How can renewable gas certificates be used to comply with the renewable energy targets?
Renewable Energy Directive
The European Union has put forward the Renewable Energy Directive III (Directive (EU) 2023/2413 amending RED II Directive (EU) 2018/2001). This includes a binding renewable energy target of 42,5%, aiming for 45% by 2030, which aims to increase the share of renewable energy sources across the European Union. Member States have national renewable energy targets they need to meet and developed national energy and climate plans (NECP) to achieve this.
Renewable gas can be used to meet these targets. However, this is only possible if a Proof of Sustainability is issued for the renewable gas and tracked to an end use in the country of consumption.
RED I, II and III have consistently ruled out the use of Guarantees of Origin (GO) to effect target counting at the national level, and its roles are restricted to individual consumer disclosure of renewable gas and power use.
Emission Trading Scheme
The EU emissions trading scheme requires that certain companies calculate and report their emissions and match these to emissions allowances (EUA).
Those companies can lower their reported emissions with biomethane certificates based on the rules in the EU ETS Monitoring and Reporting Regulation. Generally, both a PoS and GO/CoO are needed to prove the use of biomethane. However the implementation rules are not harmonized at EU level and requirements differ between Member States. Furthermore, the implementation is expected to change as soon as the UDB becomes operational and can be used to prove compliance with certain requirements.
National blending obligations or other national quotas
As part of the efforts to decarbonize, some EU Member States – including France, Austria, Netherlands, Ireland, and Portugal – are preparing and setting national biomethane blending obligations. These require that a certain proportion of the gas used in the country comes from renewable sources, for example 20% by 2030.
The certification requirements for these national blending obligations differ per country and can include the existing PoS or GO or make use national of certification schemes.