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The American Biogas Council (“ABC”) announced on March 3rd its launch of its Biogas Carbon Accounting Tool (“Tool”).
The stated goal of the Tool is to:
…provide this science-based tool to any entity generating carbon-based policy or credits to ensure carbon accounting is consistent and accurate across many of the ways biogas can be produced and their associated carbon intensities.
ABC describes itself as the:
...voice of the U.S. Biogas Industry dedicated to maximizing carbon reduction and economic growth using biogas systems.
Biogas is produced after organic materials (i.e., plant and animal products) are broken down by bacteria in an oxygen-free environment. This process is called anerobic digestion.
Anerobic digestion is utilized to recycle organic materials into biogas. The attributes of biogas can include both energy and soil products.
Examples of biogas feedstocks might include:
- Food waste.
- Landfill gas.
- Livestock waste.
- Wastewater treatment.
- Crop residues.
ABC states that the Tool builds on existing regulatory programs and voluntary carbon market methodologies.
The benefits of the Tool are stated to include:
- Providing an opportunity to calculate carbon intensity (“CI”) for biogas projects on an emission per energy basis and based on the fate of the product where the destination of its product is unique.
- Providing an opportunity for biogas projects to convert their CI score calculated with this methodology to an equivalent greenhouse gas reduction amount.
- Providing an opportunity for biogas projects to account for and capture more environmental monetary benefits around their digestate.
- Providing an opportunity for users of this methodology to open the door for future conversations around practical applications within the VCM industry.
A link to the Tool can be found here.
