Sustainability

Taranaki sun powering our solar panels

Thanks to some stunning New Plymouth sunshine, the solar panels at our Clarus Bell Block offices have been performing well since they were installed in June 2024. The panels are on the north facing roof of the Maintenance Building. On good days they have been generating more than half the power the office uses at peak times and even pushing some of the power they generate back into the grid.

The power generated provides significant environmental benefits like using less grid-imported power at Bell Block, reducing Co2 emissions. This supports our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programme to cut our greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2030 from 2019 levels.

They are proving efficient and cost effective to run. All the panels need to work well is a bit of sun, and a wash every six months or so to get any sea salt spray and bird droppings off their surfaces.

Every little bit helps on the journey to a lower emissions future. On a good day, these solar panels could even fully power the site – but that’s up to nature.

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.

At Clarus we access our emissions in accordance with ISO 14064-1:2018 Green House Gases to meet our commitments under the CLC Statement of Ambition. Clarus has committed to reducing Category 1-4 (Scopes 1,2 and part of 3) GHG emissions by 30% by 2030 – as measured from our baseline year of 2019. This equates to a total reduction of approximately 30,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions between 2019 and 2030.

Each year since 2019 we have measured our Category 1-6 (Scope 1-3) greenhouse gas emissions. That measurement allows us to better understand our business’ Category 1-6 emissions and to consider which of those areas have the biggest opportunities for reduction.

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.

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, reducing gas vented 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.

Leak detection vehicles helping to reduce emissions

In 2022 Clarus’ company Firstgas made improvements to our natural gas leak detection programme with the arrival of our methane (natural gas) leak detection vehicle, SELMA (Street Evaluating Laser Methane Assessment).

Our SELMA vehicles are helping us improve the safety and reliability of our natural gas pipeline distribution networks and respond to leaks quickly.

Data obtained is also utilised in our fugitive emission modelling and asset management planning.

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.

Our emissions profile

The following table sets out Clarus’s GHG emissions data in FY19 to FY23. The FY19 – 21 data has not been independently verified and the FY23 data is based on preliminary data sets only (anticipated to be verified later this year).

In FY22 Clarus commenced independent verification of our GHG emissions data. Accordingly, the FY22 data has been independently verified by Toitū Envirocare.

As shown in that table, Clarus’ total Category 1-6 GHG emissions decreased in 2023 by comparison to 2022¹.

As part of our ongoing work to reduce emissions, we continue to look to minimise our direct operational emissions (Category 1-4 emissions). The reduction in Category 1 emissions between 2022 and 2023 was primarily driven by a reduction in fuel gas used for compression and heating, plus reduced volumes of natural gas venting.

The increase in Category 2 emissions between 2022 and 2023 can be largely attributed to Clarus accounting for GHG emissions associated with ‘network line losses’ following the acquisition of Firstlight Network. Increased emissions associated with our imported LPG and subsequent international shipping movements is the main contributing factor for the increase in Category 3 & 4 emissions.

The emissions data below also shows an overall reduction in Clarus’s Category 6 (Scope 3) emissions between 2020 and 2023². This reduction has been driven by reduced natural gas demand from users and a 2023 change in emission factor applied to calculating GHG emissions associated with urea feedstocks. This emission factor change follows updates to the Ministry for the Environment emissions guidelines 2023.

GHG Protocol Scope	ISO Category	Emissions Activity	2019	2020	2021	2022*	2023**
1	Category 1	Direct GHG emissions	87,811	91,668	93,637	102,574	92,513
2	Category 2	Indirect GHG emissions - Imported energy + Electricity supply distribution losses (Firstlight Network)	414	194***	354	393	1,390
3	Category 3 & 4	Indirect GHG emissions - Transportation/product use	9,800	9,240	10,010	11,271	12,682
	Category 5	Indirect GHG emissions - Use of products from organisation: Rockgas (LPG Sales)	225,147	220,560	234,437	238,755	237,641
	Category 6	Indirect GHG emissions - Other sources: Firstgas - (Natural Gas Transmission)	8,816,421	9,476,349	8,482,150	7,981,349	6,805,657
	Total		9,139,593	9,798,010	8,820,588	8,334,342	7,149,883

* Verified Data – Toitū Envirocare

** 2023 data is based on preliminary data sets and has not yet been verified. This data is therefore subject to change. The preliminary data sets contain only 6 months of Firstlight Network data (1April – 30 September) as ownership transferred 1st April 2023.

*** There is likely to be under reporting in 2020 relative to FY19, FY21 and FY22 due to a data gap for Category 2 Indirect GHG emissions in 2020. This likely under reporting is due to only partial datasets for imported energy being able to be sourced from the relevant energy provider. Since 2020, processes for data collection have been enhanced to improve data collection for subsequent reporting periods.

2023 reduction subject to independent verification.

Category 6 (Scope 3 emissions) are significantly influenced by total gas volumes delivered to large industrial customers, which saw an increase in demand in 2020.