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Isometric recently certified an update to the Energy Use Accounting Module for carbon dioxide removal (CDR). The module details how to calculate emissions associated with the generation and use of electricity and heat in CDR projects.
Similar to how an electric vehicle is only as good as the electricity grid used to charge it, carbon removal projects that rely on grid electricity must account for the emissions from the energy used to run their operations. Accurately calculating the emissions associated with energy usage is an important part of determining how much carbon dioxide a project actually removes from the atmosphere. The updated module is applicable to all CDR pathways and is particularly relevant for Direct Air Capture (DAC), which can be more energy intensive than other pathways.
A fully decarbonized electricity grid is critical for a net zero future. While grids around the world are expanding capacity and bringing more renewable energy online, many regions still have a long way to go. This revised module lays out a path to enable deployment of CDR today, while grid expansion and decarbonization efforts continue. This means that critical CDR innovation can happen today—enabling scale—rather than waiting on the electricity grid to modernize.
In the absence of a fully decarbonized grid, or the ability to construct directly connected sources of renewable electricity, other industries use instruments like Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to compensate for their grid usage. The use of these instruments is necessary in the short term.
The original version of this module introduced rigorous standards for power procurement to ensure climate impact for energy intensive CDR projects. For the direct procurement of low-carbon power, such as solar and wind through a PPA, the industry norm is to match how much power is procured to how much power a project needs annually. The module requires that the amount of power procured for a project is matched to a project’s usage on an hourly basis, ensuring projects achieve robust climate impact. This is especially important for projects relying on intermittent renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind.
The module requires these robust energy emissions accounting practices to be applied to CDR projects with the goal of having every credit represent an actual tonne of carbon dioxide durably removed. These requirements are also aligned with emerging CDR policy, including the European Union’s Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) regulation.
Following extensive consultation and information gathering, it has become clear that hourly matching is not feasible in all grid regions today. The technology, data and market mechanisms needed to meet hourly matching requirements do exist, but are only available in a few places and are not yet widely available for suppliers. To ensure that the module is broadly applicable and recognizes these limitations, the revised module introduces a staged approach to phasing in these hourly matching requirements. This is key to building and operationalizing DAC projects today as the energy industry is years away from being able to widely support hourly matching.
While the energy market is not able to support these requirements today, there is still a critical need to allow for the development and scaling of DAC projects. If DAC projects wait until hourly matching is universally possible, DAC will not scale quickly enough to the level needed to achieve global climate objectives. DAC and hourly matching need to develop in parallel. A phased approach that has clearly defined timelines and criteria for moving to this higher standard allows suppliers to make decisions today, while still ensuring progress.
The updated module allows projects to use conventional annual matching if hourly matching is not possible—due to hourly RECs or Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) being unavailable. This is allowed until 2028, when the required hourly instruments should be available in most energy markets. Isometric will continue to monitor developments across jurisdictions before removing this temporary allowance from the energy use accounting requirements.
Isometric recently co-hosted a workshop on these topics in San Francisco with more than 50 industry leaders. The resulting conversations reflected the range of views on this important topic and clarified the challenges ahead. The staged approach contained in the newly published update has broad support from the CDR industry and reflects a shared understanding that this is a key step in building and scaling DAC in a responsible way.
Energy emissions accounting in CDR is still subject to substantial uncertainty. This updated module charts a course to best practices at the earliest possible date, while ensuring that rigorous and consistent monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) standards are applied to all credits issued on the Isometric Registry.
The requirements in the updated module will likely evolve over time. The Isometric Science Team is committed to working collaboratively with all CDR industry stakeholders to ensure a robust, operable and rapid transition to aligned and globally accepted energy accounting requirements.
