February 21, 2007—Global power company AES Corporation and GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of General Electric, have announced that they intend to create a partnership to develop greenhouse gas emission reduction projects in the US.
The partnership would seek to create an annual production volume of 10 million tonnes (metric tons) of greenhouse gas offsets by 2010, primarily through the reduction of emissions of methane—a greenhouse gas with a warming potential reportedly 21 times greater than carbon dioxide. Projects to capture and destroy methane emissions would include agricultural waste, landfills, coal mines, and wastewater treatment, the companies say.
In addition to methane-based projects, the partnership may also pursue development of offsets through energy efficiency projects and electricity generation from renewable sources. The partnership would sell offsets from these projects to commercial and industrial customers seeking to reduce the environmental impact of their operations or to provide climate-friendly products or services to their customers, say the companies.
The partnership would invest in projects using equipment from a variety of manufacturers, potentially including GE products certified by its ecomagination program. GE Energy Financial Services and AES say they are taking this step with an immediate focus on voluntary demand for greenhouse gas reductions but with an eye toward possible future mandatory emissions limits.
