In its bid towards carbon neutrality, the leading mobility company and automotive manufacturer Toyota Motor Philippines Corp (TMP) has signed a retail supply contract (RSC) with a local supplier to provide green-backed electricity for its manufacturing operations. Such a move allows TMP to achieve 100% renewable energy (RE) ratio by supplying approximately 90% of the company’s total electricity requirement, complementing the rest of RE sourced onsite from an existing 1.46-megawatt rooftop solar power system.
Team (Philippines) Energy Corp—the retail electricity supplier—started supplying TMP last Dec. 26. Based on the RSC, every megawatt hour will be backed by an International Renewable Energy Certificate, or I-REC(E), which verifies its sourcing from a domestic RE plant.
“This energy transition will neutralize TMP’s Scope 2 Emissions, particularly the indirect carbon dioxide emissions from purchased electricity for manufacturing operations,” TMP president Atsuhiro Okamoto remarked.
“Such is a significant milestone for TMP and its mission to address climate change, making its automotive manufacturing plant in Santa Rosa City, Laguna the front-runner and early achiever of the 100% RE ratio target for Toyota in the Asean region.”
Until 2035, TMP is geared towards decarbonizing the rest of its energy sources for manufacturing, particularly for petrol-type generators, ovens, and boilers for painting processes.
In 2020, Global Toyota set its target for all its manufacturing plants to be carbon-neutral by 2035 under the company’s overall net zero commitment, better known as the Toyota Environmental Challenge (TEC) 2050.
Life cycle actions
In pursuing carbon neutrality, Toyota not only sets its eyes on expanding options of accessible electrified vehicles for diversified customers, but also on reducing the environmental impact of the automotive industry’s value chain through appropriate life cycle actions. Toyota actively engages its supply chain, logistics and dealer networks in decarbonization.
Doing their part in tackling the TEC 2050 in the Philippines, local Toyota suppliers and dealers have followed TMP’s lead and implemented energy efficiency and RE initiatives. To date, several companies also have undertaken to achieve 100% RE ratio, either by investing in onsite solar power facilities and/or procuring RE through the Philippine government’s Green Energy Option Program or GEOP. These companies include Denso Ten Philippines, Hino Motors Philippines, Denso Philippines, and International Wiring Systems Philippines for suppliers, as well as Toyota Global City, Toyota Mabolo City, and Toyota Pasong Tamo for dealers.
In terms of compliance with strict environmental standards, Toyota suppliers and all established Toyota dealers nationwide (including Lexus Manila) are certified under ISO 14001, as part of Toyota environmental management systems’ mandates, as expressed in the Toyota Green Purchasing Guidelines and Asia Pacific Eco-Dealership Program.
TMP is the distributor of Toyota and Lexus vehicles in the Philippines and the largest manufacturer of local models, presently the Vios and Innova. It is also spearheading its new completely knocked down (CKD) model, the forthcoming Toyota IMV 0 (Zero) or “Next Generation Tamaraw,” the prototypes of which were unveiled to the public in August 2023.