The CCS+ Initiative announced that its first batch of carbon accounting methodologies is now open for public consutlation. The consultation will be run by Verra, one of the leading standard-setters in the Voluntary Carbon Market with submissions expected by July 29.
The methodologies will be developed under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program and represent the first tangible effort to incorporate the rapidly growing carbon capture and carbon removal industries, along with the their transportation and storage aspects, into the already existing carbon markets.
The CCS+ initiative brings together 51 stakeholders and has been running for over a year, working towards formulating draft accounting criteria that will serve as the backbone of the standards for companies in the sector.
Matthias Krey, Secretary General of the CCS+ Initiative and Managing Director of Perspectives Climate Group said, “After a year and a half of sustained work together with our partners, we are proud to launch the first public consultation of the CCS+ Initiative. We are grateful for the contributions of our members, leading organisations in the CCUS and removals space, who provided the necessary expertise to develop a comprehensive carbon accounting infrastructure, covering all use cases for carbon capture, storage, long-term utilisation and removal technologies. The insights gathered in the consultation are essential in ensuring that our methodologies are fit for purpose and adhere to the highest standards of environmental integrity, and we encourage stakeholders to review and submit their comments before the 29th of July.”
With carbon capture and carbon dioxide removal developing in multiple clusters globally, an integrated approach to quality assurance would ensure more projects have the desired CO2 reduction effect, while also unlocking significant capital from both voluntary and compliance markets.
The four consultation documents the CCS+ Initiative and Verra are seeking stakeholder input for can be found here, individual links available below:
- Methodology for carbon capture and storage
- CO2 Capture from Air (Direct Air Capture)
- CO2 Storage in Saline Aquifers
- Consolidated Module for CO2 Transport
The CCS+ Initiative shared that its goal is to publish the methodologies under the VCS through 2023-24 as a public good, in order to speed up their adoption across markets.
Toby Janson-Smith, Chief Program Development and Innovation Officer at Verra, said, “We need to urgently implement all available solutions to taking and keeping carbon out of the atmosphere to meet the world’s climate goals. This initiative is a critical step towards a credible, impactful set of high-quality methodologies that can unlock new investment in climate action. Carbon removal methodologies are an important complement to methodologies that avoid emissions, and need to scale significantly in the next 20 years to meet climate targets. Verra looks forward to a thorough, transparent consultative process that can result in the best possible methodologies.”
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As direct air capture technology and adoption is growing with a rapid pace, the CCS+ makes a clear distinction between reducing emissions and carbon removal pathways in its methodology. The two modules focused on direct air capture and capture from biogenic sources will help project developers generate removals when coupled with a durable storage module, either geological or through product mineralisation.
Three additional sets of methodologies are set to follow this release, with modules for BECCS, geological storage in depleted oil and gas fields, as well as capture from industrial and oil and gas production.
Christiaan Gevers Deynoot, Deputy Secretary General of the CCS+ Initiative and Senior Manager for Carbon Removal Platforms at South Pole, noted that, “The widespread use of technical removals in voluntary and compliance markets is still uncharted territory. Leveraging their project development expertise, we are writing high integrity methodologies to measure the mitigation impact of carbon removal technologies. We recently set up a dedicated CDR workstream to explore further ways of innovating methodology design elements as the market moves towards greater standardisation.”
Read more: Verra Launches Consultation On Changes To The Verified Carbon Standard Program
