Unocal, Pelangi sign MoU on clean energy

JAKARTA: Unocal North Sumatra Geothermal Ltd agreed to let its geothermal power plant, Sarulla, in North Sumatra become a pilot project for generating electricity with low emissions in an agreement with Pelangi, a non governmental organization.

Last week's Memorandum of Understanding would turn Sarulla into a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project, a statement by Pelangi said on Tuesday.

As part of the Kyoto Protocol -- a convention to reduce emissions worldwide -- the CDM project tracks the amount of pollutants reduced compared to, if Sarulla had used coal instead of geothermal to generate electricity, said Olivia a spokesperson at Pelangi.

Sarulla's owners could convert the amount of reduced emission into credit points to sell them.

Buyers, Olivia said, would be developed countries under the Kyoto Protocol that could use the credit points to meet their emission reduction targets. --JP