This is a proven, but relatively new, technology and process. As part of our commitment to bringing robust standards to the carbon removal market, we’ve adopted the world’s first BECCS methodology, developed by our partners at Drax and Stockholm Exergi. This comprehensive methodology — in alignment with ICVCM’s core principles — creates a high-integrity approach for quantifying the net CDR contribution of a BECCS project.
A conservative approach
We take a conservative approach to the quantification of the carbon removed by our BECCS projects. We do this by widening the quantification boundary to include additional supply chain emissions which are not wholly related to the carbon removal activity. An example of this would be including biomass supply chain emissions within the quantification boundary of a project. We know that BECCS has the potential to deliver large quantities of carbon removals. At Elimini, we plan to remove millions of tonnes of CO₂ every year with our international BECCS plants.
We also want organizations to be confident that the sustainability benefits they can realize with this technology are rigorous, accurate and independently verified. Our high-integrity methodology details the criteria and approaches that developers should adhere to in each step of developing a credit-generating BECCS project. This methodology is validated by DNV, which is setting the standards for safe CCS (carbon capture and storage) projects.
Key criteria for measuring net CO₂ removal through BECCS projects
There are a number of key criteria that a BECCS project must adhere to in order to be eligible to issue CDR credits using this technology.
1. Ensuring additionality
Removals are only considered “additional” if carbon would not be removed without revenues from carbon credits. High-integrity BECCS projects must demonstrate that there was no legal requirement to capture CO₂ — this is called regulatory additionality — and also that carbon market revenues were considered before the project was started to meet prior consideration criteria.
This additionality assessment is designed to follow a “standardized approach” as defined by ICVCM.
2. Sustainable biomass
Only forest biomass (i.e., organic matter) sourced from areas with stable and increasing forest carbon stock should be used — this excludes primary forests, old growth forests, highly biodiverse forests or those recently established on highly biodiverse grassland. Stringent criteria must also be applied to the sustainable management of forests and the maintenance of biodiversity.
3. Storage and permanence
A BECCS project is only considered high integrity if it is scientifically determined to have a negligible risk of reversal, and if there are high regulatory enforcement levels in place. In terms of permanence — or how long carbon is kept out of the atmosphere — high-integrity BECCS projects are expected to store >99% of the CO2 over the first 1000 years, at least.
4. No enhanced hydrocarbon recovery
It is important to ensure that BECCS projects are not used in incentivizing the extraction of fossil fuels. Therefore, CO₂ captured through a high-integrity BECCS project should not be used to increase the amount of oil or natural gas that can be recovered from a reservoir that the project intends to use to deposit carbon.
5. Safeguards for social and environmental impact
At the very minimum, BECCS projects must have all relevant environmental and business permits where they are sourcing, capturing and storing carbon — and demonstrate robust stakeholder consultations to ensure no negative impacts are delivered to the area’s people or environment. Project developers should build on the safeguards outlined by ICVCM.
6. Robust reporting, validation and verification
A comprehensive monitoring framework enables third-party validation and verification bodies (VVB) to transparently assess project outcomes. To issue credits, the project must calculate net removals that have already taken place to ensure no double counting occurs — this should be calculated independently by a third-party VVB.