Category

MiQ collaborating with the Green Certificate Company to build its Certificates Registry

At MiQ, we spent 18 months designing a robust methane emissions Standard and Certification of origin system for natural gas. The system will bring transparency to an area in the sector that is often clouded in obscurity – methane emissions – and provide producers, buyers, regulators, and other stakeholders with a reliable method to assess methane emissions across the gas supply chain, starting with upstream.

MiQ will act as the Standard Holder in this independent and third-party audited system. As Standard Holder, we define and manage all aspects of the emissions standard, which includes ensuring it evolves into the future and overseeing the certification programme.

Although MiQ has created the framework to credibly assess methane emissions performance, it will not be the judge, jury, or executioner in the assessment. The Green Certificate Company (GCC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MiQ to act as the MiQ Certificate Issuing Body and MiQ Registry Partner.

In this role of Issuer, GCC will supervise Certification Bodies (Auditors) and manage MiQ Certification applications from producers and gas operators. It will also evaluate audit reports submitted by Certification Bodies (Auditors), make a final check to determinate eligibility, and ultimately issue MiQ Certificates digitally in the MiQ Registry.

GCC and MiQ’s development of the MiQ Registry sets our certification system apart from alternatives, enabling a fully vetted digital record of Certificates. This digital record will provide direct access for producers, buyers, traders, and exchanges, via web-portals and customised digital interfaces, allowing digital delivery of MiQ certificates from producers to buyers through multiple channels.

The MiQ Registry and Certificates also enable a unique and first of its kind LCA (life cycle analysis) of methane emissions along the global gas supply chain on an asset basis.

This year, we have already announced two programmes to certify the natural gas production of large U.S. producers. As we deliver on our mission to enable rapid reductions in methane emissions from the sector, our collaboration with GCC will prove essential in the creation of a MiQ Registry that will effectively track methane emissions along the supply chain and ensure the integrity of certified gas.

Georges Tijbosch, Senior Adviser, MiQ, said: “MiQ is designed to bring transparency to methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, which is a critical tool in the fight against global temperatures rises. We’re delighted to have the world-leading experts on certificate issuance in the energy sector on board. GCC’s unparalleled experience gained through the EU Guarantee of Origin and I-REC schemes will be invaluable as we look to certify the world’s natural gas supply.”

GCC was founded in 1999 and was one of the first issuers of renewable energy certificates, advising on the formation of the European RECS programme, EU Guarantee of Origin, and UK Renewables Obligation. It is currently the Central Issuer for the I-REC Standard, providing renewable energy certification for consumers around the globe.

Ed Everson, Founder, GCC and I-REC Standard, said: “We’re excited to bring our experience of certifying renewable energy through the I-REC Standard to the issue of methane emissions in the oil and gas sector.”

Subscribe to our newsletter

* indicates required