New report says CCS policy design sidelines biomethane-based carbon removal
A new report says rules centered on carbon capture and storage do not adequately address carbon removal using biomethane.
A new report says the design of policies covering carbon capture and storage (CCS), which captures CO2 and stores it underground, does not adequately address carbon removal based on biomethane. The main point of the report is that policies centered on CCS are putting carbon removal through biomethane on the back burner.
Carbon removal is a general term for efforts to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and fix it. Unlike measures that reduce emissions, it is positioned differently because it reduces carbon that has already been released into the air.
Biomethane is gas produced by fermenting organic matter such as livestock manure and food waste to create biogas, then removing CO2 and other components to raise its purity to the level of city gas. Because the raw material is biological, the CO2 released when it is burned is considered to be carbon that was originally taken from the atmosphere.
Under the concept of carbon removal, if the highly concentrated CO2 produced during biomethane production is captured and stored underground, carbon in the atmosphere could effectively be reduced. For this reason, biomethane has drawn attention as a means of carbon removal.
On the other hand, CCS regulations have been developed mainly for large-scale capture and storage facilities and for emission sources derived from fossil fuels. The report says that under this framework, biomethane-based efforts are unlikely to be eligible for evaluation or support.
Carbon removal trading and certification require mechanisms to verify the amount of CO2 stored. Which system is used, and how much is calculated and certified in what way, directly affects operators' revenue and investment decisions. The report warns that biomethane operators could be at a disadvantage on this point.
The key point to watch is how policymakers in each country will reconsider CCS rules and position biomethane in carbon removal certification standards. Whether discussions on policy design that take the report into account move forward will determine the growth of related businesses.
When combining multiple decarbonization measures, if policies lean toward specific technologies, the options available will narrow. A framework that evaluates both CCS and bio-based carbon removal will be important for the overall emissions reduction plan.
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Carbon removal is increasingly treated as a pillar of decarbonization alongside emissions reduction, but the systems for evaluating it vary by policy. Biomethane has a different route from hydrogen and CCS in that it turns waste treatment and agricultural byproducts into resources. The point that policies favoring specific measures make the value of biomethane harder to see will also be useful when designing similar systems in Japan. How to separate the evaluation of CCS from that of carbon removal will be the focus of future policy debates.
Source: Envirotec Magazine
This article was written by the editors based on the cited report and translated from Japanese. AI is used to assist in writing and translation.
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