The Mayor of Puerto Princesa City, Lucilo Bayron recently announced that his city will embark on a waste-to-energy project. Waste-to-energy or energy-from-waste is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste. This project will be the first of its kind in the Philippines. Puerto Princesa City is a coastal city on Palawan Island in the western Philippines.

The Southeast Asian region, like every other part of the globe has had a tempestuous year in 2017 with many hurdles thrown its way. From the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine State to Duterte’s war on drugs, it is undeniable that the region is still finding its footing on rights and democracy.While these issues may or may not see a resolution in 2018, there are other things that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc can look out for.

After spending years building up its gas-power business, General Electric Co. is trying to figure out how to keep pace in a world that’s no longer all that interested in fossil fuels.The plan to cut 12,000 jobs, or almost one-fifth of the power division’s global workforce, underscores GE’s bad bet on an old-school industry as natural gas loses favor and renewable energy gains.

A well-timed decision more than a decade ago to abandon coal in time for Thailand’s natural-gas boom is poised to make Sarath Ratanavadi the newest billionaire in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.Based on the low end of the pricing range for his Gulf Energy Development Pcl’s initial public offering this week, Sarath has a net worth of 1.9 billion dollars, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The Sidoarjo regency in East Java, Indonesia is known for its cottage industries which produce traditional prawn and fish flavoured crackers. However, tourists who flock there aren’t just lured by the promise of crunchy titbits, but come to see the largest mud volcano in the world.The Sidoarjo mud flow, commonly called Lusi – an abbreviation of Lumpur Sidoarjo, “lumpur” means “mud” in Indonesian – has been spewing mud since it erupted in May 2006.

Saudi Arabia raised oil pricing for October sales to Asia, increasing its lighter grades for a second consecutive month, in an indication the world’s largest crude exporter sees strengthening demand in its biggest market.State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil, known as Saudi Aramco, increased its official pricing for Arab Light crude to Asia by 55 cents to 30 cents a barrel more than the regional benchmark, it said Monday in an emailed statement.