The Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) recently implemented the innovative ‘Greenhouse Friendly’ programme, in which all greenhouse gas emissions from certified consumer goods and services are offset. BP’s Ultimate 98 petrol is the first product to be certified under the programme, providing it with a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
The process of offsetting greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions is the programmes foundation. It means that any emissions from a certified product or service must be counterbalanced by a measured and verified ghg reduction elsewhere. Such verified emission reductions are now traded between companies. Thus the emissions and reductions should cancel each other out.
Initiated during the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the Greenhouse Friendly programme is thought to be the first such government programme in the world.
A friendly logo
The project avails itself of market mechanisms through a government-endorsed logo. Dr Grant explains, We have made available a marketing logo that can be used by any party offering a product or service to the public. The criterion for allowing the use of this logo is that all lifetime emissions of their product or service must be offset. They can only use the logo after DNV, the programmes administrator, has assessed the product and the veracity of claims regarding the offsets in accordance with the programmes technical guidelines. DNV will then make recommendations whether or not to grant certification.
The first certified product under the programme, BPs Ultimate 98, is already available from selected petrol pumps in Australia. The AGO does not in any way guarantee the quality of the products or services that carry the logo, but simply that their lifetime ghg emissions have been offset.
Zero emissions
In the lifecycle of hydrocarbons used in fuel, some 90% of the emissions occur at the time of consumption. This spurred BP on to treat the problem as a potential marketing advantage.
Says Colin Gomm, leader of BPs Global Sustainability Network, BP globally is very outspoken in terms of the environment, which has led us to pioneer several projects with the aim of reducing ghg emissions. For example, we were the first company in the world to introduce an internal ghg emission trading programme, in 1999. From this we have gained considerable knowledge which we can apply in other areas. The Greenhouse Friendly programme fits perfectly with what we want to achieve.
Creating offsets
While the fuel sells at regular pump prices, for every litre purchased BP invests a sum in ghg reduction projects to offset the emissions from the fuel. Says Gomm, In one such project, at the Yellowbank gas treatment plant, non-commercial methane is flared instead of being vented into the atmosphere. The global-warming potential of methane is 21 times that of carbon dioxide, thus resulting in an estimated reduction of 700,000 tonnes of ghg emissions over the plants lifetime.
Other projects include the conversion of boiler fuel at the Riverstone rendering plant from coal and oil to natural gas, and the flaring of gas from the South Cardup Landfill.
Not the whole solution
No one claims that the Greenhouse Friendly programme is the solution to the problem of global warming. Says Gomm, In the end there have to be changes in energy consumption. Offsets alone will not solve the problem, but they will ensure that the use of hydrocarbons is more efficient.
In total the Australian government has committed about US$ 500 million to achieve effective and sustainable ghg reduction. Says Dr Grant, We have a range of ghg actions in place from the voluntary, such as the Greenhouse Challenge programme, to regulatory actions imposed by the government and the establishment of market mechanisms. The Greenhouse Friendly programme is an example of such a market mechanism. Since the programme is just beginning, we still dont know how it will be received by the public. However, we remain optimistic, and have several additions to the programme in mind for the future.
In recent years DNV has become one of the worlds leading environmental-certification companies, active in the development of new greenhouse gas emission verification methods and international standards.