"Solid Energy is committed to taking full responsibility for the greenhouse gas emissions in all our lignite developments," said general manager for "new energy", Brett Gamble.
"We have factored in the full cost of carbon into the life of each proposed lignite conversion project and we aim to deal with our carbon emissions through a range of approaches and technologies," he said in a statement.
Because it was likely to take a number of attempts to locate and prove up a suitable reservoir for carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the process of gasifying the lignite or producing diesel or urea, "the timeline for CCS is uncertain at this early stage".
Mr Gamble was commenting on a report released today by Dr Wright -- delayed from a planned release last month by the Pike River Coal disaster -- which said taxpayers should not underwrite the exploitation of the low-grade coal deposits.
The company said actual allocation of carbon credits which it received would depend on government policies at the time.
Solid Energy's proposed plant to convert the lignite to urea for use as fertiliser could lift the nation's earnings by up to $377 million, based on today's world urea price of $US265 a tonne, said Mr Gamble.
A "national discussion" should cover the regional and national economic, social and environmental issues about "unlocking" the value of the Southland lignite, which he saw as exceptionally important to the nation's economic wellbeing.
"The time to use it is fast approaching," said Mr Gamble. "In the next few years it is very likely that the international oil price will rise from around $US80 now to well over $US100 a barrel upwards to $US200, and keep rising."
Southland lignite could be an insurance policy for the transition from fossil fuels to sustainable renewable fuels and help the nation cope with oil, energy and commodity price shocks.
