Overview
The Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (ERAC) sought feedback on a proposed variation to the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative—Animal Effluent Management) Methodology Determination 2019 (the method).
The proposed variation will extend the crediting period for non-biomethane projects under the method: from 12 to 15 years for projects that combust methane using a flare, and from 7 to 15 years for those that use an engine to generate electricity.
Background
The method (2019) incentivises projects to capture and use or destroy methane in biogas that would otherwise have been released to the atmosphere from open anaerobic lagoons used to treat animal effluent. The method also incentivises upgrading biogas into biomethane and emissions avoidance by removing volatile solids and treating them using an aerobic process (aerobic treatment).
The ERAC reviewed the crediting period for the method in November 2024. Biomethane activities were excluded from the review, as they had only recently been introduced through the 2022 variation of the method. Aerobic treatment was also excluded from the review due to its low uptake. The Committee received 9 submissions during targeted stakeholder consultation.
The ERAC found that there was sufficient evidence to demonstrate that extending the crediting period to 15 years for selected non-biomethane projects –combusting methane through flaring or to generate electricity– would continue to result in abatement unlikely to occur in the ordinary course of events.
