activity, and supports the potential for social, environmental and technological progress that will eventually contribute to the improvement of living standards. At the core of any energy system is the purpose of providing convenient and affordable energy services to meet the needs of the people. These energy systems cover a wide range of information from physical energy data to energy facilities and to indicators that measure the interaction of the energy system with the economy and the environment. The main representation of such components of the energy system is the Energy Balance Table (EBT).
A series of energy demand studies was launched under the Regional Energy Development Programme (REDP) in 1987 with funding from the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of France. Three (3) years after, eight (8) countries in the Asia-Pacific region concluded their energy demand studies. Five (5) more countries participated in the second phase from 1990-1991, including the Philippines. Around this time, the former Office of Energy Affairs (OEA), now Department of Energy (DOE), first published an Overall Energy Balance (OEB) in the Sectoral Energy Demand Studies of the Philippines. The first batch of published Energy Balance Table (EBT) for the Philippines covered 1984-1990, and provided a set of standardized energy balance sheet expressed in a common unit of tons of oil equivalents (TOE). The balances in the publication were calculated by the Project Team, largely on the basis of original units already published in the annual energy supply and demand situationer of the country. For the first time in 2004, the Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) provided a national energy accounting system to complement the primary energy mix.
From there on, the EBT is compiled and generated, with inputs from technical bureaus and services within the DOE, by the Policy Formulation and Research Division (PFRD) of the Energy Policy and Planning Bureau (EPPB) on an annual basis and at the national level. With the issuance of Department Order (DO) No. 2018-04-009, the EBT mandated to be released on or before July 15 of every year.
This Primer presents fundamental concepts, frameworks, and operational accounting methodology that can help understand how the country’s EBT is compiled and generated.