The European Biogas Association (EBA), together with the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition), met with Pankaj Bhatia, Global Director of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol at World Resources Institute (WRI) to discuss the growing production and use of biomethane in Europe and North America and explore possibilities for future collaboration to facilitate the accounting and reporting of biomethane certificates under the GHG Protocol.
Jointly created by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the GHG Protocol provides a framework for companies to measure their greenhouse (GHG) emissions and report on their decarbonization targets.
It has become one of the most widely used frameworks worldwide with more than 2,100 large companies in Europe using it.
Yet, the GHG Protocol still does not have accounting rules for biomethane certificates, which contain the certified GHG emissions of the consumption of biomethane (aka renewable natural gas – RNG) and represent the predominant way in which biomethane is purchased.
Recognition of sustainable biomethane (RNG) certificates will be key in delivering the sustainable scale-up of the sector to reach the35 bcm biomethane production targetin Europe by 2030.
The meeting, which took place during New York Climate Week, was an opportunity for leaders of the biogases value chain and the World Resource Institute to discuss the process to include the treatment of biomethane certificates under the GHG Protocol.
Looking back at the good cooperation and constructive exchanges, we continue to work with the World Resource Institute to facilitate the uptake of biomethane within the GHG Protocol. GHG emissions reporting frameworks can support the EU’s efforts to reach 35 bcm of sustainable biomethane production by 2030, by enabling corporate end-users to report on their biomethane purchases and to measure its climate benefits on their activities, commented Harmen Dekker, CEO of EBA.
Develop new RNG certificate accounting rules
They agreed on the urgency to define a reliable and solid methodology for biomethane certificates, as more and more companies using the GHG Protocol framework look to biomethane to decarbonize their activities.
They decided to leverage their organizations’ expertise to speed up the process of developing new rules for the accounting of biomethane certificates, such as EU Proofs of sustainability, in the GHG inventory of companies.
EBA, along with RNG Coalition, committed to providing in the coming months expertise to the World Resource Institute (WRI) concerning the certification and documentation of biomethane in the European Union and North America.
They specifically agreed on plans for a workshop in 2024.
Our engagement with the World Resource Institute continues to be constructive. A market-based approach to environmental attributes is a proven catalyst for growth and ensures renewable gases contribute positively to our clean energy present and future, said David Cox, Co-Founder and CFO at RNG Coalition.
By providing reliable proof of the renewability and sustainability of purchased biomethane volumes, biomethane certificates are a foundation of the growing biomethane market.
They create value for producers who inject biomethane into existing gas grids and offer an affordable opportunity for end-users to decarbonize their processes.
Today’s meeting was a productive and positive conversation between WRI, EBA, and RNG Coalition. I confirmed that WRI plans to remove the biomethane annex from the final Land Sector and Removals Guidance in order to allow for a full exploration of these options and issues and that we are committed to working with them to ensure that existing best practices are incorporated in any future guidance on GHG Protocol so that renewable gas transactions are carried out with the highest level of integrity and confidence, said Pankaj Bhatia, Global Director of GHG Protocol at World Resources Institute.
