By Dan Grossman and Maureen Lackner
Getting a complete and correct image of the extent of methane emissions from the oil and gasoline business is tough.
Our scientists have spent a lot of the final decade detailing deficiencies and inaccuracies in the best way corporations — and even regulators — estimate emissions, which end in harmful understatements of the methane drawback.
And that’s exactly why efforts by oil and gasoline corporations and their consultants to distinguish some pure gasoline as “responsibly sourced” or “low emission” is problematic.
It’s comprehensible that operators need a option to differentiate their product. Because the local weather disaster intensifies, patrons (utilities and their finish customers each within the U.S. and overseas) are extra often demanding that their power suppliers cut back their local weather impacts. These operators see a market alternative and wish to capitalize on it.
Because of this, we have now additionally seen the emergence of third-party certifiers, who’re mainly consultants employed by operators to evaluate their amenities and provides a inexperienced stamp of approval to their gasoline. These certifiers use totally different strategies, applied sciences and requirements to help their conclusions {that a} shoppers’ gasoline is “responsibly sourced.”
EDF is often requested by these operators and their consultants to help this differentiated gasoline method as a option to drive reductions in emissions from the oil and gasoline provide chain.
Sadly, as acknowledged above, precisely quantifying an organization’s methane emissions is hard. And not one of the oil and gasoline corporations or their consultants have devised a option to do it that creates adequate confidence that these certifications are significant.
That could be a enormous drawback for the patrons and prospects counting on these representations in making power selections.
Nonetheless, differentiated gasoline efforts are enjoying out throughout utilities, state legislatures and even the Federal Power Regulatory Fee as we communicate. So, we thought it essential to set out in clear phrases the fundamental safeguards that needs to be put in place to attenuate the environmental issues about differentiated gasoline schemes, which you’ll be able to discover in depth in our newest white paper.
Our basic issues round differentiated gasoline revolve round three major issues:
- Lack of strong measurement, reporting and verification requirements. With out sturdy and uniform requirements on the measurement and verification of emissions from any explicit provide chain, it’s unimaginable to achieve dependable conclusions in regards to the local weather affect of gasoline. This creates ample alternative for buyer confusion or misinformation.
- Restricted protection throughout companies. Voluntary certifications lack in scope or breadth to seize adequate swaths of business with the intention to obtain significant emissions reductions on the nationwide or international scale.
- The potential for companies to cherry-pick which internet sites to certify inside their portfolio. When corporations are allowed to hunt certification of parts of their fleets (leaving older, leakier amenities exterior of the evaluation), the certification actually doesn’t drive emissions reductions and says little in regards to the practices of the operator.
Differentiated gasoline: Nothing however scorching air with out these 5 standards Click on To Tweet
To handle the pitfalls described above, listed below are 5 standards that certification applications should incorporate of their design:
- Certification applications ought to require and confirm that greatest follow work follow requirements are met. Certification mustn’t ever be considered as an alternative choice to rigorous work follow regulatory requirements, measurement and reporting necessities, or another complete and stringent measurement-based methane emission coverage.
- Measurement-based emissions quantification is important. Certification should be based mostly on high-integrity monitoring and reporting per the Oil and Fuel Methane Partnership 2.0 Stage 5 reporting tier.
- Certification will not be full with out verification. Certification should be accompanied by verification from a reputable and impartial third social gathering.
- The emissions depth goal ought to guarantee reductions. A producer’s methane depth is outlined as the full quantity of methane emissions divided by complete quantity of marketed gasoline. Certification should be based mostly on an depth normal that’s no better than the Oil and Fuel Local weather Initiative’s metric of 0.20% and declines over time.
- Restrict cherry-picking. Corporations searching for certification should specify which of their belongings they’re certifying, the share these belongings signify relative to their complete portfolio, and the emissions depth of taking part belongings. As well as, corporations searching for certification should report a company-wide emissions depth.
With out query, applied sciences are enhancing and the science of methane measurement and quantification is advancing. Vehicles, towers, drones, airplanes and even satellites have been enlisted within the effort to raised discern the methane drawback. That is excellent news for governments searching for to get a greater deal with on the scope of emissions and craft coverage options to eradicate them, in addition to for corporations trying to make good on commitments to restrict methane air pollution.
Within the meantime, efforts to distinguish pure gasoline, a climate-harming fossil gas, as responsibly sourced or low-emissions needs to be considered with wholesome skepticism.
