HONG KONG UTILITY TO CUT EMISSIONS

Some criticize CLP’s goals as less ambitious than the best European utilities but CLP's announced goals are entirely voluntary while EU utilities are bound by mandatory Kyoto-level cuts.

CLP has been a target of environmentalists at the Bali climate change summit. They criticize CLP for leaving the door open to larger total emissions by only promising a per-kilowatt-hour decrease. Advocates praise the company for moving faster than other Asian utilities and suggest it would better for the world if CLP produced China’s energy because it would likely be cleaner than China's coal.

Right now the cleanest big utilities use nuclear and natural gas. CLP will shift in that direction but will also develop “clean” coal. New Energy does not seem to be a significant part of their plans right now. That's a mistake.

Asian power giant plans carbon dioxide cut
December 7, 2007 (UPI)
and
A Leading Asian Utility to Cut Carbon Emissions
Keith Bradsher, December 7, 2007 (NY Times)

WHO
Asian utility giant CLP (Andrew Brandler, CEO)

CLP’s Castel Peak power station in Hong Kong. (photo courtesy of CLP Power - click to enlarge)

WHAT
CLP announced a new and specific commitment to emissions reductions in its electricity generation.

WHEN
On December 7, CLP specified a goal for 2010 and a longer range goal for 2050.

WHERE
CLP is based in Hong Kong and serves Asian markets. It has investments in mainland China, Thailand, Taiwan, India and Australia.

CLP’s Guangdong Daya Bay nuclear power station on the Chinese mainland. (photo courtesy of CLP Power - click to enlarge)

WHY
- CLP will step up its investments in nuclear power, natural gas, renewable energy and so-called clean coal technologies to cut its emissions.
- The company will cut emissions 4.8% per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated in through 2010. It expects this to lead to a total emissions reduction of 76% per kilowatt-hour of electricity by 2050. It is important to note that if the company’s total kilowatt-hours increase, its total emissions would not fall, just its per kilowatt-hours emissions.
- CLP now emits 1.85 pounds of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour of electricity. It will cut to 1.76 pounds in 2010, 1.54 pounds in 2020, 0.99 pound in 2035 and 0.44 pound in 2050. For comparison, China’s utilities emit 2.23 pounds per kilowatt-hour, US utilities emit 1.40 pounds and Japanese utilities emit 0.78 pound

QUOTES
Andrew Brandler,CLP: “We believe that if everyone takes an approach like this, the magnitude of global warming may be limited to approximately 2 degrees Celsius to 3 degrees Celsius so that the most catastrophic effects of climate change may be off…”