Smart gets into 'green mission'

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net MOBILE communications firm Smart Communications recently joined the Philippine Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting Program (PHILGARP) in an effort to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases among large companies in the Philippines. Smart will be among the 19 members of the Philippine Business for the Environment (PBE) that will join PHILGARP, which is a voluntary program for greenhouse accounting and reporting, as well as resource management and greenhouse gases protocol standards. During a recent PHILGARP workshop, Smart Network Logistics Operations-Administration and Materials Management Division Head Jessie Sarmiento showed data 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. Sarmiento’s data showed that Smart’s main sources of greenhouse gas emissions are activities that require electric power and the operation of company-paid vehicles, he said. The company is already initiating pro-environment in-house measures like the installation of fuel catalysts in generator sets supplying power to some 600 cell sites nationwide. These fuel catalysts are expected to reduce diesel consumption by 18 to 20 percent, with a corresponding decrease in carbon emission. Sarmiento added 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 alternative unleaded gas on fleet vehicles where it is available. The company’s use of liquefied petroleum gas devices is also currently under study. In its corporate offices, Smart is also promoting energy-efficiency programs 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-conditioning units and other equipment and separating switches for cost-efficient lighting. PhilGARP aims to provide a platform for public reporting and information dissemination on greenhouse gas emission management issues. In the coming weeks, companies in the pilot group will have consultations with the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) on the inventory management plan and GHG inventories. Among the agency partners for PHILGARP are Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Energy, WRI, WBCSD, PBE and its secretariat the Klima Climate Change Center of the Manila Observatory. It is also supported by the United States Agency for International Development.