Case Studies: Natural Gas Products Bundled with Carbon Offsets, Featuring Georgia Natural Gas / SouthStar Energy Services and Puget Sound Energy

As gas customers look to reduce their carbon emissions and stakeholders expect value-added services, forward-looking gas sellers and utilities are offering their customers a greener option: natural gas products bundled with voluntary carbon offsets.

On this free webinar, hear from current gas sellers offering Green-e® Climate certified Carbon Offset Natural Gas (CONG) products, with topics including:

Why they chose to offer a Green-e® CONG product
The basics of CONG program design and carbon offset sourcing
Benefits seen from offering a third-party certified product, including differentiation, risk reduction and positive brand recognition
Also included in this webinar will be an introduction to Green-e® Climate, the leading carbon offset retail certification. The program verifies and certifies voluntary carbon offset products to ensure they are of the highest environmental quality and are marketed and sold accurately and transparently.

Speakers:
Keith R. Gallagher, Director, Mass Markets, SouthStar Energy
Tyler O’Farrell, Product Manager – Clean Energy Solutions, Puget Sound Energy
Michelle McGinty, Manager, Program Outreach, Center for Resource Solutions

Transcript

1. CASE STUDIES NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS BUNDLED WITH CARBON OFFSETS MICHELLE MCGINTY PROGRAM OUTREACH MANAGER CENTER FOR RESOURCE SOLUTIONS KEITH R. GALLAGHER DIRECTOR, MASS MARKETS SOUTHSTAR ENERGY TYLER O’FARRELL PRODUCT MANAGER – CLEAN ENERGY SOLUTIONS PUGET SOUND ENERGY
2. Agenda PAGE 2 © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved. • Introduction to CRS • Voluntary Carbon Offset Market Overview • About Green-e® Climate Certification • Case Studies with Guest Speakers: • Puget Sound Energy, Tyler O’Farrell, Product Manager – Clean Energy Solutions • SouthStar Energy, Keith R. Gallagher, Director, Mass Markets
3. PAGE 3 Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) creating policy and market solutions to advance sustainable energy since 1997. • Expert Assistance • Renewable energy and climate policy • Renewable Energy Markets annual conference • Green-e® certification for suppliers and users of renewable energy and carbon offsets in the voluntary market Center for Resource Solutions © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved.
4. Introduction VOLUNTARY CARBON OFFSETS PAGE 4 © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved.
5. A certificate representing the reduction of one metric ton (2,205 lbs) of carbon dioxide (or equivalent) emissions (mtCO 2 e) What is a carbon offset? PAGE 5 © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved. Transportation Industrial Gas Destruction Energy Efficiency Coal Mine Methane Capture Fuel Switching Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) Landfill Methane Capture Industrial Process Emissions Livestock Methane Capture Renewable Energy
6. PAGE 6 © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved. Carbon offsets must cause additional emission reductions Baseline Scenario (BAU) Emissions Reductions (1 tonne = 1 carbon offset) Emissions (mtCO2 e) Time
7. PAGE 7 © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved. Source: Ecosystem Marketplace - Voluntary Carbon Markets Insights: 2018 Outlook and First-Quarter Trends Carbon offsets are global
8. PAGE 8 © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved. Trending Demand for Natural Climate Solutions Source: Ecosystem Marketplace - Financing Emissions Reductions for the Future, State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2019
9. Green-e® Certification PAGE 9 © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved.
10. Consumer protection certification for voluntary carbon offset products Green-e Climate Certification PAGE 10 © 2019 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved. Carbon Offset Natural Gas (CONG)
11. Lifecycle of a carbon offset PAGE 11 © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved. Carbon Offset Project Retail Offset End-Use Purchaser Greenhouse gas emissions reduction
12. Lifecycle of a carbon offset PAGE 12 © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved. Carbon Offset Project Greenhouse gas emissions reduction •Permanence •Additionality •Verified •Enforceable •Real Green-e Climate Endorsed Project Level Standards Project-level certification standards
13. Lifecycle of a carbon offset PAGE 13 © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved. Retail Offset End-Use Purchaser •Additionality •Permanence •Real •Ownership •Verified •Enforceable •Disclosure Retail certification standard Verification Audit ensures no double selling or counting Marketing Audit ensures clear consumer disclosures
14. Carbon Offset Natural Gas Programs (CONG) PAGE 14 © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved. Natural Gas Carbon Offsets How does it work? 1. Use a Broker or purchase offsets directly from projects in a carbon offset registry. . 2. Track customers’ natural gas usage. Convert therms to metric tons of CO2 e. 3. Retire carbon offsets (CO2 e) on behalf customer natural gas usage. No change to supply or sources of gas required *EPA’s Greenhouse Gases Equivalencies Calculator - Calculations and References Currently 0.0053 metric tons CO2 /therm*
15. Benefits of Certification PAGE 15 © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved. *NMI U.S. Sustainability Consumer Trends 2019 Provide a value-add product • Differentiate your product/brand to sustainably minded customers Consumer and Stakeholder Credibility • Association with a well-recognized and trusted nonprofit • Assure stakeholders, such as regulators, your product is following industry best practices and is third-party audited Over 1 in 3 (35%) consumers say they recognize the Green-e® logo and 21% say they are more likely to purchase a product with the logo
16. PAGE 16 © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved. • Certification for renewable energy and *new* carbon offset claims • Green-e® certified products must be sources to qualify • Marketing claims are validated at either the corporate or on-product level • Over 700 products made with renewable energy display the Green-e Certification mark. • Participants include Procter & Gamble, Church & Dwight and Bank of America Coming Soon: Carbon Offsets for Green-e® Marketplace New carbon neutral claims!
17. Coming Soon: Green-e® Renewable Fuels Standard PAGE 17 © 2020 Center for Resource Solutions. All rights reserved. • Currently in development with plans to release final standard by the end of the year • Next stakeholder comment period: Aug 31-Oct 30 • Goal is to accelerate the adoption of biomethane while ensuring: • gas is from sustainable renewable resources • meets the highest environmental standards • customers are protected in their purchase and ability to make verifiable usage claims Biomethane, also called Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), is purified or upgraded biogas, which is made from the decomposition of organic material.