Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. on Wednesday urged government agencies to put in place power conservation measures and cut down fuel consumption of government vehicles in the wake of rising petroleum prices brought about by the political uncertainties in oil-producing countries in the Middle East.
According to Ochoa, this is in line with the Government Energy Management Program (GEMP) under Administrative Order No. 110, which calls on government personnel to observe energy efficiency in their offices.
“Public servants must lead by example in the general campaign for energy efficiency and conservation. This is a proactive response of the government to cushion the adverse effects from such price increases,” the Executive Secretary said.
To ensure compliance of government agencies, Ochoa ordered Herminio Alcasid Sr., chairman of the Energy Audit Team, to submit to the Office of the President a summary accomplishment report to date and a plan of action detailing improvements or amendments to the existing GEMP framework.
At the same time, the Executive Secretary appealed to the public to help in the campaign to save and conserve energy, saying, “Energy efficiency is the shared responsibility of every citizen, and when everyone does their part to conserve fuel and electricity, all of us benefit.”
“A collective response is necessary to address a national issue like energy efficiency. All of us have to do the little things to conserve electricity and fuel because when you combine all these small initiatives––like turning off lights when not in use or carpooling––these will impact significantly on energy consumption,” Ochoa said.
A good start, he said, is taking part in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) “Bright Now! Do Right. Be Right.” campaign, which promotes awareness and people’s participation in energy utilization management and conservation.
The DOE campaign provides the public measures that will cut down fuel consumption like carpooling, ensuring correct tire pressure at all times, clustering of destination, avoiding idling of vehicles and avoiding abrupt acceleration of vehicles.
According to the energy department, carpooling at least once a week will save a vehicle owner at least P320 per month, which be used to pay for the car’s tune-up every three months, while correct tire pressure translates to five to 10 percent savings on daily gas consumption, or around P164 per month which can buy a whole chicken or four kilos of rice.
Clustering of destination to maximize the use of the vehicle could save money and time as well. The DOE said that for every liter of fuel saved from traveling is equivalent to P6, which can be used to buy cell phone load.
For every hour a vehicle is idle leads to an additional consumption of two liters of fuel consumption, according to DOE’s computation. A liter of fuel saved is equivalent to two dozens of pandesal, so the agency advised public to turn off their vehicle if it is going to be idle for more than three minutes.
The DOE also explained said that a liter of fuel could go a kilometer farther if a vehicle will not be abruptly accelerated right after its activation. This means a P7-saving on fuel consumption per day, which could provide for the daily multivitamin supply of the car owner.
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