NDB Bank supports innovators to fight climate change

NDB Bank has embarked on a project to understand and manage the bank’s climate change impacts. 
As the first step, the bank signed an MoU with the verification body Sri Lanka Climate Fund (SLCF) to ascertain the bank’s carbon footprint, also known as GHG assessment.

As a responsible corporate citizen, National Development Bank PLC (NDB) is future-oriented with climate action being a key focus area. Working closely with industry experts such as the SLCF will help the bank to identify best practices for operating in the most sustainable and climate-friendly way possible, thereby adding value to the triple bottom line.

Further, promoting inventions that support climate action is a key CS Initiative of NDB Bank. The bank embarked on this initiative by engaging with the Sri Lanka Inventors Commission (SLIC), which introduced the inventors to the bank. 

Air pollution due to vehicle emission has emerged as a major environmental issue in the recent years and is also a major public health issue. Emission reduction is key element of climate action, with inventions and innovations playing a vital role in addressing this. Hence, it is vital that action is taken now and it is with this intention that the bank embarked on this initiative. The first recipient of a grant under this initiative is Sunil Perera, the inventor of the liquid fuel additive EMSOL (Emission Solution). Perera’s goal was to invent a product that can be used with all fossil fuels to enhance performance and reduce emission from combustion. As explained by the inventor, EMSOL has the best vehicle emission certificates for both petrol and diesel vehicles in Sri Lanka, with emission levels as low as 0.000 (carbon monoxide) and 0.00 (K factor), respectively as measured at licensed emission testing stations and EMSOL also increases fuel efficiency while improving engine performance and engine and lube oil life. 

Since there is complete combustion with EMSOL, it claims to extend the lube oil lifespan by 10-25 percent – therefore, the necessity to change oil decreases and the amount of lube oil discarded decreases, thereby preventing the pollution of ground water. 

Perera said that EMSOL also indirectly contributes to curtailing deforestation since it decreases the need for firewood to fuel industrial boilers.