Bioenergy for heat and power production

Criteria
#1

Hi !
I have some difficulties interpreting some of the criteria in the Corporate Net-Zero Standard and the Power Sector 2,5C-guide and would need some clarifications.

According to the SBTi corporate Net-Zero Standard from October 2021 (p 41, C11:15) “the positive impact of “exceeding” zero emissions due to biogenic removals shall not be accounted for…” and “removals that are not directly associated with bioenergy feedstock production are not accepted to count as progress towards SBTs or to net emissions…”.

What does “exceeding” zero emissions mean? Does it mean that CO2-removals cannot be accounted for as emission reduction (above the x-axis) but only as removal (below the x-axis)?

Thanks in advance!
Charlotte

#2

Hi Charlotte,

Thank you for your question.

We don’t allow companies to report negative emissions from biogenic sources, i.e. more removals than emissions, and as they are reporting these emissions separately from their GHG inventory, companies are not allowed to net the removals from biogenic sources from their GHG inventory.

#3

Thank you for your respons!
I have another question regarding bioenergy that I find difficult to understand. The Net-Zero standard states (p 42, C11) that “CO2 emissions from the combustion, processing and distribution phase of bioenergy and the land use emissions and removals associated with bioenergy feedstocks shall be included in the target boundary when setting a science-based target (in scopes 1, 2, and/or 3, as relevant) and when reporting progress against that target.”

  • Does this mean that biogenic emissions should be included in the Scope 1 emissions position? It seems that the implication of this is that an energy company relying on biomass could never reach zero emissions? Is this the intention? Or should this be compensated with another negative Scope 1 post representing the removal inherent in the biomass itself?
  • If the former, how is it compatible with UNFCCC LULUCF accounting and the IPCC prediction that the use of biomass for energy will increase as part of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C ? If the latter, why have SBTi chosen to depart from the GHGP and UNFCCC standard where biomass emissions are noted in a Memo item?
  • If neither of these two interpretations are correct, please help us understand how to interpret C11.
    Best regards
    Charlotte