Tricorona Concludes Climate Agreement in Ecuador with PETROAMAZONAS EP

STOCKHOLM, June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Swedish company Tricorona has launched a partnership in Ecuador to boost energy efficiency and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. According to an agreement signed today by Tricorona and PETROAMAZONAS EP in Quito, Tricorona will help finance initiatives in Ecuador to reduce emissions equivalent to approximately 1,000,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, roughly equivalent to the annual emissions from a quarter million cars.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100602/393068 )

"The collaboration with Tricorona is an important stage in Ecuador's development towards a more energy efficient and carbon efficient society," says Ecuador's Minister of Petroleum and Mining Wilson Pastor.

The agreement involves the installation of latest technology provided by Finnish power solutions company Wartsila to improve energy efficiency in oil production operations being carried out by the state owned company PETROAMAZONAS EP. A considerable amount of associated gas is released during the oil extraction process, which is currently either vented or flared, resulting in high emissions of methane and carbon dioxide. The new technique enables the gas to be used for electricity production, which will replace electricity that is currently being produced with crude oil and or diesel.

"Tricorona focuses on developing renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and this is an excellent opportunity to significantly reduce Ecuador's emissions," says Tricorona's Managing Director Moe Moe Oo.

"Carbon financing within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol's CDM system will enable us partner up with Ecuador to make use of energy that would otherwise be wasted, while drastically reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Replacing electricity that was previously produced with crude oil and or diesel with electricity generated from waste energy will also improve the local environment," says Marco Berggren, Head of Tech Transfer at Tricorona.

CDM stands for Clean Development Mechanism; a system included in the Kyoto Protocol that, for example, aims to enable emission reductions that are as cost-effective as possible. The project in Ecuador is expected to reduce emissions corresponding to 475,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide by the year 2012. Emissions are expected to be reduced by 1,000,000 tonnes over the next ten years.

SOURCE Tricorona AB