Sustainability Report 2012 • 29
One of our more innovative energy-saving and
recycling projects is the heat recovery system at Tai
Po, which collects the waste heat generated during
the production process. The heat is then used to
help warm the hot water boiler at our natural gas
receiving station. The system’s implementation
saved more than 37 terajoules in energy last year,
translating into the saving of 2,400 tonnes of
carbon emissions and around HK$6 million in fuel
costs. In 2012, these activities were extended yet
again to provide hot water in the showers at the
plant. This heat recovery process not only saves
energy and reduces emissions, but also helps
create cooler surroundings as well as improve air
quality.
The Carbon Reduction Project Competition which
was first held by our mainland businesses in 2010
has proven to be so successful that it has been held
on an annual basis since then. Now in its third year,
the competition received 25 submissions in 2012,
resulting in the saving of a further 3,000 tonnes of
carbon emissions a year. A total of 110 submissions
have been received under this initiative so far,
saving up to 26,000 tonnes of carbon emissions
annually. In addition to the cost-savings, this
translates into the CO
2
absorbed by 1,130,000 trees
every year.
Reducing Our Carbon Footprint
& Conserving Resources
Our Carbon Footprint
As one of Hong Kong’s first Carbon Audit,
Green Partners under the government’s Green
Hong Kong, Carbon Audit programme and a
key endorser of its Carbon Reduction Charter,
we completed our first carbon audit in 2008.
We also extended the practice to our mainland
businesses a year later in 2009. Carried out in line
with the government’s Guidelines to Account for
and Report on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and
Removal for Buildings in Hong Kong and The
Greenhouse Gas Protocol from theWorld Business
Council for Sustainable Development and the
World Resource Institute, and verified under ISO
14064-1 specifications, the audit has proven to be
invaluable. In addition to providing a baseline for
the calculation of carbon emissions resulting from
the gas production process, it has also enabled
the establishment of carbon inventory accounting
procedures. Since these initial exercises, carbon
inventory and accounting exercises are carried out
on an ongoing basis.
Carbon Intensity (
Hong Kong)
CO
2
emission per unit of town gas
The winning project in our mainland
Carbon Reduction Project Competition
in 2012 recommended the collection of
waste steam for use as heating in office
buildings. With an implementation cost
of just RMB400,000, this initiative will
save around RMB4 million in energy
costs every year.
