Campaign to focus on car aircon refrigerants
By MARVYN N. BENANING
August 31, 2010, 6:15pm
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will be running after vehicles that use ozone-depleting refrigerants starting this month.
To show just how serious the department is, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said all DENR vehicles will be checked to determine if they still use substances that ruin the ozone layer and contribute to global warming.
September is celebrated as the Ozone Month, with all countries mounting campaigns to mitigate climate change.
Overall, the Philippines contributes less than one percent to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), long tagged as the culprit behind the El Niño and La Niña weather phenomena.
Celebrations will kick off this Wednesday, September 1, with Paje leading DENR officials and those from partner agencies in having their service vehicles’ mobile air-conditioners (MAC) tested for ozone-and climate-friendliness.
The tests will be conducted by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) at the DENR compound in Quezon City.
Paje has committed to reduce pollution levels in the metropolis by 30 percent this year, noting that it can be done since 80 percent of GHG emissions come from ancient motor vehicles.
“Fighting air pollution will simultaneously improve our people’s health and reduce global warming,” he said. “Let us show to the world how Filipinos are taking concrete steps to address the issues of global warming and climate change.”
All car owners are likewise urged to have their own vehicles’ MACs tested for free at the DENR grounds on September 1, or during the simultaneous nationwide roadside MAC testing on September 16.
As signatory to the Kyoto and Montreal Protocols, international treaties which both aim to reduce GHGs in the atmosphere to slash global warming, government has required owners of vehicles with models prior to 1999 to use environment-friendly refrigerants in their MACs before renewing their annual registration.
EMB Director Juan Miguel Cuna said MAC servicing is the largest consumer of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a GHG believed to be harmful to the ozone layer.
MAC servicing consumes as much as 933 tons of ozone depleting potential (ODP).
“Using ozone-friendly MACs will definitely reduce the amount of CFC released into the atmosphere,” he said.
The EMB’s Philippine Ozone Desk will also sign on the same day a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) for the printing of commemorative stamps depicting the 25th anniversary of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer
.Around 49,000 stamps are set to be issued in the last quarter this year.
On September 13, the DENR will sign a contract with Delsa Chemicals and Multi-Products, Inc. as the former launches the “Collection, Transport and Storage of Recovered Refrigerants from Service Shop Voucher Grantees and Chiller Owners under the National CFC Phase-out Plan (NCPP) Project.”
Under the contract, Delsa Chemicals will undertake the collection, transport and storage of refrigerants recovered from machines provided in 2007 by the NCPP’s voucher system to over 2,500 service shops.
With the celebration of International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer on September 16, an Annual Forum on the Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) Phase-out Program will gather representatives of partner agencies, dealers and importers to discuss the status of ODS in the country.
This year’s theme is “Ozone Layer Protection: Governance and Compliance at their Best.”
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