How to use this module
V1.0
Module name
Transport
Module category
Transformation
Methodology name
Biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS)
Version
1.0
Methodology ID
RIV-BICRS-T-TPRT-V1.0
Release date
December 4th, 2024
Status
In use
This is a Transformation Module and covers the upstream and downstream transportation throughout the project lifecycle. This module is part of the Riverse BiCRS methodology, which allows Project Developers to choose the relevant modules for their project, and shall be used with the necessary accompanying modules.
See more details on how modules are organized in the BiCRS home page.
This module covers transportation steps throughout the project life cycle and over several modes of transportation.
Transportation steps covered include but are not necessarily limited to feedstock transportation to the processing site and product transportation to the permanent storage site.
Modes of transportation currently include road and sea transport. Other modes will be included in future versions of this module and may be proposed by Project Developers on a case-by-case basis.
There are no eligibility criteria requirements specific to this module. Eligibility criteria requirements shall be taken from the accompanying modules and methodologies:
The GHG reduction quantification instructions from all other modules used by the project must be used in conjunction with the present module in order to obtain full life-cycle GHG reduction quantifications.
This module covers the life cycle GHG emissions from all transportation of feedstock and transportation of carbon storage solutions by road and sea.
Two main life cycle stages are considered:
Energy use emissions
Embodied emissions
There are three approaches for modeling energy use emissions:
Fuel-amount approach: based on the type and amounts of fuel used for each . This approach is more precise but the required data are more difficult to obtain.
Fuel-efficiency approach: based on the fuel efficiency (e.g. liters diesel/km) of transport units and type of fuel used for each , plus the distance traveled, to calculate the amount of fuel used.
Distance-based approach: based on the mass of goods transported, distance traveled, and generic transportation emission factors for shipping by road or water.
The distance-based approach relies on more assumptions compared to the other two approach, and these assumptions are always conservative. To avoid the application of such conservative assumptions, it is in the project’s best interest to provide directly measured fuel amounts, or if that data is unavailable, fuel efficiency. While obtaining this data is more challenging than simply recording distances and load weights, it allows for more accurate and less conservative calculations.
The required primary data from projects are presented in Table 1 and vary depending on the approach chosen (fuel or distance-based).
Data shall be reported from Project Developers for each and then converted to the abovementioned functional unit upon annual verification.
Table 1 Summary of primary data needed from projects and their source. One asterisk (*) indicates which data are required to be updated annually during verification (see Monitoring Plan section). Two asterisks (**) indicate which data are optional, where a conservative default choice will be applied.
Fuel quantity consumed per transport segment*
Kg or kWh
Measurements from the transport unit (e.g. vehicle flow sensors)
Measurements from tracking systems
Values reported by on-board transport unit diagnostic systems (OBD)
Purchase receipts of fuel plus local fuel cost per unit
Fuel type* and geography**
Data from tracking systems
Fuel purchase receipts, showing the fuel type and location of purchase.
Photographic evidence
Number of trips per transport segment*
Unit
Number of trips each transport segment is repeated during the reporting period (e.g. 10 trips from A to B and 8 trips from C to D)
Transport unit category**
Trucks:
Light (<7.5t)
Medium (7.5t-32t)
Heavy (>32t)
Ships:
ferry (short distance sea transport)
container ship
bulk carrier for dry goods
Transport unit documents
Transport unit photo (showing the car license plate)
Transport unit certificates or other official documents containing the transport unit weight with maximum load capacity (proven with the parameter "weight of the loaded and unloaded vehicle")
Next step after transport segment **
Description
Detail of the next step after completing a transport segment (e.g. whether the truck returns to the original location empty, carries goods for another client on the return trip, or will be involved in a subsequent transport segment).
Fuel consumption efficiency*
kg/km or kWh/km
Telematics Data
OBD Data: Real-time vehicle diagnostics.
Reports from fleet management tools.
Fuel type* and geography**
Data from tracking systems
Fuel purchase receipts, showing the fuel type and location of purchase.
Photographic evidence
Number of trips per transport segment*
Unit
Number of trips each transport segment is repeated during the reporting period (e.g. 10 trips from A to B and 8 trips from C to D)
Transport unit category**
Trucks:
Light (<7.5t)
Medium (7.5t-32t)
Heavy (>32t)
Ships:
ferry (short distance sea transport)
container ship
bulk carrier for dry goods
Transport unit documents
Transport unit photo (showing the car license plate)
Transport unit certificates or other official documents containing the transport unit weight with maximum load capacity
Next step after transport segment **
Description
Detail of the next step after completing a transport segment (e.g. whether the truck returns to the original location empty, carries goods for another client on the return trip, or will be involved in a subsequent transport segment).
Distance traveled per transport segment*
km
Documenting transport unit odometer readings at the start and end of a trip, containing at least reading year
Records of traveled distances from tracking systems
Mapping of the traveled route online with common platforms such as Google Maps, including start and end locations of the trip per segment
Weight of transported material per segment*
tonnes
Difference between loaded and unloaded vehicle weight
Bills of lading or delivery notes with weight details
Official reports from quality control or inspection services documenting the weight
Transport unit category**
Trucks:
Light (<7.5t)
Medium (7.5t-32t)
Heavy (>32t)
Ships:
ferry (short distance sea transport)
container ship
bulk carrier for dry goods
Transport unit documents
Transport unit photo (showing the car license plate)
Transport unit certificates or other official documents containing the transport unit weight with maximum load capacity
Next step after transport segment **
Description
Detail of the next step after completing a transport segment (e.g. whether the truck returns to the original location empty, carries goods for another client on the return trip, or will be involved in a subsequent transport segment).
Return trip and subsequent transport segments
Note that providing data on the transport unit's next trip after the transport segment is optional (see Table 1).
Loaded Return Trips: If the transport unit is loaded for its subsequent transport segment (e.g., returning to point A or proceeding to a new point C), the emissions from these following transport segments may be excluded from the project's GHG emissions calculations. In such cases, the emissions are attributed to the client responsible for the goods transported during the subsequent trip.
Empty Return Trips: If the transport unit is empty for its subsequent transport segment, the emissions from that segment must be included in the project's GHG emissions calculations. Project Developers have the option to provide the actual fuel consumption data for the empty trip. If this data is unavailable, it will be assumed that the fuel consumption matches that of the initial trip. This assumption is conservative, as an empty vehicle typically exhibits improved fuel efficiency.
Unknown Next Transport Step: If Project Developers cannot verify the transport unit's next step after the project’s transport segment, it shall be assumed that the vehicle returns empty to point A. In this case, the emissions from the empty return trip are included in the project’s transport segment calculations.
Distance-Based Approach: When using the distance-based approach, an empty return trip is always modeled. To provide more specific details on the return trip, Project Developers must use either Approach 1: Fuel Amount or Approach 2: Fuel Efficiency.
The version 3.10 (hereafter referred to as ecoinvent) shall be the main source of emission factors unless otherwise specified. Ecoinvent is preferred because it is traceable, reliable, and well-recognized. The ecoinvent processes selected are detailed in the Appendix 1.
Secondary data is used for the fuel combustion emission factor and is presented in Table 2 and 3 below.
After analyzing the impacts of four different truck categories, the emissions for medium truck transport are averaged across two truck sizes: 7.5-16 tons and 16-32 tons.
If proof about the following transport segment (e.g. B back to A, or B onwards to C) cannot be provided, it is assumed that the transport unit returns empty with the same GHG emissions as the initial transport segment.
In the Distance-based approach, transport unit emissions from ecoinvent are used, where the emission factor includes emissions from an empty return trip (i.e. a load factor of 0%). The average load factors for the outbound journey assumed in the emission factor are detailed in Table 2 for truck transport and Table 3 for ship transport.
Embodied emissions from road transport include upstream emissions from truck manufacturing, road construction, and ongoing maintenance. For ship transport, embodied emissions cover at least the emissions associated with the ship itself, its maintenance, and the port facilities.
Table 2 Summary of outbound journey average load factor per truck category. Calculated based on ecoinvent assumptions.
Light
28
Medium
30
Heavy
89
Table 3 Summary of outbound journey average load factor per ship category. Calculated based on ecoinvent assumptions.
Ferry
50
Container ship
70
Bulk carrier for dry goods
53
54
The three approaches to model energy use emissions from transport are detailed below.
This approach accounts for emissions from:
upstream energy production and processing
direct GHG emissions from combustion (if fuel is the energy source rather than electricity)
Emissions for upstream energy production and processing shall be taken from ecoinvent. Options of energy types are presented in Appendix 1.
If an electric vehicle charging station is directly connected to a renewable energy source (e.g., solar), emission factors for renewable energy production may be taken from ecoinvent, as detailed in Appendix 1. Otherwise, emission factors based on the regional grid will be applied.
The shall be taken from Table 4. Project Developers may suggest emission factors for other fuel types not included here if they:
are based on reputable, transparent sources
are geographically accurate for the project's context
are approved by the VVB and the Riverse Certification team.
Project Developers may declare a mix of fuels used (e.g. mostly diesel with a fraction of bioethanol). Default country-specific values shall be used for the ratio of diesel to biofuel (see Appendix 2), unless Project Developers provide proof of a different ratio.
Diesel - 100% mineral
3.16
0.00001167
0.000148
3.20
Biodiesel
NA
-
-
0.19
Bioethanol
NA
-
-
0.0114
Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO)
3.11
0.0000473
0.000148
3.15
The amount of energy used can be calculated by Project Developers using the distance traveled, and the energy efficiency (e.g. fuel consumption efficiency) of the vehicle. Then, the description and equations from the Energy Amount Approach section apply.
When details about the total energy consumption or vehicle energy efficiency are unavailable, GHG emissions from transport shall be modeled using:
default ecoinvent emission factors,
the weight of the product i transported through the segment s, in tonnes, and
the distance traveled.
Embodied transport emissions include GHG emissions from production and maintenance of major materials used in transport, such as trucks, ships and roads. These need to be added separately if the Energy amount approach or Energy efficiency approach are used to calculate energy use emissions. Emission factors from ecoinvent are used, and Project Developers shall choose between the following truck/ship categories:
For road transport, Project Developers shall select one of the following truck category sizes:
Light category: includes trucks with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of less than 7.5 tonnes. In the ecoinvent database, this category encompasses lorry size classes of 3.5-7.5 tonnes
Medium category: includes trucks with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of more than 7.5 tonnes and less than 32 tonnes. In the ecoinvent database, this category encompasses lorry size classes of 7.5-16 tonnes and 16-32 tonnes. The average values from these two truck sizes are used.
Heavy category: includes trucks with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of more than 32 tonnes. In the ecoinvent database, this category encompasses lorry size class >32t.
For sea transport, Project Developers shall select one of the following ship categories.
Ferry: typically used on short to medium distances.
Container ship: large, ocean-going vessel used to transport cargo in standardized containers, known as TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units).
Bulk carrier for dry goods: specifically designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ores, cement, and other dry commodities
Tanker for liquid goods other than petroleum and liquefied natural gas: designed to transport bulk liquid cargoes other than petroleum and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Truck, ship and road production and maintenance have significant GHG emissions over their entire lifespan. However, for the purpose of issuing carbon credits, these emissions must be distributed proportionally across the specific transport segment under review ("amortized"), rather than being counted entirely upfront.
This amortization is done on the basis of the amount of travel done in the segment, compared to the total expected amount of travel for the lifetime of the transport unit. The general approach is described below.
If the project reports that Truck 1 consumed 300 liters of diesel during the reporting period, the truck's total emissions would be proportionally allocated to the project based on the ratio of fuel consumed during the reporting period to its total lifetime fuel consumption. The calculation would be as follows:
Fuel Consumed in Project ÷ Total Lifetime Fuel Consumption = 300 liters ÷ 30,000 liters = 10% of lifetime use
Thus, the project is assigned 10% of Truck 1’s embodied emissions for that reporting period. This equates to:
This allocation method ensures that emissions from Truck 1’s production and maintenance are appropriately amortized across its lifetime use.
The calculations for total project transport emissions are as follows:
Energy amount approach and Energy efficiency approach:
Distance based approach:
See general instructions for uncertainty assessment in the Riverse Standard Rules. The outcome of the assessment shall be used to determine the percent of RCCs to eliminate with the .
The uncertainty of assumptions presented in the Assumptions section are assessed below:
Averaging truck sizes: this has low uncertainty since analyses showed that the emission profiles for the two medium truck sizes in ecoinvent were similar.
Empty returns: this has high uncertainty but the most conservative approach is taken in the quantifications.
Using the default ecoinvent load factor: this has high uncertainty, because in ecoinvent, it is assumed that all vehicles are not full. This load factor affects several aspects of the GHG emissions from road transport, and a project's load factor may be higher or lower.
Embodied transport emissions: this has low to moderate uncertainty as the transport unit and road maintenance is the most impactful embodied emissions processes.
The equations have no uncertainty since they are basic conversions.
Direct GHG emissions from combustion are used as secondary data and have moderate uncertainty. These values are not expected to vary significantly within the European fuel mix.
The uncertainty at the module level is estimated to be low. This translates to an expected discount factor of at least 3% for projects that have significant GHG impacts from transport.
Monitoring Plans for this module shall include, but are not limited to, tracking of the following information for each production batch:
Transport unit category used per segment
Amount of fuel per transport segment
Fuel type and fuel production geography per transport segment
Number of trips per transport segment
Transport unit category used per segment
Fuel efficiency and distance traveled per transport segment
Fuel type and fuel production geography per transport segment
Number of trips per transport segment
Truck category used per segment
Distance per transport segment
Weight of transported materials per segment
Number of trips per transport segment
The Project Developer is the party responsible for adhering to the Monitoring Plan.
The table below presents a non-exhaustive selection of ecoinvent activities that may be used in the GHG reduction calculations for this module. Additional activities may be used for any project, if the following selection does not cover all relevant activities.
Table A1 List of ecoinvent 3.10 processes used in the GHG reduction quantification model, all processes are from the cutoff database
Diesel upstream emissions
market group for diesel, low-sulfur | diesel, low-sulfur | Cutoff, U, RER
Ethanol upstream emissions
ethanol, from fermentation, to market for ethanol, vehicle grade | ethanol, from fermentation, to market for ethanol, vehicle grade | Cutoff, U, RoW
Natural gas upstream emissions
market for natural gas, high pressure | natural gas, high pressure | Cutoff, U, RoW
Heavy Fuel Oil upstream emissions
market for heavy fuel oil l market for heavy fuel oil l Cutoff, U, RoW
Grid electricity
market group for electricity, medium voltage | electricity, medium voltage | Cutoff, U, RER
Solar electricity*
market for electricity, low voltage, renewable energy products | electricity, low voltage, renewable | Cutoff, U, CH
Truck Transport - light
transport, freight, lorry 3.5-7.5 metric ton, EURO5 | transport, freight, lorry 3.5-7.5 metric ton, EURO5 | Cutoff, U, RER
Truck Transport - medium
transport, freight, lorry 7.5-16 metric ton, EURO5 | transport, freight, lorry 7.5-16 metric ton, EURO5 | Cutoff, U, RER
Truck Transport - medium
transport, freight, lorry 16-32 metric ton, EURO5 | transport, freight, lorry 16-32 metric ton, EURO5 | Cutoff, U, RER
Truck Transport - heavy
transport, freight, lorry >32 metric ton, EURO5 | transport, freight, lorry >32 metric ton, EURO5 | Cutoff, U, RER
Ship Transport - ferry
transport, freight, sea, ferry | transport, freight, sea, ferry | Cutoff, U, GLO
Ship Transport - container ship
transport, freight, sea, container ship | transport, freight, sea, container ship | Cutoff, U, GLO
Ship Transport - bulk carrier for dry goods
transport, freight, sea, bulk carrier for dry goods | transport, freight, sea, bulk carrier for dry goods | Cutoff, U, GLO
Ship Transport - tanker for liquid goods other than petroleum and liquefied natural gas
transport, freight, sea, tanker for liquid goods other than petroleum and liquefied natural gas | transport, freight, sea, tanker for liquid goods other than petroleum and liquefied natural gas | Cutoff, U, GLO
*If the solar plant is directly connected to the fuel station, emissions are assumed to be zero.
Table A2 National biofuel policies in Europe per country from - Diesel blend.
Europe average
5.9
Austria
6.3
Belgium
5.7
Bulgaria
6
France
9.2
Hungary
0.2
Latvia
6.5
Lithuania
6.2
Poland
5.2
Romania
6.5
Slovenia
6.9
Biofuel blends from other countries can be used if they come from reliable sources, and are approved by the Riverse Certification team and the VVB. If data for a specific European country is unavailable, the standard European biofuel percent may be used, which is conservatively estimated to be of the diesel fuel blend.
Category (see )
tanker for
Category (see )
tanker for
tanker for
Tanker for
consider at least CO, N,O and CH, emissions
Table 4 Direct GHG emissions from combustion for several fuel types, relevant for a European context. The first three columns represent emissions in kilograms of gaseous pollutants per kilogram of fuel combusted. The final column presents the total emission factor for fuel combustion, expressed as kg COeq, after converting NO and CH emissions using their respective Global Warming Potentials (GWPs).
represents the sum of GHG emissions resulting from the energy use involved in transporting all input and output materials in kgCOeq during the entire reporting period.
represent the sum of GHG emissions resulting from upstream fuel emissions, in kgCOeq.
represent the sum of GHG emissions resulting from the fuel combustion, in kgCOeq.
represents the quantity of fuel (kg, liters or m³) or electricity (kWh) used to transport the material i throughout the segment s.
is the upstream emission factor for the considered fuel used during transport in the segment s. Units vary depending on the fuel's units in ecoinvent (e.g. in kgCOeq/kWh or kgCOeq/kg). Refer to Appendix 1 for fuel options.
represents the number times segment s is repeated during the reporting period.
represents the rate of direct emissions for gas g (CO, NO and CH) for the combustion of the fuel type used in the transport segment s, presented in Table 4.
represents the global warming potential of gas g, taken from presented in the Riverse Standard Rules.
F represents the percentage of diesel in the fuel mix (as opposed to biofuel), which should be based on the country's fuel blend as detailed in Appendix 2. For example, if the diesel blend consists of 93% diesel and 7% biodiesel, then the emission of 100% mineral diesel from Table 4 should be multiplied by , which in this case would be 93%.
represents the quantity of fuel (kg, liters or m³) or electricity (kWh) used to transport the material throughout the segment .
represents the distance traveled in the transport section to transport the material , in km.
represents the fuel consumption efficiency of the vehicle used in transport section , in kg/km or kWh/km.
After calculating the amount of energy consumed, , is used in Equations 2 and 3 from the Calculations - Energy amount approach section instead of directly measured energy amounts.
represents the sum of GHG emissions resulting from the energy use and embodied emissions involved in transporting all input and output materials in kgCOeq during the entire reporting period.
represents the distance traveled in the transport section to transport the material , in km.
represents the weight of the product i transported through the segment , in tonnes.
represents the emission factor of the transport unit (truck or ship) in kgCOeq/t.km. This emission factor includes both upstream fuel production, direct emissions from fuel combustion, and embodied emissions from e.g. trucks, ships, roads... The ecoinvent options are presented in Appendix 1.
For example, it can be extrapolated from Ecoinvent that Truck 1 has total lifetime embodied emissions from production and maintenance amounting to 20 tCOeq, along with an estimated total lifetime fuel consumption of 30,000 liters of diesel (note that actual values may vary).
10% * 20 tCOeq = 0.2 tCOeq
In practice, this is implemented by taking an ecoinvent transport emission factor (in kgCOeq/tonne*km), isolating the embodied emissions, and multiplying by the fuel efficiency (in kg or kWh per tonne*km) to obtain an embodied emission factor in terms of kgCOeq/kg or kWh of energy.
represents the total project embodied emissions from transport, in kgCOeq.
is explained in Eq. 1 and represents the quantity of fuel (kg) or electricity (kWh) used to transport the material i throughout the segment s.
is the emission factor for transport embodied emissions in kgCOeq/kg or kWh of energy. The approach to obtain this emission factor is described above.
Fuel efficiency may be used to calculate the amount of fuel consumption ( ) as presented in Equation 4. The, is used in Equation 6 to calculate embodied emissions from transport.
is already calculated in Equation 5.
V1.0
Module name
Energy co-products
Module category
Transformation
Methodology name
Biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS)
Version
1.0
Methodology ID
RIV-BICRS-T-ECP-V1
Release date
December 4th, 2024
Status
In use
This is a Transformation Module and covers any avoided emissions from the production and export of energy co-products. This module is part of the Riverse BiCRS methodology, which allows Project Developers to choose the relevant modules for their project, and shall be used with the necessary accompanying modules.
This module is optional, and not all projects will use this module.
See more details on how modules are organized in the BiCRS home page.
This module covers energy co-products and the resulting avoided emissions related to BiCRS projects. It is used for issuing avoidance RCCs, whereas the rest of the methodology focuses on removal RCCs. Types of energy co-products may include but are not limited to:
direct combustion of syngas for heat
combustion of syngas in combined heat and power (CHP) plants for heat and electricity
combustion of syngas to generate steam for electricity
bio-oil use as biofuel
heat for district heating or industrial use
Note that only energy co-products that are exported from the project site and used elsewhere are included in this module and eligible for avoidance RCCs.
Energy that is used internally by the project (e.g. recirculated heat from pyrolysis) is not considered. The benefits of this are already included within the project LCA by counting a zero-impact heat source.
The eligibility criteria requirements specific to this module are detailed in the sections below. Other eligibility criteria requirements shall be taken from the accompanying modules and methodologies:
Project Developers shall prove that the project does not contribute to substantial environmental and social harms.
Project Developers shall prove that they follow all European, national, and local environmental regulations related to pollution from energy combustion (e.g. syngas, bio-oil...).
The Project Developer, the Riverse Certification team, or the VVB may suggest additional risks to be considered for a specific project.
Project Developers shall justify the selection of an avoided baseline energy source by demonstrating that their energy co-products is an appropriate, realistic and efficient substitute. This may be done using, for example,
direct measurements of the co-product's characteristics
contractual agreements specifying the required standards for the energy co-product or
reliable secondary/literature data detailing well-documented, consistent properties of the co-product.
The energy co-product may replace a specific energy source if it is known (e.g. natural gas) or a mix of energy sources (e.g. grid electricity, or average national heat sources). If the energy source is not specifically known, the replaced energy source shall be conservatively chosen.
The amount substituted shall be calculated based on the energy content of both the project's energy co-product and the baseline avoided energy product.
The GHG reduction quantification instructions from all other modules used by the project must be used in conjunction with the present module in order to obtain full life-cycle GHG reduction quantifications.
The additional quantification steps required in this module only relate to the baseline emissions from the avoided energy source. No additional project emissions are accounted for here, since the project's full life-cycle GHG emissions are already reported and quantified in other modules.
Monitoring and quantification may be done per Production Batch, or per calendar year. Verification shall be done annually by summing the GHG reduction quantifications for each production batch produced in the calendar year.
The required primary data for GHG reduction calculations from projects are presented in Table 1.
Table 1 Summary of primary data needed from projects and their source for initial project certification and validation. Asterisks (*) indicate which data are required to be updated annually during verification (see Monitoring Plan section).
Amount and type of energy product replaced*
kg, liter, MJ, MWh
Invoices, bills, contracts
The version 3.10 (hereafter referred to as ecoinvent) shall be the main source of emission factors unless otherwise specified. Ecoinvent is preferred because it is traceable, reliable, and well-recognized. The ecoinvent processes selected are detailed in Appendix.
If the available emission factors do not accurately represent the project, a different emission factor may be submitted by the Project Developer, and approved by the Riverse Certification team and the VVB. Any emission factor must meet the data requirements outlined in the Riverse Standard Rules, and come from traceable, transparent, unbiased, and reputable sources.
If the project undergoes ex-ante validation, estimations and calculations may be accepted instead of measured primary data. These shall be replaced by measured primary data upon verification. Any estimates and calculations should be justified with:
process engineering documents
technical specifications for machinery
measured data from previous projects or from the scientific literature
statistics or databases
Note that conservative estimates and calculations shall always be made to avoid overestimating provisional credits.
The rules outlined at the methodology-level in the BiCRS methodology document shall be applied for allocating GHG emissions between co-products.
The project scenario is the sum of induced GHG emissions from all other processes in other modules that are related to the generation of the energy co-product.
These processes may be shared with the carbon storage solution (e.g. transport of biomass to the transformation site), but for the purpose of issuing avoidance RCCs, these emissions shall be fully allocated to the energy co-product.
Any processes that take place after the carbon storage solution and energy co-product are generated, and that are not shared between them (e.g. transport of biochar to the agricultural field, permanent carbon storage), shall be excluded from the project scenario for energy co-products.
See the co-product allocation section in the BiCRS methodology document for more details.
Project Developers shall follow the baseline scenario selection guidance in the Riverse Standard Rules and the substitution criteria for this module.
All life cycle emissions from the avoided energy source shall be accounted for in the baseline scenario. This includes raw material extraction, processing, upgrading, distribution, and if relevant, combustion.
See general instructions for uncertainty assessment in the Riverse Standard Rules. The outcome of the assessment shall be used to determine the percent of RCCs to eliminate with the .
Uncertainty may come from project data, but this is estimated to be negligible, since it is required to come from a direct measurement.
There is low uncertainty from the baseline scenario selection, where the specific type of energy replaced may not be known, in which case the replaced energy source shall be conservatively chosen.
The uncertainty at the module level is estimated to be low. This translates to an expected discount factor of at least 3% for projects that have significant GHG impacts from avoided energy products.
Monitoring Plans for this module shall include, but are not limited to, tracking of the following information for each Production Batch and/or each calendar year:
Amount and type of energy product avoided by the project's energy co-product.
The Project Developer is the party responsible for adhering to the Monitoring Plan.
The table below presents a non-exhaustive selection of Ecoinvent activities that may be used in the GHG reduction calculations for this module. Additional activities may be used for any project, if the following selection does not cover all relevant activities.
Table A1 List of ecoinvent 3.10 processes used in the GHG reduction quantification model, all processes are from the cutoff database
grid electricity
market for electricity, low voltage, country specific
diesel fuel material
market for diesel, low-sulfur
market for diesel
diesel burning
diesel, burned in agricultural machinery
diesel, burned in diesel-electric generating set, 18.5kW
natural gas burning
natural gas, burned in gas turbine
heat, from steam
market for heat, from steam, in chemical industry
heat, from municipal incineration
heat, from municipal waste incineration to generic market for heat district or industrial, other than natural gas
heat, from biomethane burning
market for heat, central or small-scale, biomethane
heat, from straw burning in a furnace
heat production, straw, at furnace 300kW
heat, from natural gas
market for heat, district or industrial, natural gas
market for heat, central or small-scale, natural gas
V1.0
Module name
Processing and energy use
Module category
Transformation
Methodology name
Biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS)
Version
1.0
Methodology ID
RIV-BICRS-T-P&ENG-V1.0
Release date
December 4th, 2024
Status
In use
This is a Transformation Module and covers processing and energy use related to the project. This module is part of the Riverse BiCRS methodology, which allows Project Developers to choose the relevant modules for their project, and shall be used with the necessary accompanying modules.
See more details on how modules are organized in the BiCRS home page.
This module covers all processing stages and non-transport energy inputs related to BiCRS projects. It is intended to cover all eligibility criteria and GHG quantification for all processes that are not included in the other BiCRS modules: feedstock production, transport, infrastructure/machinery, and carbon storage. Specific processes vary by project, and may include but are not limited to:
storing, drying, mixing, shredding and grinding of biomass feedstock
operation of pyrolysis/gasification machinery
direct emissions from off-gas released to the atmosphere (e.g. methane)
purification, liquefication, and other post-processing of products
use of electricity, gas, heat, water, or other material inputs
waste treatment and management of non-valuable co-products
The eligibility criteria requirements specific to this module are detailed in the sections below. Other eligibility criteria requirements shall be taken from the accompanying modules and methodologies:
Project Developers shall prove that the project does not contribute to substantial environmental and social harms.
Projects must follow all European, national, and local environmental regulations related to, for example, syngas combustion national emission regulations.
Feedstock sustainability risks shall be taken from the Biomass feedstock module.
The only strict, disqualifying requirement in this module is that pyrolysis gases produced during the process must be either captured or cleanly burned, if the project is using pyrolysis/gasification. Waste heat and energy coproducts should be used onsite, and fossil fuel based energy should be minimized.
Project Developers shall fill in the Riverse Processing and energy use risk evaluation, to evaluate the identified environmental and social risks of projects. The identified risks include:
Pests and pathogen growth from biomass feedstock storage
Leachate and runoff from biomass feedstock storage
Gaseous emissions from pyrolysis/gasification/combustion
Improper disposal of waste by-products (ash, tar, residue...) causing soil and water contamination
Inefficient use of waste heat
Worker exposure to particulate matter or other gaseous pollutants from pyrolysis
Worker exposure to dust from biomass shredding/grinding, respiratory risks
The processes covered in this module are highly dependent on the project type, so not all risks may be relevant to a given project. Project Developers may explain how a risk is not applicable to their project.
The GHG reduction quantification instructions from all other modules used by the project must be used in conjunction with the present module in order to obtain full life-cycle GHG reduction quantifications. It is a catch-all module that includes all relevant processes that are not included in other modules.
Monitoring and quantification may be done per Production Batch, or per calendar year. Verification shall be done annually by summing the GHG reduction quantifications for each production batch produced in the calendar year.
The system boundary of this quantification section includes GHG emissions from at least the following mandatory activities:
Electricity and fuel production
Fuel combustion
Direct emissions of off-gas/flue gas
Water use
Waste treatment
According to the Riverse Standard Rules, processes with the lowest contributions to impacts, which each account for less than 1% of total impacts, may be excluded from the GHG quantification. These processes shall be transparently identified and justified.
For example, if a screening simulation shows that tap water use for wetting feedstock contributes to less than 1% of project GHGs, then tap water may be excluded from the calculations.
The required primary data for GHG reduction calculations from projects are presented in Table 1. These data shall be provided for each production batch and made publicly available.
Table 1 Summary of primary data needed from projects and their source for initial project certification and validation. Asterisks (*) indicate which data are required to be updated annually during verification (see Monitoring Plan section).
Pyrolysis/gasification target temperature, for each production batch*
°C
Operations records (only for projects that perform pyrolysis/gasification)
Pyrolysis/gasification residence time, for each production batch*
minutes
Operations records (only for projects that perform pyrolysis/gasification)
Detailed process diagram with included/excluded processes
Flow chart
Internal process documents
Type of input/emission*
Text description
Internal process documents
Amount of input/emission*
Meter readings, bills, internal tracking documents, invoices, contracts, gas analyzers or sensors on pyrolysis equipment, calculated using conversions from other primary project data
The version 3.10 (hereafter referred to as ecoinvent) shall be the main source of emission factors unless otherwise specified. Ecoinvent is preferred because it is traceable, reliable, and well-recognized. The ecoinvent processes selected are detailed in Appendix.
If the available emission factors do not accurately represent the project, a different emission factor may be submitted by the Project Developer, and approved by the Riverse Certification team and the VVB. Any emission factor must meet the data requirements outlined in the Riverse Standard Rules, and come from traceable, transparent, unbiased, and reputable sources.
No other secondary data sources are used in this module.
If the project undergoes ex-ante validation, estimations and calculations may be accepted instead of measured primary data. These shall be replaced by measured primary data upon verification. Any estimates and calculations should be justified with:
process engineering documents
technical specifications for machinery
measured data from previous projects or from the scientific literature
statistics or databases
Note that conservative estimates and calculations shall always be made to avoid overestimating provisional credits.
Because energy is expected to be the most important input in this module, additional details are provided regarding how to model energy.
Projects may only use renewable electricity emission factors for their energy consumption if:
the energy production is directly linked to the project site, and can prove that there is a physical link, or
the project holds renewable energy certificates (REC) (e.g. guarantee of origin, GO) plus an energy contract or purchase agreement for the concerned energy. In other words, the project can prove the coupled use of the energy and its corresponding REC.
Use of only a REC is not sufficient and shall be counted as grid electricity.
Electricity grid emission factors shall be taken for the national grid (at the maximum granularity), and if possible, regional mixes shall be used.
GHG emissions from fuel use shall include both the upstream extraction and processing of fuel, plus the direct emissions from combustion.
The rules outlined at the methodology-level in the BiCRS methodology document shall be applied for allocating GHG emissions between co-products.
Based on the project's detailed process diagram, activities and inputs shall be selected for inclusion in the module and listed.
Project Developers shall choose a type of input/emission used among the options in Appendix 1. If the relevant input is not listed, it may be added/considered on a case by case basis, and approved by the Riverse Certification team and the VVB.
For each input, Project Developers shall provide the amount used and units per Production Batch and/or per calendar year.
The table below provides an example of the type of data Project Developers may provide to use this module.
Grid electricity
8
GWh
All electricity used onsite annually
Electricity bills
Diesel
5
liter
Shredding machine. 1 liter diesel per Production Batch, x5 Production Batches per year, calculated using machine fuel efficiency and number of hours used
Technical specifications (liter/hour), record of number of hours used
Methane emissions
20
kg
Emissions calculated from incomplete combustion of syngas
Equipment technical specifications (e.g. 99% efficiency guaranteed), records of amount of syngas produced
Bottom ash waste
50
kg
Management of ash residue from 1 year, landfilled
Invoice from waste management company
See general instructions for uncertainty assessment in the Riverse Standard Rules. The outcome of the assessment shall be used to determine the percent of RCCs to eliminate with the .
Uncertainty may come from project data, but this is estimated to be negligible, since it is required to come from a direct measurement.
This translates to no minimum expected discount factor based on this module.
Monitoring Plans for this module shall include, but are not limited to, tracking of the following information for each Production Batch and/or each calendar year:
Amount and type of any input/emission that makes up more than 30% of project life-cycle GHG emissions
Amount and type of any input/emission that makes up between 10-30% of project life-cycle GHG emissions and is expected to vary by more than 30% between Production Batches
The Project Developer is the party responsible for adhering to the Monitoring Plan.
The table below presents a non-exhaustive selection of Ecoinvent activities that may be used in the GHG reduction calculations for this module. Additional activities may be used for any project, if the following selection does not cover all relevant activities.
Table A1 List of ecoinvent 3.10 processes used in the GHG reduction quantification model, all processes are from the cutoff database
grid electricity
market for electricity, low voltage
market for electricity, medium voltage
onsite solar electricity
electricity production, photovoltaic, 570kWp open ground installation, multi-Si
diesel fuel material
market for diesel, low-sulfur
market for diesel
diesel burning
diesel, burned in agricultural machinery
diesel, burned in diesel-electric generating set, 18.5kW
natural gas burning
natural gas, burned in gas turbine
heat, from steam
market for heat, from steam, in chemical industry
heat, from munipal incineration
heat, from municipal waste incineration to generic market for heat district or industrial, other than natural gas
heat, from biomethane burning
market for heat, central or small-scale, biomethane
heat, from straw burning in a furnace
heat production, straw, at furnace 300kW
heat, from natural gas
market for heat, district or industrial, natural gas
market for heat, central or small-scale, natural gas
water
market for tap water
market for water, decarbonised
market for water, deionised
non-hazardous landfill
market for process-specific burdens, slag landfill
market for process-specific burdens, sanitary landfill
market for process-specific burdens, inert material landfill
hazardous waste treatment
market for hazardous waste, for incineration
market for hazardous waste, for underground deposit
V1.0
Module name
Infrastructure and machinery
Module category
Transformation
Methodology name
Biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS)
Version
1.0
Methodology ID
RIV-BICRS-T-INFRA-V1.0
Release date
December 4th, 2024
Status
In use
This is a Transformation Module and covers the cradle to grave impacts of major infrastructure and machinery. This module is part of the Riverse BiCRS methodology, which allows Project Developers to choose the relevant modules for their project, and shall be used with the necessary accompanying modules.
See more details on how modules are organized in the BiCRS home page.
This module covers the embodied emissions from production and end of life of major infrastructure and machinery used for BiCRS projects. Specific infrastructure and machinery vary by project, and may include but are not limited to:
pyrolysis/gasification reactors*
feedstock shredders, grinders, dryers and conveyors*
building structure*
concrete foundations*
cables used in large quantities
silos and storage facilities
gas cleaning systems
onsite pipelines
Items marked with an asterisk are required to be considered in the GHG reduction quantification if they weigh more than 1 tonne.
Materials that shall be prioritized are those that are expected to contribute the most to GHG emissions, due to large quantities used and the emission intensity of the material. This includes, for example, steel and its alloys, concrete, virgin aluminum, and copper. Other materials that may be considered, but are lower priority because they contribute fewer GHG emissions, include glass, ceramics, various types of plastics and recycled aluminum. Materials not mentioned here may be omitted. Electronic components (e.g. wiring, circuit boards, screens...) are not included due to their small impact and difficulty in data collection.
Items with a lifetime of 1 year or more
Items that have been created/are used as a direct result of the project operations
Pre-existing infrastructure that would have been used by another company/project, if the present project did not exist (e.g. office buildings, foundations...).
Onsite machinery and equipment
Machinery used in the product life cycle but located outside the direct control of the project (e.g. storage silos at the biomass feedstock collection stage)
There are no eligibility criteria requirements specific to this module. Eligibility criteria requirements shall be taken from the accompanying modules and methodologies:
The GHG reduction quantification instructions from all other modules used by the project must be used in conjunction with the present module in order to obtain full life-cycle GHG reduction quantifications.
The system boundary of this quantification section includes the raw material extraction, processing, and end of life waste treatment of major infrastructure and machinery used in the project life cycle (excluding transport machinery, which are covered in the Transportation module).
Quantification shall be done once during validation, and GHG emissions shall be allocated temporally to each verification year that credits are issued for (see more details in the Temporal Allocation section). This module may be considered during monitoring and subsequent verifications only if new infrastructure/machinery are declared by the Project Developer for that year.
The scope of the module, and which infrastructure and machinery items to include, are described in the Scope of the module section.
No Baseline scenario shall be considered by default for this module.
Project Developers may choose between two modeling options:
Full approach: This includes detailed measuring, reporting and modeling of important infrastructure and machinery used. Data collection is more difficult, but fewer conservative assumptions/discounts are made.
Simplified approach: For projects where infrastructure and machinery are not large contributors to GHG emissions (see details below), a proxy facility with infrastructure and machinery may be used. Data collection is simple and uncertainty is high, so efforts are taken to ensure this approach overestimates GHG emissions rather than underestimates.
The required primary data for GHG reduction calculations from projects are presented in Table 1. These data shall be provided once during validation, and made publicly available.
Table 1 Summary of primary data needed from projects and their source for initial project certification and validation. Two asterisks (**) indicate which data are optional, where a conservative default choice will be applied
Item type
Selection
NA
Material type
Selection
Technical specifications, bill of materials, invoices, building design documents
Material amount
Same as above
Item lifetime**
years
Same as above
List of items that were excluded
Selection
Description of the system and transparent justification
Data shall be reported in terms of items (e.g. pyrolysis reactor) and the materials that make up each item (e.g. stainless steel, ceramics).
Material amounts may be directly provided in the sources, or may be calculated using basic conversions based on a primary source plus justified conversion factors (e.g. density).
Tonnes of biomass processed annually (dry matter)
tonne
Contract with biomass supplier, operations tracking, invoices
The version 3.10 (hereafter referred to as ecoinvent) shall be the main source of emission factors unless otherwise specified. Ecoinvent is preferred because it is traceable, reliable, and well-recognized. The ecoinvent processes selected are detailed in Appendix.
If the available emission factors do not accurately represent the project, a different emission factor may be submitted by the Project Developer, and approved by the Riverse Certification team and the VVB. Any emission factor must meet the data requirements outlined in the Riverse Standard Rules, and come from traceable, transparent, unbiased, and reputable sources.
No other secondary data sources are used in this module.
If the project undergoes ex-ante validation, estimations and calculations may be accepted instead of measured primary data. These shall be replaced by measured primary data upon verification. Any estimates and calculations should be justified with:
process engineering documents
technical specifications for machinery
measured data from previous projects or from the scientific literature
statistics or databases
Note that conservative estimates and calculations shall always be made to avoid overestimating provisional credits.
Infrastructure and machinery have significant GHG emissions over their entire lifespan. However, for the purpose of issuing carbon credits, these emissions must be distributed proportionally across the specific verification period under review ("amortized"), rather than being counted entirely upfront.
For example, if a pyrolysis machine has an expected lifetime of 7 years, and its embodied life cycle GHG emissions are 35 t COeq, then its emissions amortized to 1 year are t COeq/year. For the annual verification and issuance of the project, 5 t COeq would be counted towards the project emissions for the pyrolysis machinery.
The lifetimes provided in Table 2 shall be used by default for various types of items. Note that they are very conservative estimates for lifetimes in order to avoid over-crediting, and due to the high uncertainty around the durability of such items. Project Developers may provide proof to justify a different lifetime, subject to the approval of the VVB and the Riverse Certification team.
Table 2 Assumed expected lifetimes are presented for various types of machinery and infrastructure.
Pyrolysis reactor
7
Feedstock shredder, grinder, dryer
7
Gas cooling, cleaning, and energy recovery
10
Silos, hoppers
10
Buildings, sheds
20
Aboveground pipelines
20
Underground pipelines
40
Building foundations
50
The rules outlined at the methodology-level in the BiCRS methodology document shall be applied for allocating GHG emissions between co-products.
The estimated lifetimes presented in Table 2 are assumptions.
The end of life waste treatment methods are assumed, because it is impossible to know what waste treatment methods will be common many years in the future.
Emission factors for items and materials are grouped together under the most common representative type available in ecoinvent. For example, hundreds of ecoinvent processes are available that describe various production, processing, and waste treatment of steel, but only a selection of steel-related processes are made available in the Riverse platform (see options in Appendix 1).
First all total GHG emissions from infrastructure and machinery are quantified.
Then they are amortized to one year based on the expected lifetime of each item.
Finally they can be normalized to the functional unit of 1 tonne of carbon storage solution, based on the amount of carbon storage solution generated during the verification year.
They can optionally be normalized to the Production Batch, or to the tonne of carbon storage solution in a given Production Batch, for informational purposes only. RCCs are ultimately verified and issued based on the annual processes.
Project Developers shall select items/materials used among the options in Appendix 1. If the relevant input is not listed, it may be added/considered on a case by case basis, and approved by the Riverse Certification team and the VVB.
For each material, Project Developers shall provide the item it corresponds to (e.g. steel for pyrolysis reactor, steel for silo...) and the amount used in the item. Items may be composed of multiple materials, or only one main material. Default lifetimes provided in Table 2 shall be applied, unless Project Developers justify a different lifetime.
Although it is more precise to accurately measure and report all machinery and infrastructure, this represents a large data collection burden for a life cycle stage that is not expected to be a major contributor to GHG emissions in many BiCRS projects.
Therefore, Project Developers may choose between a full, detailed model of their infrastructure and machinery using primary data, or a simplified approach using a proxy biomass gasification factory with approximately 400-500 t COeq over the lifetime (see Appendix 1 for the ecoinvent processes details).
If the simplified approach shows that Infrastructure and machinery contribute to more than 5% of the project's induced emissions (not net emissions, including removals), then this life cycle stage is deemed too important for the project and the simplified approach may not be used. The project must use the Full approach.
The proxy represents a global average biomass gasification factory, so it is adapted by replacing heat and electricity inputs with country-specific sources. It includes the production and waste treatment of buildings, facilities, dryer, gasifier, communication equipment, and gas treatment and conditioning equipment.
Note that due to high uncertainty in the simplified approach, conservative assumptions will be made that likely lead lead to overestimating project emissions from the infrastructure and machinery life cycle stage. For example, although the ecoinvent process represents a facility with a 50 year lifetime, a 15 year lifetime shall be assumed here (see Temporal allocation section). Project Developers shall provide the amount of biomass processes annually, which is used to adjust the default facility to the project size.
For example, if the default facility has
a life cycle impact of 400 t COeq and
a rate of 10,000 tonnes of dry biomass processed annually
then a project that processes 5,000 tonnes of biomass is assumed to be half the size and have half the impacts of the default option.
Therefore, the project would have 200 t COeq from infrastructure and machinery.
See general instructions for uncertainty assessment in the Riverse Standard Rules. The outcome of the assessment shall be used to determine the percent of RCCs to eliminate with the .
Uncertainty may come from project data, but this is estimated to be negligible, since it is required to come from a primary source.
The uncertainty of the assumptions in this module is assessed below:
There is high uncertainty in default expected lifetimes for infrastructure and machinery items, and results are very sensitive to this parameter. Conservative values within a reasonable range were taken.
There is high uncertainty in the future waste treatment methods, but results are not very sensitive to this parameter.
There is moderate uncertainty in assuming that the selection of ecoinvent processes for a given material/item are representative of all its uses.
It is expected that the overall project emissions will typically not be very sensitive to the infrastructure and machinery module emissions and uncertainty, since they usually make up a small fraction of the total emissions. The uncertainty for projects from this module is therefore estimated to be low. This translates to an expected discount factor of at least 3% for projects that have significant GHG impacts from infrastructure and machinery.
No default monitoring plan is required for this module because data are expected to be reported and calculated only once per crediting period.
The general Project Monitoring and Verification requirements from the Riverse Procedures Manual still apply, where Project Developers shall declare any major changes during monitoring, such as if a major piece of machinery was replaced, or a new piece of infrastructure was installed. GHG reduction quantification shall then be performed as described in the previous section, using primary data described in Table 1.
The Project Developer is the party responsible for adhering to the Monitoring Plan.
The table below presents a non-exhaustive selection of Ecoinvent activities that may be used in the GHG reduction calculations for this module. Additional activities may be used for any project, if the following selection does not cover all relevant activities.
Table A1 List of ecoinvent 3.10 processes used in the GHG reduction quantification model, all processes are from the cutoff database
Steel alloy, stainless steel production
market for steel, chromium steel 18/8, hot rolled, GLO
Unalloyed steel production
market for steel, low-alloyed, hot rolled, GLO
Reinforcing steel (building)
market for reinforcing steel, GLO
All steel end of life
market for waste reinforcement steel, RoW
Concrete production
market for concrete, normal strength, RoW
Concrete end of life
market for waste concrete, not reinforced, Europe without Switzerland
Copper production
market for copper, cathode, GLO
Aluminum production
market for aluminium, wrought alloy, GLO
Default facility for simplified approach
synthetic gas factory construction, RoW
heat, district or industrial, other than natural gas, Europe without Switzerland
market group for electricity, medium voltage, European Network of Transmission Systems Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E)
kg, liter, kWh, MWh, GWh, m
Download the template here
Items with a lifetime of less than 1 year are considered consumables, and are considered in the module.
kg, tonne, m
All risk assessments must also address the Minimum ESDNH risks defined in the Riverse Standard Rules.
Project Developers shall assign a likelihood and severity score of each risk, and provide an explanation of their choices. The VVB and Riverse’s Certification team shall evaluate the assessment and may recommend changes to the assigned scores.
All risks with a high or very high risk score are subject to a Risk Mitigation Plan, which outlines how Project Developers will mitigate, monitor, report, and if necessary, compensate for any environmental and/or social harms.
Additional proof may be required for certain high risk environmental and social problems.
The Project Developer, the Riverse Certification team, or the VVB may suggest additional risks to be considered for a specific project.
Note that the life-cycle GHG reduction calculations account for the climate change impacts of most environmental risks. Nonetheless, Project Developers shall transparently describe any identified GHG emission risks in the risk evaluation template.
Energy co-products
