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Since announcing its commitment to become carbon neutral last October, Alila Hotels and Resorts has achieved carbon neutrality for its head office in Singapore for the year 2008, after calculating its carbon footprint and offsetting its emissions with a cogeneration project in India.
In October 2008, Alila Hotels and Resorts commissioned The GreenAsia Group, a specialist in carbon management in Asia, to conduct a comprehensive greenhouse gas (GHG) assessment of its management operations based in Singapore. This was compiled by an international third party expert in GHG calculations.
Alila has taken this early initiative through recognition that carbon footprinting allows Asian companies to gain similar sustainable development benefits as their international counterparts. By conducting a GHG assessment, the company can establish accurate and reliable GHG emissions baselines (carbon footprints) associated with its organisational operations.
Said Mark Edleson, President and CEO of Alila Hotels and Resorts, “Becoming carbon neutral is a natural step in Alila’s longstanding commitment to minimise the environmental impact of our business. It also provides a sustainable business model which can be applied to all of our properties, strengthening Alila’s position as a leader in sustainable tourism.”
For the purpose of the GHG assessment, Alila set the organisational boundaries in consultation with The GreenAsia Group, in other words, the activities to be included in the assessment of Alila’s management team and operations, such as electricity consumption, the running of company owned vehicles, business travel, commuting, and waste disposal.
The data collection period used was 1st January to 15th October 2008, and it was established that the GHG emissions associated with the business activities of Alila’s management operations during 2008 were approximately 176 tonnes of CO2e. This amount was then offset with carbon credits purchased for a project registered under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
The chosen project in India, where both primary heat and auxiliary electricity are generated, was the Punjab Textile Industry Rice Husk Cogeneration project, which helps to reduce reliance on fossil fuels at textile mills in India by using biomass waste to generate steam power and electricity. It was the first project of its kind in Punjab state to use rice husks to provide a dual energy source. At the same time, the project provides additional income for local farmers, as currently rice husks are produced in large quantities by local farmers, and are traditionally burned in the field.
This project makes use of a local resource to fire the textile mill’s boiler and produce steam to run the mill’s operations. By installing a cogeneration system, this steam also runs a turbine that generates electricity. As a result, the textile mill has been able to eliminate the use of fossil fuels and imported electricity to power its operations, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by thousands of tonnes of CO2 per year.
Following the assessment results, The GreenAsia Group met with Alila management staff to present a reductions handbook and conduct in-house training to enable them to meet their own 2009 reduction objectives in readiness for their 2009 assessment. With the committed involvement of all members of staff, it is expected that a reduction of around 10% of total electricity consumption can be achieved through the implementation of staff awareness schemes.
The carbon neutral certificate, along with The GreenAsia Group’s Carbon Neutral chop, was presented by Bradley T Gardner, founder of The GreenAsia Group, to Mark Edleson on 27th April 2009.
Bradley Gardner said, “I am proud of the decisions made by the Alila management team here in Singapore to look at the emissions they create at their offices. To take this initiative shows an understanding of the seriousness of climate change and the necessity to position themselves to act and be part of the solution.”
The GreenAsia Group is currently reviewing Alila’s operations at several of its resorts, to enable Alila to honour its commitment to go carbon neutral, first through its head office and then throughout all of its properties in Asia.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
