Carlsbad, CA – Poseidon Resources Corporation today announced its voluntary commitment to render the proposed Carlsbad Desalination plant carbon neutral.  The Carlsbad facility – which will provide a reliable local supply of high-quality drinking water to over 300,000 San Diego area residents – is designed to minimize its environmental footprint through a number of industry-leading initiatives.

“Poseidon is proud to be the first major California infrastructure project to go carbon neutral.  Making this voluntary commitment is just one of the many ways in which we are going the extra mile to ensure the Carlsbad project is consistent with the state’s world-leading environmental ethic,” said Walter J. Winrow, President of Poseidon Resources Corporation.  “Everyone must do their part to address global warming trends and Poseidon Resources is determined to design its projects – including the Carlsbad Desalination facility – to be a part of the solution.”   

Poseidon is applying rigorous, internationally accepted protocols adopted by the state’s Climate Action Registry to measure the Carlsbad plant’s “carbon footprint” – the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air as a result of the plant’s operations, largely from the power generation sources that will supply electricity to the facility.  By producing potable water locally, Poseidon will replace significant amounts of water now pumped into the region from other parts of the state.  Nearly 20% of California’s total energy demand is from huge electric pumps used to move water around the state, with corresponding carbon emissions from energy sources needed to power those pumps. 

The Carlsbad Desalination Project is one element of a much broader regional strategy the San Diego County Water Authority (Authority) is pursuing to improve the diversity and reliability of the region’s water supply by reducing the dependence on imported water.  The implementation of the Authority’s Regional Water Supply Master Plan will result in an overall reduction in the total energy needed to acquire and treat water for the San Diego region – including the proposed desalination project – through the year 2020. 

Quantifying the ultimate carbon footprint of the Carlsbad plant, Poseidon will then finalize and implement a detailed Climate Action Plan to neutralize those emissions. 

“Poseidon’s voluntary commitment to make its Carlsbad project carbon neutral is exactly the kind of environmental leadership we need from companies doing business in California,” said Irene Stillings from the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE).  “I applaud their efforts to advance the state’s goals as embodied in AB32, California’s ground-breaking Global Warming Solutions Act.”           

From a portfolio of initiatives, including state-of-the-art efficiency measures, green-building design and solar panels, purchasing renewable energy credits and funding carbon offset projects to reduce carbon emissions from other sources, Poseidon will reduce the plant’s overall energy requirements and eliminate the Carlsbad facility’s carbon footprint. 

“Our Climate Action Plan will analyze every available and legitimate means of negating the carbon impacts from the Carlsbad facility,” said Mr. Winrow.  “We will then select the most cost-effective, verifiable path to getting us where we need to go.”

The Carlsbad Desalination project has undergone exhaustive environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act; the project’s final Environmental Impact Report was certified by the City of Carlsbad in June 2006.  It will be the subject of two upcoming hearings before state decision makers.  On October 30th of this year the project will be reviewed by the state Lands Commission, and on November 15th the California Coastal Commission will review the project.          

Poseidon Resources specializes in developing, financing and managing water infrastructure projects, primarily seawater desalination and water treatment plants.  These projects are implemented through innovative public-private partnerships in which private enterprise assumes development and financial risk for infrastructure projects that provide a public benefit. For more information on Poseidon Resources and the Carlsbad desalination plant visit our Carlsbad website at www.carlsbad-desal.com.  For information on the Huntington Beach project visit our Huntington Beach website at www.hbfreshwater.com.