Marlborough Lines' commitment to environmental matters is well documented, though perhaps not well understood in the wider community. It encompasses a variety of issues that range from reducing noise emissions and the risk of chemical spillage, to considering the number of air miles accrued to transport imported machinery and components, to being selective about the ethics of our suppliers.
Environmental Planning at Work
In last year's annual report we noted that we were quietly winning over our neighbours with upgrades to our suburban zone (11/33kV) substations. This involves modern buildings, extensive landscaping and replacing old outdoor structures with zero noise transformers. During the past year we have taken this initiative to a new level by completing the Springlands 33 to 11kV substation. To all intents and purposes – from the street – the building looks like a modern three bedroom residence, complete with garage.
Recently, the Company successfully completed a planning approval process with the Marlborough District Council to provide for a new zone substation in an existing residential area. We were required to participate in a planning hearing in order to gain consent. We put forward a strong case that included scientific evidence to prove that electro magnetic fields in the general area would be reduced following the establishment of a substation with surrounding underground reticulation, than they were with high voltage overhead lines. As with the previous zone substation conversions – in addition to safety features and environmental design aimed at containing any spillage – the substations will produce zero noise emissions when fully operative.
Our involvement with trials to find suitable Eucalypt hardwood which can be sustainably grown in Marlborough is detailed in the Case Study – Timber Supply. In the meantime , the Company intends to undertake a large scale planting of Eucalypts on our own land in order to bring forward possible timber production for use as power pole cross-arms – with the added benefit of creating further carbon offsets.
How do we impact the planet?
In March 2008 Marlborough Lines completed an assessment of its carbon footprint for the year to 31 March 2008. The following is an outline of the process, which we believe is the first such assessment to be undertaken by any electricity network in New Zealand.
In the assessment the following parameters were considered:
- Which assessment process to adopt. In this case the Company undertook the initial assessment to the standard outlined by the World Resources Institute/World Business Council for Sustainable Development, GHG Protocol. Future use of the ISO 14064-1 standard is likely.
- The appointment of an independent verification consultant. This is required for the independent assessment of the Company's greenhouse gas emissions and offsets. For this assessment we utilised the services of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
- A precise definition of the Company's organisational boundaries. For the purposes of this exercise the study considered only the emissions of the Parent company, Marlborough Lines Ltd and its activities in the Marlborough region. Having established a benchmark it will be relatively simple when the next inventory is undertaken to extend the study to include (on an equity share basis) emissions arising from Nelson Electricity, the OtagoNet Joint Venture and any other significant investments.
- The operational boundaries for the assessment. These need to be defined in terms of:
- Emissions covered by the Kyoto Protocol, originating from sources that are owned or controlled by the Company, eg combustions of fuels.
- Emissions originating from the generation of electricity that is purchased and/or consumed by the Company. The emissions physically occur at the generation source.
- Emissions that are a result of the operations of the Company but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the Company, ie external contractors.
In Marlborough Lines' case the following table outlines the emission type and the quantity in Kgs produced from the various scopes.
| Scope 1 – Emissions | Kgs of CO2 |
|---|---|
| Fuel/Diesel Usage | 563,819 |
| Fugitive Remissions (SF6 Gas) | 50,124 |
| Scope 2 – Emissions | |
| Electricity Usage | 75,485 |
| Distribution Losses | 3,308,016 |
| Scope 3 – Emissions | |
| Transmission Losses | 78,128 |
| Contractor Vehicle Usage | 411,492 |
| Waste to Landfill | 71,216 |
| Business Air Travel | 30,391 |
| Water Taxi Hire | 12,287 |
| Helicopter Usage | 17,088 |
Collectively, these three tables represent total emissions of 4,618 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The total value of emissions should be balanced against carbon offsets available from forests or bush clad land owned by Marlborough Lines. Currently we own both a 280 hectare farm in Southern Marlborough (Valhalla) and a 240 hectare block of native forest in the lower Clarence Valley, also in Southern Marlborough.
The combined value of the carbon offsets from these properties is held to be 1,926 tonnes of CO2. Thus, in purely technical terms, the Company can be said to have net annual carbon emissions of around 2,700 tonnes.
Given that transmission and distribution losses amount to 3,386 tonnes and that it is not possible to significantly reduce these losses on an economic basis, the Company can reasonably claim to generate carbon offsets greater than the total of the direct carbon emissions the Company produces.
With respect to transmission and distribution line losses, most of the electricity consumed in the South Island of New Zealand originates from (emission free) hydro generation. While it is possible that thermal generation from the North Island would find its way across the inter-island link at certain times of the year, it is highly unlikely in engineering terms that it would be transported all the way back up the South Island from Benmore (the inter-island link termination point) for consumption in Marlborough.
There is consequently a strong case to conclude that no carbon emissions are associated with the transmission and distribution losses on the Marlborough Lines distribution system.
We are currently moving to increase the proportion of diesel vehicles in our fleet and to increase carbon offsets through the acquisition of further land for tree growing/cross-arm timber production on a sustainable basis see Case Study – Timber Supply.
