The Philippines on Friday formalized its commitment to help industries implement energy efficiency and conservation measures, with the launch of the Asean Energy Management Scheme (AEMAS) in the country.
“Energy efficiency and conservation is a solution that is within our province and it assumes special significance due to the limited sources of energy in our country and our heavy dependence on imports for this purpose. AEMAS will become especially important as it will become instrumental in assisting energy intensive industries [make] optimum use of available resources,” said Energy Undersecretary Loreta G. Ayson.
Ayson stressed in her speech Friday at the New World Hotel in Makati City that the AEMAS launch underscored the importance of energy conservation as a national cause.
“Making the Philippines an energy efficient and sustainable economy will entail great undertakings. We have to continually increase public awareness as a matter of primary importance and for industry leaders and decision makers to implement programs and policies which will facilitate us in achieving a greener future,” she said during the launch.
According to Ayson, once AEMAS is fully implemented among Asean countries, it will generate energy savings of about 200,000 megawatt-hours yearly, corresponding to an annual greenhouse gas emission reduction of 110,000 tons.
Funded by the European Union under the Switch-Asia Program, the AEMAS is currently being implemented by the Asean Center for Energy in eight Asean member states, namely, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
In the Philippines, around 500 energy managers are expected to be trained to implement the AEMAS in their respective companies over the next four years. San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp., Texas Instruments (Philippines) Inc. and Toshiba Information Equipment (Philippines) Inc. were the first three companies to have AEMAS-certified energy managers.
“It is envisioned that after the project is finished, Philippine companies will continue to implement AEMAS Energy Management Gold Standard with the valuable support of the DOE,” the DOE said.
The DOE has been pushing for the implementation of energy efficiency and conservation measures as these will significantly reduce energy consumption amid the country’s tight power supply. Amy R. Remo