Sustainability

We’re using our collective knowledge and experience to advocate for industry and lead conversations about its future – New Zealand’s energy future – by actively researching, innovating and investing our way to net zero carbon by 2050.

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Scenic view of Taranaki

Climate Leaders Coalition member

Clarus is a member of the Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) of New Zealand and we are one of many organisations around the country who have committed to taking voluntary action on climate change.

Clarus is committed to reducing our emissions by at least 30 percent by 2030. Each year we measure our greenhouse gas emissions to ensure we are aligning with the CLC Statement of Ambition and our commitments to our emissions reduction targets. 

Measuring and understanding our emissions is important to understand not only what they are, but also which parts of our business we can tackle to provide the biggest reduction contribution for New Zealand. 

We’re continuously striving to improve our systems to better understand our emissions profile and to ensure our emissions reduction planning and strategic investments make a long-term difference.

Outside Zevac for web

ZEVAC technology reducing our carbon footprint

Our Firstgas Transmission team acquired a ZEVAC (Zero Emissions Vacuum Compressors) Compressor in early 2023. It’s an air powered vacuum that captures gas, compresses it and then sends it back into the pipeline, avoiding venting gas into the atmosphere. We expect the ZEVAC to save up to 35 tonnes of carbon emissions each year within our planned maintenance work.  

Firstgas already owns a smaller ZEVAC compressor that has been used by our gas distribution team since mid-2022. However, this new ZEVAC unit is capable of dealing with much higher pressures and gas volumes experienced in the transmission system.

SELMA vehicle

Leak detection vehicles helping to reduce emissions

In 2022 Clarus' company Firstgas made improvements to our leak detection system with the arrival of our leak detection vehicle, SELMA (Street Evaluating Laser Methane Assessment).

This vehicle is helping us improve the safety and reliability of our pipeline distribution networks and respond to leaks quickly, which lowers our emissions at the same time.

We recently added a second SELMA vehicle to our fleet in 2023 and are also collaborating with Powerco and Vector to share knowledge about this technology, as we work together towards a sustainable energy future.

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Our emissions profile

Our combined Category 1-4 emissions increased in 2022, which can be mainly attributed to emergency repairs on the Maui Pipeline. We also improved reporting across the business, which has given us a more accurate picture of our total emissions. We reported a significant decrease in Scope 3 (Category 5-6) emissions, which stems from a decline in the demand for natural gas. 

We continue to look at everything we can do to minimise our operational emissions and eliminate them where possible. We have several initiatives underway that will reduce our direct emissions intensity over the next 2-3 years while also investing in renewable gas alternatives to support New Zealand’s target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. 

 

Reporting Period2019 (Revised baseline)202020212022
Combined Category 1-4
Target (reduction from baseline year) 30% by 2030.		98,024 TCO2-e101,103 TCO2-e104,001 TCO2-e114,237.39 TCO2-e
Total category 1-69,139,592 TCO2-e9,798,010 TCO2-e 8,820,588 TCO2-e8,334,341.12 TCO2-e