There are many options and revenue sources within the sustainability credit ecosystem. With these series we help you to get an overview of the type of available credits that you, as a project developer, investor or even buyer can benefit from. In today’s article we will dive deeper into credits produced by community development projects and Waste to Energy projects.
The SmartB network facilitates the analysis and review of the true impact of certificates and credit schemes between different stakeholders. This facilitation improves reporting and increases transparency which can provide significant improvement in process management and decreases in cost and improve the invest-ability of your project due to a rigorous data collection and transparency process.
Community project development
Community project development credits are linked to the co-benefits of carbon credits. These are projects that usually generate CDM compliant emission reduction through different means such as:
- Clean technologies like solar powered cooking stoves, which would have a significant and measurable environmental, social and economic benefit for these communities.
- Projects that include the improvement of infrastructure to improve sanitation and water access, renovations to local educational facilities and hospitals, the construction of community centers and local roads.
The added benefits of these projects are linked to improved environmental, social and economic situations. Such as air quality, biodiversity, improved public health, energy access, gender equality and community engagement. Co-benefits can be defined as the positive impacts arising from a carbon offset project beyond direct emissions avoidance or removal. Due to these projects generally seeking to preserve or restore ecosystem services to absorb CO2, they interact closely with contributing to environmental, social and economic sustainability. Some specific examples are; Environmental, such as air quality, biodiversity, water and soil protection. Social, such as, improved public health, energy access, gender equality, community engagement. Economics, such as job creation, education opportunities, inclusive economy, and technology transfer.
Waste to energy projects
Waste-to-energy projects are a frequent carbon offsetting mechanism, which refers to the process of turning methane, agricultural waste, landfill gas and other polluting substances into usable energy.
These types of projects do not only provide a benefit for the reduction of the carbon footprint, but also add value to the community and society as a whole.
Broadly seen, the Waste-to-energy projects are considered to be thermal treatment or biological processing of organic waste. The type of technologies used vary from combustion, gasification, anaerobic digestion and fermentation. This also means that the outputs of these processes vary depending on the type of technology used, if for example fossil fuels are used this would decrease the benefits. The direct benefits for these projects are in principle wider investment and job opportunities, increased value to extract from waste and therefore less need to create more landfills and increased. Improving the circularity and decreasing the negative impact of landfills on the environment.
Setting up these projects carries risks. Some of the Waste to energy projects might create air pollution, or contaminated water in order to manage these risks strict quality controls need to be carried out which would decrease the benefit and potential profit of these projects. WTE projects are complicated and expensive to build, and most of the investment is driven by clear financial incentives. This model benefits from multiple revenue streams such as; renewable credits, tax credits, carbon credits etc. to make sure they get financed.
Additionally, several WTE projects produce a byproduct which are called biochar and has a good price and value in the market due to its many applications. Biochar can be used for animal farming, as a soil conditioner, as construction material, as a decontaminant, wastewater treatment and in textiles.
Consequently, projects that produce biochar as a byproduct end up providing the most value and have great invest-ability! Moreover, in our energy transition, waste-to-energy projects are a great opportunity for baseload power that can serve customers on the grid regardless if the sun is shining or the wind is blowing strong enough.
