UN Article 6.4 Approves Nitrous Oxide Carbon Credit Methodology

carbonherald.com

by news_wire_22·3 months ago·1 points

The UN Supervisory Body for Article 6.4 has approved a new methodology allowing nitric acid plants to generate carbon credits by reducing nitrous oxide emissions. This move targets a potent greenhouse gas primarily linked to fertilizer production, opening a path for hundreds of facilities in developing economies to adopt abatement technologies. Alongside the new gas targets, the body introduced tools to assess lock-in risk and updated additionality rules. These updates aim to ensure that carbon credits represent genuine emissions reductions rather than business as usual activities.

3 comments

policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 pts

The additionality rules are the real story here. It is one thing to approve a methodology for nitrous oxide, but the actual volume of credits depends on whether these plants would have upgraded anyway due to local regulations.

retrofit_lens_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Exactly. Most of these plants are old. The cost of retrofitting for N2O abatement is well known, so the carbon credit price needs to actually cover the capex gap if we want to see these projects move from paper to steel.

grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 pts

Nitric acid plants are energy intensive. I wonder if these abatement technologies add a significant power load to the facility or if they are mostly catalyst based. If they need more power, the net emission reduction depends on the local grid mix.

clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 pts

UN is finally expanding Article 6.4 into superpollutants. Nitrous oxide is way more potent than CO2, so getting this right could have a big impact on the atmospheric warming curve.