News from GGCS

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Green Gas Certification Scheme announces new participants

Posted: 4 July, 2013. Written by GGCS

UK's first Green Gas Certification Scheme announces new registered supplier and two new green gas consumers

Following the presentation of the UK’s first Green Gas Certificates to The Duchy of Cornwall and The Office of the Prince of Wales last month [1], the Green Gas Certification Scheme (GGCS) is pleased to announce today the award of Certificates to two further green gas consumers and the entry of a new supplier into the scheme.

Gas Bus Alliance and Brit European have become the latest recipients of Green Gas Certificates, representing a combined total of 6 GWh of biomethane. Both organisations purchased the Certificates in order to progress their commitment to operating sustainable transport fleets running on compressed natural gas (CNG).

Meanwhile, Barrow Shipping are no longer the only supplier participating in the Scheme, as  Ceres Energy has just signed up to become the Scheme’s second registered gas supplier. This will increase competition in the supply of green gas and offer more choice for consumers.

Ciaran Burns, GGCS Certification Manager, said:

“We are delighted with the upsurge of interest in the Scheme and the Green Gas Certificates. While Prince Charles’ colleagues were buying green gas to improve the environmental performance of their offices, the latest GGCS customers are reducing the environmental impacts of running a commercial vehicle fleet. This demonstrates the variety of applications for both biomethane as a fuel and for the Green Gas Certification Scheme itself.

“We are also very pleased to welcome Ceres Energy as the GGCS’ second registered gas supplier. We look forward to welcoming more producers, suppliers and customers into the Scheme as word spreads in the coming months.”

In related news, GGCS signatories Barrow Green Gas – the trading name for Barrow Shipping – have announced that they are to form a Biomethane Producers Club (BPC) [2] to help share technical, operational and commercial information to optimise plant efficiency and financial return for biomethane producers.

How the Green Gas Certification Scheme works

A producer generates biogas from anaerobic digestion, upgrades it to biomethane and injects it into the gas grid. The producer registers the injection on the GGCS system, which automatically assigns each unit (kWh) injected with a Renewable Gas Guarantee of Origin (RGGO), effectively ‘tagging’ each unit in much the same way as a Renewable Electricity Guarantee of Origin (REGO) ‘tags’ a unit of renewable power in the electricity grid.

The underlying principle is ‘one unit in, one unit out’, ensuring that there can be no double counting of the green benefits of the gas. This enables the producer to sell guaranteed ‘green gas’ on to users who are keen to be able to show that their gas has come from a renewable source. This helps them measure performance against a sustainability plan, or demonstrate compliance with Government requirements.

Notes to editors

• The Green Gas Certification Scheme tracks biomethane, or ‘green gas’, through the supply chain to provide certainty for those that buy it. Each unit of green gas injected into the grid displaces a unit of conventional gas. So the GGCS tracks each unit of green gas from its injection into the distribution grid, to any trades, to its sale to a consumer, or group of consumers. It tracks the contractual rather than physical flows to ensure there is no double-counting from production to end use.
  For more information, see: www.greengas.org.uk
   
• Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd carries out a range of certification and consumer protection activities, all of which promote sustainable energy. REAL’s activities fall under two headings: consumer codes and certification schemes. REAL was incorporated in 2006. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Renewable Energy Association.
  For more information, see: www.renewableenergyassurance.org.uk
   
• The Renewable Energy Association represents renewable energy producers and promotes the use of all forms of renewable energy in the UK across power, heat, transport and renewable gas. It is the largest renewable trade association in the UK, with over 1,000 members, ranging from major multinationals to sole traders.
  For more information, see: www.r-e-a.net

1. GGCS: ‘Office of the Prince of Wales and Duchy of Cornwall to receive UK’s first Green Gas Certificates’, 13th June 2013. Available at: www.greengas.org.uk/news
    
2. The Biomethane Producers Club is an initiative set up by Barrow Green Gas to act as a forum where producers of biomethane can share information on buying opportunities, performance benchmarking of gas clean up and upgrading plant, group servicing opportunities, HSE collaboration and joint specific research.