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| Case studies |
| Sasol New Energy: building on a history of innovation |
| Recognised for our sustainable development reporting and performance |
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Responding to the climate change challenge |
| By its nature the coal-to-liquids process
upon which Sasol’s success has been built is
a significant contributor of greenhouse gases.
We are fully aware of the desire of policymakers
around the world to encourage
a shift to a low-carbon future, and we
understand the immense pressure that we
will be facing to adapt to this future. We
also recognise, however, that we need
to maintain a strong balance sheet to
survive the current financial situation and
to address other pressing socioeconomic
and environmental concerns. The challenge
of balancing immediate energy security
needs with the desire to move to a
low-carbon future is profound. We are
committed to using our proven skills –
particularly in technology innovation
and commercialisation – to contribute
to finding solutions to this challenge. |
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Ambitious targets guide our
strategic response |
We have developed a comprehensive
climate change response strategy and have
adopted ambitious emission reduction
targets. Accountability for the strategy
rests with the group executive SH&E
committee chaired by the chief executive,
while execution of the strategy lies with
the various business units. During the year additional governance structures have
been developed to address greenhouse gas
challenges facing the group. The greenhouse
gas management committee have met every
quarter for the past three years to discuss
strategic greenhouse gas issues. The members
are also mandated to take decisions on
behalf of the group.
A carbon credit management committee has
been operational since 2008 that functions
as a sub-committee of the greenhouse
gas management committee and governs
the group carbon portfolio. A climate change
task team has recently been constituted by
the group executive committee to assess,
evaluate and make recommendations on
pressing climate change related matters.
Reducing GHG emissions forms part of
the risk profile of all new projects exceeding
R150 million and thus influences the final
investment decision on these major projects.
A carbon calculator has been in use for two
years to assess the GHG footprint of all new
projects to enable project teams to assess
the cost of carbon, with the aim of factoring
this cost into the overall project cost. The
calculator was recently updated to not
only use current carbon prices associated
with clean development mechanism (CDM)
certified emission reductions (CERs) and
the emissions trading system (ETS), but also to test the sensitivity of projects against
higher carbon prices in the future. |
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| "We recognise that without achieving substantial reductions in greenhouse emissions, our coal-to-liquids (CTL) technology, as well as other key elements of our longer-term growth plans, are unlikely to be socially, financially or environmentally acceptable in the medium to long term." |
| Pat Davies |
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Additional information on the
approaches we are taking to meet
our GHG reduction targets is
provided in our online sustainable
development report, along with
a Q&A on climate change with
Sasol’s corporate environmental
manager, and a comprehensive
review of the potential risks and opportunities of climate change for our business. |
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In December 2008, the GEC approved a
revised GHG policy and environmental
roadmap for the next decade, and also
agreed to a new set of GHG targets. In
terms of these targets, we have committed
to reducing the GHG emissions intensity
of all our operations by 15% by 2020 on a
2005 baseline, and to reducing our absolute
GHG emissions by 20% for all new CTL
plants commissioned before 2020, and by
30% for plants commissioned before 2030
(with the average 2005 CTL design as the
baseline).
We will strive to meet these targets in many
ways, including by: |
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promoting energy efficiency measures
in our existing plants and processes; |
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developing and implementing new energy
and carbon-efficient technologies and
processes, primarily through the recently
established Sasol New Energy; |
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investigating opportunities for carbon
capture and storage as part of the planned
international expansion of our CTL
interests; |
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actively pursuing mitigation-related
financial instruments such as the CDM; |
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working with governments and other
stakeholders in the countries where
we operate to achieve optimum GHG
management solutions; and |
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engaging our employees on climate
change. |
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As part of the process of annual monitoring
and tracking performance against our targets
we forecast our emissions to 2050. We
will be reviewing our long-term absolute
GHG emission ambitions on a regular
basis, taking note of developments in the
global climate change policy arena, as
well as technological advances relating to
renewable energy and carbon capture and
storage. Progress in meeting our targets is monitored and reported internally on a
quarterly basis, both through written board
submissions and face-to-face meetings of
the Sasol group executive SH&E committee.
Performance against these targets and our
related energy efficiency commitments form
part of a broader suite of environmental
performance measures by which personal
performance is assessed, annual salary
adjustments are made and specific incentive
bonuses are based on. The weightings of
these different components vary and are
dependent on the level of influence of each
individual.
We have been reporting externally on
our GHG emissions since 1996 through our
integrated annual reports and, more recently,
through our participation in the Carbon
Disclosure Project. We place our GHG
emissions figures in context by comparing
our performance with that of our peers,
as well as with the overall South African
emission levels (View table). |
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Achieving improvements in our GHG
emissions intensity |
 Our absolute emissions of greenhouse gases
globally (measured in CO2 equivalent), have
increased from 71,3 million tons (MT) in
2009 to 74,9 Mt in 2010. This figure has
been determined using the greenhouse gas
reporting protocol of the World Business
Council for Sustainable Development and
the World Resources Institute. This figure
includes the direct emissions associated
with our processes including emissions
arising from our own tanker fleets (Scope 1
emissions), the indirect emissions associated
with our electricity imports (Scope 2), as
well as the emissions associated with the
transportation of goods and services to
and from most of our operations (partial
Scope 3). For joint venture projects over
which we have operational control, we have
included 100% of the GHG emissions, even
though we may only have part ownership
of the joint venture. Our direct and indirect emissions levels have been independently
verified by an external assurance provider.
The increase in emissions this year was
accompanied by a significant increase in
production levels, at Sasol Synfuels, Sasol
Polymers and Sasol Synfuels International.
Our emissions intensity for 2010 (measured
as carbon dioxide equivalent per ton
of production) was 3,05; this compares
with 3,24 in 2009 and 3,02 in 2008. The
improvement in our GHG intensity is
primarily due to the increased production
this year at our Oryx GTL operation, which
has a lower carbon-intensity. We anticipate
further emissions-intensity improvements
following the commissioning of the Secunda
gas turbine project from June 2010.
Quantitative data on the GHG emissions
at each of Sasol's separate business units is
provided in our integrated annual review.
A high-level summary of these emissions is
provided in the table below. |
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Sasol GHG emissions |
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Scope 1 emissions
(kilotons CO2e) |
Scope 2 emissions
(kilotons CO2e) |
Country |
2009 |
2010 |
2009 |
2010 |
| South Africa |
60 046 |
61 173 |
9 409 |
9 690 |
| Germany |
512 |
538 |
142 |
136 |
| USA |
673 |
854 |
155 |
236 |
| Others (Oryx GTL included 2010) |
536 |
1 596 |
34 |
753 |
| Total Sasol |
61 768 |
64 161 |
9 739 |
10 815 |
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Reducing greenhouse gas emissions forms an important part of new projects and influences final investment decisions.