Site items in: Life Cycle Analysis

IMO drives forward net-zero agenda
Article

The IMO’s Maritime Environmental Protection Committee has made significant strides towards implementing its net-zero agenda. The IMO is seeking to implement a fuel standard supported by a pricing mechanism. While many details remain unresolved, important steps forward have been made on emissions boundaries, flexibility elements and default value calculation. The goal of launching policy measures by the end of 2025 remains ambitious, but the IMO has sent a clear signal that it is committed to its net-zero roadmap.

US Treasury proposes rules for 45V clean hydrogen
Article

For producers to qualify for 45V tax credits, the US Treasury has proposed a set of new rules for renewable hydrogen that closely align with EU standards. The three pillars approach already adopted by the EU is proposed, as is the use of Argonne National Laboratory’s GREET model for lifecycle emissions analysis.

COP28 Debrief: Flagship Hydrogen Initiatives Launched
Article

A series of flagship hydrogen initiatives were launched at COP28 last month. The initiatives are headlined by a 37-country joint declaration on mutual recognition of certification schemes, a response to sustained calls for increased global regulatory consistency. Additionally, the new ISO methodology for calculating hydrogen emissions was unveiled, paving the way for harmonisation.

Certified renewable, bio ammonia incorporated into new supply chains
Article

ISCC PLUS-certified renewable ammonia from Fertiglobe will be used in a low-carbon laundry powder demonstration project by Unilever in India. In Germany, bio-ammonia produced by OCI Global (also ISCC PLUS-certified) will be used to produce methylmethacrylate, a key feedstock in PLEXIGLAS® production. The two announcements join a number of supply chains which have now incorporated low-carbon and renewable ammonia.

Harmonised certification – opportunities and challenges across different markets
Article

In this session at our 2023 annual conference, panelists explored the challenges and opportunities for designing certification schemes for different markets. Moderated by Madhav Acharya, the discussion featured Emily Wolf from Ambient Fuel, Claire Behar from Hy Stor Energy, Domagoj Baresic from the UCL Energy Institute and Patrick Hastwell from KBR.

Compliance with EU standards offers flexibility for producers and will facilitate the immediate scale-up of export markets, but progress towards an umbrella-style certification scheme remains in focus for the AEA. Broad-based certification schemes will help create new voluntary demand markets and avoid a sector-by-sector approach to developing certification.

Data-driven, carbon intensity-based certification
Article

In this session at our 2023 annual conference, panelists discussed how ammonia certification methods should be data-centric, and focus less on colour labels. The panel featured Alicia Eastman (InterContinental Energy), Shigeru Muraki (Clean Fuel Ammonia Association), Wouter Vanhoudt (Hinicio), Linda Dempsey (CF Industries) and Conor Fürstenberg Stott (Fürstenberg Maritime Advisory).

Certification based on actual GHG emissions intensity is the principle on which the AEA’s certification system is being built, and the issue is becoming an increasingly important subject at international fora such as the IMO, the G7 and the G20.

Ensuring credible data inputs for ammonia certification
Article

This session of our 2023 annual conference explored the need for high quality data as an input to ammonia certification. The panel featured Jennifer Beach (Starfire Energy), Lara Owens (MiQ), Jim Seely (Authentix), Selim Sevikel (Global CCS Institute), and Rajiv Sabharwal (Bureau Veritas).

This issue is a key focus for the AEA, as our under-development ammonia certification system will require auditable data from a host of stakeholders – including gas and electricity suppliers, CO2 offtakers, and others – in order to calculate a true and trustworthy carbon footprint.

Impact of pre-certification on project finance
Article

In this session at our 2023 annual conference, panelists discussed how unified certification will help solve the chicken and egg relationship between offtake and project development. Moderated by Vibeke Rasmussen from Yara, the discussion featured Ed Davis from the Loan Program Office (US DoE), Tomoaki Ichida from Mitsui OSK Lines, Oleksiy Tatarenko from RMI and Dolf Gielen from the World Bank Group.

Long-term offtake will be made easier with unambiguous, harmonised certification standards, which will in turn have a positive impact on ammonia projects reaching financial close. Certification schemes like the one under-development by the AEA are sorely needed to break the impasse between project development and offtake.