First-of-its kind Geologically Stored Carbon methodology
As much as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has been in the headlines, until today it has not been standardized as a carbon removal credit because there was no existing methodology for eligibility and quantification of the carbon removed to geological storage. In the fall of 2020, Puro.earth initiated a workgroup to co-create a first-of-its-kind geological carbon removal methodology. The workgroup attracted key experts from the nascent industry and discussed requirements across continents and CCS-variants.

The resulting methodology is science-based and at the same time allows for rapid innovations in developing technologies, which include DACCS (Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage), BECCS (Bio Energy Carbon Capture and Storage) and Bio-CCS (Biomass with Carbon Capture and Storage). This is the world’s first CCS carbon removal methodology – and it comes just in time, as pilot projects are gearing up and pioneering corporates are purchasing their early CO2 removal tonnages.

Why is the methodology significant?

Puro.earth is technology neutral: In our platform, different carbon removal methods are harmonized and compete for efficiency. We don’t know if CCS is going to be the silver bullet or not, but it is important to compare it to other nature-based and engineered removal methods using the same principles. Only then can we see the differences between methods in terms of cost, durability and availability. The methodology provides the framework to do this. It provides procedures to verify the compliance of CO2 removal activity of the eligible carbon capture and geological storage methods. It specifies the system boundaries, detailed calculation formulas and the proof needed for the issuance of CO2 Removal Certificates, CORCs. 

On February 18th, 2021 the principles of the new methodology were presented in two webinars (see below) followed by a Q&A session with panelists from the workgroup. 

The methodology does not cover capturing CO2 from fossil fuels, only from biogenic sources. It covers geological storage types such as direct injection of CO2 into deep geological formations and oil and gas reservoirs as part of EOR+ (‘EOR+’ refers to Enhanced Oil Recovery by injecting CO2 into oil and gas reservoirs so that more CO2 remains underground than what is contained in the oil extracted by EOR, in that reservoir). It covers many carbon capture processes such as DACCS, BECCS and Bio-CCS. 

Public Consultation (ended)
We invite you to provide your feedback, questions and comments on the methodology. 

- Download the methodology
- Download webinar slides

View the webinar recordings below
Session A (Europe, Australia): 8 am Brussels / 9 am Helsinki / 6 pm Sydney

Q & A Panelists

Waste-to-Energy + CCS: Jannicke Bjerkas, CCS Director, Fortum Oslo Värme (Norway)
DACCS: Brett Cooper, Southern Green Gas Ltd (Australia)
BECCS: Dr. Fabian Levihn, Head of R&D, Stockholm Exergi (Sweden)
Storage: Cristel Lambton, Technical manager, Northern Lights (Norway)
EOR+ : Esther Mertens, Head of European Projects, South Pole (Netherlands)
Cluster: Camilla Brox , BORG CO2 (Norway)