Biogas certificate review raises concerns in Brazil

Biomethane consumers and producers in Brazil are concerned about revisions to the process to recognize energy attribute certificates across different sectors, including biomethane.

The revisions are being made by the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, an organization run by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, which sets out a voluntary framework for reporting emissions associated with energy consumption.

After GHG Protocol launched a consultation to update some of its guidance for its standards to emit renewable energy certificates (RECs), biogas market participants in Brazil complained that the new GHG Protocol draft proposal did not accept biomethane certificates for book and claim operations through pipelines — in which customers can claim an amount of renewable energy through certificates. Instead, it only allows physical deliveries to factories to count towards net neutrality goals.

After receiving criticism from the World Biogas Association (WBA) and many of its members, the proposal is being reviewed by GHGP committees and a new draft should be ready by the end of 2023. Brazilian biogas producers' association Abiogas, one of WBA's members, argued that book and claim operations are accepted in other sectors, such as electricity, where it is possible to compensate emissions through certificates such as I-RECs.

"We want to take a unified approach [regarding energy attribute certificates] across the board for everything: steel, aluminum, aviation fuel, freight, electricity, etcetera," GHGP's senior associate David Rich said. The larger review should take one to two years, according to Rich.

GHG Protocol was not trying to target the biomethane sector with the proposed change and sees this as a general issue, Rich said. The organization claims that the new approach to certification will be based on scientific guidelines that accurately represent the impact of buying a certificate, as opposed to directly reducing emissions.

The threat of not being able to sell biomethane to companies looking for net-zero recognition worried Brazilian biogas market participants. Brazil's biogas sector is in the early phases of development and many producers are trying to launch their own certificates.

"It is a new, still-developing market," Abiogas vice president Gabriel Kropsch said. "The most important thing is that these certificates are developed within internationally recognized methodologies. Otherwise, the certificate will not have much value for multinational companies."

Brewer Heineken recently signed Brazil's first Gas-REC deal with landfill operator Marquise Ambiental and natural gas distributor MDC Energia. Brazil's biomethane sector produces only 5mn m³/yr, according to regulator ANP, or 360,000 m³/d, according to Abiogas. The association estimates Brazil has the potential to produce 121mn m³/d of biomethane in the next decades.

Ceramics producers in Brazil's Sao Paulo state have agreed to purchase biomethane from regional sugarcane producers to help start renewable gas production by 2025. The deal is happening under an agreement between Brazilian ceramic tiles and fixtures association Anfacer and the regional productive sugarcane cluster Apla.

Sao Paulo state regulator Arsesp considered including the development of a "green" certification for regulated consumers that opt to use biomethane, which would be distributed through regional distribution companies. Arsesp also considered integrating the biomethane industry into Brazil's existing Cbio carbon credits program. The measure was heavily criticized as it would allow producers to inject gas in pipelines to be sold by distributors, thus limiting the biomethane offer in the liberalized market, away from the regulated one.

By Rebecca Gompertz