Biomethane across borders: how emissions are inventoried in the EU
For the SAF platform, we have prepared a review of the recent report “Biomethane across borders: exploring the possible trade barrier related to how biomethane is captured in emissions reporting”, prepared by Common Futures and commissioned by the Biomethane Industrial Partnership (BIP).
The reason for issuing this study was that cross-border trade of biomethane within the EU internal market is possibly hampered if emission savings from imported or exported flows of biomethane via pipelines cannot be properly reported in emission inventories used to monitor progress towards meeting climate targets under the Paris Agreement.
Advantages
The development of the internal market contributes to the creation of a positive business case and an increase in biomethane production.
An EU internal market can also support in reaching the goal set by the European Commission for the production of 35 billion cubic meters of biomethane a year by 2030, which equals around 10% of natural gas use in the EU in 2023.
A well-functioning internal market is important for all Member States, yet in particular for large users in small Member States with limited domestic production.
Import and export of biomethane
Biomethane is already being imported and exported via pipelines in several Member States. Interestingly, in Eurostat energy balances of ‘biogas’ in 2022, there was 535 GWh of import yet 0 GWh of export47, showing that energy balances of different Member States do not align yet.
In other Member States there is an expectation for import and export via pipelines in the future as biomethane production develops and demand increases. Only two did not expect import or export in the future.
Main conclusions
- A methodology for including emissions of imported and exported biomethane via pipelines in national greenhouse gas emission inventories in the EU is currently lacking.
- IPPC Guidelines advise that ‘national emission inventories should include greenhouse gas emissions and removals that take place within the national territory’.
- EU regulation on creating emission inventories currently does not yet include the option to use mass balancing. Thus, all imported or exported biomethane via pipelines counts as natural gas.
- EU Member States surveyed for the purpose of this study were not yet sure how they should deal with biomethane in creating emission inventories.
In conducting this study, insights were gathered from experts between May and August 2024 from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Eurostat, European Environment Agency, and experts from ministries and national statistic offices and agencies of 17 Member States: Belgium (Flanders), Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain. Additionally, desk research was completed on the IPCC Guidelines and relevant EU regulation.
Read the full material with with a chapter on the method of creating national emission inventories on the SAF platform.
We remind you that UABIO is a partner of the Sustainable agribusiness platform (SAF).
SAF is a communication platform that brings together agribusiness stakeholders and aims to establish strong links between market players and introduce sustainable approaches in agriculture. For this platform, our team prepares verified professional content on the bioenergy sector.
