Interest in investing in biomethane projects is growing in Brazil, but the lack of international recognition for gas certificates because market guidelines are still under debate has some participants cautious.
The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, an organization run by the World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development, launched a consultation last year to update some guidance for its standards for projects to generate renewable energy certificates (RECs). Their 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 allowed physical deliveries to end-users to count towards net neutrality goals.
After receiving criticism from the World Biogas Association (WBA) and many of its members, the groups reviewed the proposal and withdrew the demand for physical deliveries. Until a new guideline is published, the biomethane market is in the dark regarding the specifics of how GAS-RECs will figure into companies' decarbonization.
This lack of clarity on the future recognition of book-and-claim operations for biomethane certificates as a legitimate way to compensate for emissions makes participants wary. Many see the book-and-claim option as essential to develop Brazil's market, as it would give producers more flexibility to find consumers willing to pay a premium for the renewable attribute even if they are away from plants or not connected to pipelines.
The market expects this problem to be solved once the GHG Protocol publishes its new guidelines in 2025. In the meantime, non-profit organization the I-REC Standard Foundation is developing an international tracking standard for biogas and biomethane with Brazilian certification agency Instituto Totum, the US' tracking platform M-RETS and global certificate registry Evident. This standard would aim to ensure fair comparisons between the biomethane generated in different countries, easing recognition across the world.
