News and Features
Smart joins program to determine greenhouse gas emission
[September 27, 2007/ Manila] - Accounting for the volume of emitted greenhouse gases (GHGs) is one of the first steps toward climate protection.
Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) is among 19 member-companies of the Philippine Business for the Environment (PBE) that is taking this first step by joining the Philippine Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting Program (PhilGARP).
PhilGARP is a voluntary program for GHG accounting and reporting. Those who participate in the program get assistance on how to come up with their company’s GHG inventory as well as training on GHG management using GHG Protocol standards and tools.
Jessie Sarmiento, head of Smart Network Logistics Operations - Administration and Materials Management Division, says that the company’s participation in PhilGARP has the support of top management.
Sarmiento came prepared for the workshop with data gathered with the help of employees from Smart’s General Services-Properties Facilities Management Department, Network Logistics Operations of AMMD, Systems Support Engineering of Network Services Division and Fixed Asset Finance Group.
Currently, the main sources of GHG emission at Smart are activities that require electric power and the operation of company-paid vehicles, he says.
“It makes business sense to know where you are in terms of your GHG emissions especially for companies who claim that they are environmentally friendly or those moving in that direction,” says Atty. Angela Consuelo Ibay, program manager at the Klima Climate Change Center of the Manila Observatory (Klima–MO), the designated secretariat of the program.
“PhilGARP is not a venue to make judgments about the company in terms of its level of GHG emission. What we hope to achieve is for the company to say ‘this is where we are and from here our goal is to reduce emissions,” adds Ibay.
Mila Antofina, project manager of PhilGARP-PBE, says that the GHG report can ”help companies like Smart in addressing climate change and global warming.”
Already, Smart is initiating pro-environment in-house measures like the installation of fuel catalysts in generator sets supplying power to some 600 cell sites in remote locations nationwide. With the fuel treatment units, diesel consumption per generator set is reduced by 18 to 20 percent, with a corresponding decrease in carbon emission.
Sarmiento says that other measures include strict vehicle maintenance servicing at every 5,000-kilometer interval run, the scheduled replacement of forklifts from gas to electric and the prioritization of the use of E-10 on fleet vehicles where the fuel is available. The use of LPG gadgets is also currently under study, he adds.
Smart is also promoting simple but high-impact energy-efficiency measures like reducing the operating time of air-conditioning units, using electronic ballasts, turning off the coffee machine after office hours, asking employees to hibernate PCs during lunch, converting fluorescent lights, using LED lights, retiring inefficient air-con and other equipment and separating switches for cost-efficient lighting, says Melchor Astoveza, Properties Facilities Management Department senior manager.
Aside from Smart, the other companies in the pilot group were from the energy and power sector, manufacturing sector, industry estate and industry associations, NGO/Academe, service sector and utilities and service provider.
PhilGARP is expected to provide a platform for public reporting and information dissemination on GHG management issues. In the coming weeks, the business pilot group will have sectoral consultations with the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) on the inventory management plan and GHG inventories.
Program partners of PhilGARP include the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Department of Energy (DOE), WRI, WBCSD, PBE and the Klima–MO. The program is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Photo shows representatives of the 19 member companies of the Philippine Business for the Environment (PBE) that are participating in the Philippine Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting Program. With them are Atty. Angela Consuelo Ibay and Marina Mallare of the Klima Climate Change Center of the Manila Observatory.@