Is it considered emission reduction or zero carbon emissions? There is an urgent need to clarify the environmental attributes of green certificates
What are the environmental attributes of the green certificate? A few days ago, an industry expert said in an interview with reporters that the current environmental attributes of green certificates are not clear. The carbon emissions of green electricity are either simply identified as zero, or carbon emissions are not considered separately, and the positioning of green certificates needs to be further clarified.
Zheng Ying, a distinguished expert of the Energy and Environment Center of the Tsinghua Strait Research Institute, told reporters that for green electricity and green certificates, whether their environmental attributes are recognized as emission reductions or zero carbon emissions is of great significance to electricity-carbon synergy. "This determines how green power and green certificates will be recognized in the carbon market in the future. At the same time, it is the basis for the calculation of grid emission factors. However, judging from the wording of the relevant documents, it is not clear what exactly the environmental attributes are. ”
The designation is unclear
The green certificate is the only proof of the environmental attributes of renewable energy in China, and the only certificate for determining the production and consumption of renewable electricity. What exactly are environmental attributes?
The reporter interviewed and found that some carbon experts believe that according to the previous policies jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Energy Bureau, wind power, solar power generation, biomass power generation, geothermal power generation, marine power generation and hydropower are all low-carbon emission power generation sources. For example, the Hubei Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment recently released the "Hubei Province 2022 Carbon Emission Allowance Allocation Plan", which points out that the corresponding emission reductions of green power trading certificates offset the actual carbon emissions. For enterprises with quota gaps, green electricity emission reductions can be offset.
Some regions have clearly identified green power as zero carbon emissions. In April this year, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in the Management of Carbon Emission Units and the Pilot of Carbon Emission Trading in the City in 2023", which clearly pointed out that the carbon emissions of green electricity purchased and used by key carbon emitting units through market-based means are calculated as zero; In June, the Shanghai Municipal Department of Ecology and Environment issued the Notice on Adjusting the Accounting Methods for Green Power Carbon Emissions in the Purchased Electricity of Carbon Trading Enterprises in Shanghai, which clearly stated that the emission factor of purchased green electricity was adjusted to 0 tCO2/104kWh, which means that the carbon emissions of green electricity purchased by recognized enterprises are zero.
"If the environmental value of green certificates is not clear, it may lead to doubts among market participants about the true environmental benefits of green certificates, which may affect their market circulation and trading. This will make it difficult for the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments to promote the full coverage of green certificates, renewable electricity consumption and guarantee of renewable electricity consumption. Zhang Caiping, dean of the Institute of Carbon Neutrality and Nuclear Energy Development and Innovation of the University of South China, said.
There is controversy
"At present, the identification of the environmental rights and interests of green certificates is mainly carried out by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the National Energy Administration, but since these three departments are not in charge of the carbon market, it remains to be seen whether the environmental rights and interests of green certificates can participate in the carbon market." Peng Peng, Secretary-General of China New Energy Power Investment and Financing Alliance, said.
In addition, there is some controversy about whether the green certificate is recognized as zero carbon emission or carbon emission reduction.
"If the environmental attributes of green certificates are identified as emission reductions, it is actually ignoring the zero-emission attributes of green power itself in the process of power generation, and the emission reductions are not actual emission reductions, but are calculated through calculations, so it is very controversial to use emission reductions to characterize environmental attributes. If the environmental attributes of the green certificate are identified as carbon emission reductions, its use will be the same as that of CCER, which may not only lead to the risk of 'greenwashing', but also cause the problem of double counting of carbon emissions. Zheng Ying said.
Zheng Ying further said that it is relatively reasonable to identify the green certificate as zero emission, and it is also in line with the zero emission attribute of new energy, but it also faces some problems.
"Normally, renewable electricity cannot be counted as both zero emissions and carbon reduction. In other words, if the environmental value of the green certificate refers to zero emissions, since offshore wind power, solar thermal grid-connected and other projects have been included in the scope of CCER, then one degree of offshore wind power or one degree of solar thermal grid-connected electricity will have two environmental attributes, which is emission reduction and zero emission at the same time, this problem will eventually be reflected in the carbon market, and how to identify the carbon market at that time is a difficult problem, which also means that this kilowatt-hour of electricity is overdeveloped. ”
Improve the fine rules
The positioning is unclear and the system is complex, and the environmental attributes of green certificates need to be further studied.
Zheng Ying appealed: "At present, only programmatic documents have been issued for green certificates, and specific implementation rules have not yet been issued. It is hoped that the competent authorities will fully take into account the convergence of the two markets and the uniqueness of the environmental attributes of renewable energy when formulating the relevant implementation rules, open up market channels to formulate rules, and further clarify the details. ”
Zhang Caiping suggested: "To clarify the environmental attributes of green certificates, we can establish clearer environmental attribute identification standards and evaluation systems; Strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of the environmental benefits of green certificates to ensure the authenticity and credibility of their environmental attributes; Strengthen the formulation and supervision of relevant laws and regulations, and standardize the issuance and use of green certificates. At the same time, it can also strengthen the publicity and education of market players to improve their awareness and understanding of the environmental attributes of green certificates; Accelerate the convergence and coordination of green certificates with the national carbon emission trading mechanism and the voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction trading mechanism, and better give full play to the synergy of the system. ”
In addition, it is particularly important to break through the barriers of electricity-carbon synergy. Peng Peng said: "It is still unclear whether the environmental attributes of green certificates will be realised in the green certificate market or in the carbon market. Previously, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment clarified that offshore wind power and solar thermal power can be realized in the carbon market through CCER, but the remaining renewable electricity can only be realized through green certificates. If we want to clarify the environmental rights and interests of green certificates, we need to connect the green certificate market with the carbon market, which also requires coordination between a higher level of government departments. ”
"The environmental value of renewable electricity must be reflected in the environmental market. If the green certificate does not clarify the definition of environmental attributes, and the development of the carbon market is not clear, the future activity will be very limited. Only by clarifying the environmental attributes and achieving consistency in all markets of renewable energy can the carbon emission factors be accurately updated and a healthy system of electricity-carbon synergy can be built. Zheng Ying said.
