Social Impact
Energy/Water Impacts Livelihood
- Electrification allows fishermen to store their catch and sell at more appropriate prices
- Electrification allows some microenterprises within the community such as selling iced candy, ice cream, barbecuing meat products outside their houses because they can store the meat from the mainland
- We help enable residents to set up businesses that can feed off of the tourism growth through electrification. This can be crafts, jewelry, and other products that will be bought by the tourism traffic entering the islands
- We will also directly lead to the employment of power plant staff, which includes security, operators, and administrative and accounting staff.
- We support LGU and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) programs to increase seaweed production and value
- We execute and operate the microgrid in close cooperation with the Electric Cooperatives (ECs), which are the official Distribution Utilities in most areas. This allows for the ECs to strengthen their technical capabilities in power generation which directly benefits the communities who are stakeholders of the cooperatives.
Biomass Impacts
Candlewick is a subsidiary of Element Renewables Group focused in Southeast Asia. Our joint efforts have contributed to Biomass Impact in the following social areas:
Biomass Impacts Socio-Economic Benefits
Carbon reduction – reforestation
- Melia Dubia yields over 260 tons of biomass per hectare, trees harvested in a way that does not require replacing = SUSTAINABLE
- Carbon content of Melia Dubia >40% from absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere
- One hectare of Melia Dubia produces enough O2 for 523 people, therefore 2,000 hectares enough for 1 million+ people
Job Creation
- A 2,000 ha plantation will create a direct livelihood for 1,600 people, predominantly women from marginalized communities
- Semi-skilled jobs created for tractor and truck operators during the planting/harvesting
- Indirect economic benefits created from support services (transportation, meals, etc.)
- Government incentives available for expansion of reforestation projects, improving the standard of living for local communities