Verve aims to be carbon neutral in 20 years

West Australian
Saturday 21/7/2007 Page: 14

One of WA's biggest polluters, Verve Energy, has set itself the ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral within 20 years as part of an expensive makeover which could see it shift focus to renewable power. In a move which highlights the way companies are getting on the front foot in the debate over greenhouse gas, Verve Energy said its zero-- emissions goal was an aspirational target that was likely to go beyond any future government-legislated targets. The plan would remove or offset the 11.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas which it emits a year - equivalent to taking 2.5 million cars off the road.

Verve spokesman Greg Denton said a major change was needed to meet community expectations and government targets, and it was confident its new direction would help it develop skills it could sell to other companies. "We are signalling to the world, this is where we are going to be putting our efforts, to be producing energy in an environmentally sustainable way," Mr Denton, Verve's general manager of trading and sustainable energy. said.

"Verve's energy role going forward as an electricity generator has changed. And over 20 years we want to be in the state where we are focused on zero-emissions technology." Mr Denton said it was possible that Verve's new vision could lead it to focus primarily on renewable energy sources but he claimed it would not necessarily turn its back on coal, which powers 65 per cent of its current electricity supply, because it expected major breakthroughs in clean coal technology. "I don't know what path we'll end up going down," he said. "What I do know is what path we are looking for.

It may be for us that we end up being a business that is focused on wind farms which uses existing technology and integrated wood processing. It might be that we become the worldwide expert in biodiesel electricity generation. "We are a commercial enterprise so we won't do anything that we can't make money out of. We've got the aspiration of being really good at zero-emissions technology. And in a world where zero emissions are valued, we think we can succeed in that space. " Verve has invested more than $100,000 on clean coal technology research and breakthroughs are expected in the next few decades. It has spent a further $100 million to reduce its emissions by upgrading plants.

It has also spent about $100 million in the past decade to develop renewable sources of power to offset 5 per cent of the 11.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases it emits each year. Mr Denton said future changes would be aimed at changing the way it produced electricity so that it emitted fewer greenhouse gases, rather than focusing on offsetting emissions from inefficient generators.