More than 50 biogas groups write to Greenhouse Gas Protocol administrator regarding biomethane certificates

In the UK, over 50 biogas and biomethane trade associations and companies from around the world have written to the World Resources Institute (WRI), administrator of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, calling for a rethink of its position on the use of biomethane certificates for greenhouse gas reporting by corporate gas users.

The GHG Protocol is globally recognised as the leading GHG accounting standard. Until recently, corporates wanting to decarbonise their emissions purchased biomethane certificates and reported this as part of their Scope 1 emissions accounting. This led to investment in new biomethane production infrastructure, which the world critically needs to cut methane emissions from organic wastes and generate green gas, biofertilisers and bioCO2, but this will no longer be possible under the proposed new guidance.

In their letter to Pankaj Bhatia, Global Director of the GHG Protocol at WRI, the World Biogas Association is joined by national trade bodies from across Europe, North and Latin America, Africa and Oceania, as well as stakeholders including major operators such as TotalEnergies, Nature Energy, Clarke Energy and Engie to express their concern about the impact of the proposed new “Land Sector and Removals Guidance” on the production of biomethane.

In particular, the signatories ask for the removal of Annex B of the guidance and for the reinstatement of the previous guidance allowing companies to purchase biomethane certificates as part of their Scope 1 reporting (4). The new guidance requires physical delivery of biomethane to corporate consumers via dedicated pipelines or road transport, rather than via existing gas grids, which is logistically and commercially unviable, and will lead to increased emissions.