European Union Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS)

• The EU ETS is the largest multi-country, multi-sector greenhouse gas emissions trading system in the world
• The EU ETS recommends CEN 15747 for refuse-derived fuels
• By providing CEN 15747 testing, Beta Analytic helps companies obtain carbon credits under the EU ETS

The EU ETS, a major pillar of EU climate change policy, commenced in January 2005. It is based on Directive 2003/87/EC.

The EU ETS recommends CEN 15747, a standard for solid recovered fuels, to monitor refuse-derived fuels. The scheme also allows the use of ASTM D6866 for monitoring other types of heterogeneous fuels. The FAQs section of EU ETS identifies ASTM D6866 as a standard for the determination of biomass fractions of fuels and other materials (see pages 16 and 17).

Under the EU ETS, large emitters of carbon dioxide within the EU must monitor and annually report their CO2 emissions. They are obliged to submit to the government an amount of emission allowances that is equivalent to their CO2 emissions in that year. Companies in various industries need to determine the biomass fractions of their CO2 emissions because carbon-neutral CO2 can be subtracted from their greenhouse gas inventories.

Phase I of the EU ETS was released in January 2005. Guidelines for the monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions were first released in January 2004 (MRG 2004). The revised guidelines were established in July 2007 (MRG 2007). And in January 2008, the European Commission proposed a number of changes to the scheme effective immediately.

European Committee for Standardization

CEN, or Comite Europeen de Normalisation (European Committee for Standardization), aims to promote not only Europe's economy in global trading but also the welfare of its citizens and environment by removing trade barriers for industry and consumers in the continent. The private, non-profit organization has more than 60,000 technical experts and reaches more than 480 million people.

CEN develops standards and other technical specifications that become the national standards in each of the organization’s 30 members—the National Standards Bodies of the 27 countries of the European Union and the National Standards Bodies of the three European Free Trade Area countries.

As of December 2008, the 30 CEN members are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Other Regulations Recommending ASTM D6866

• Western Climate Initiative – joint effort by 7 states in the U.S. and four Canadian provinces to cut GHG in the region
• AB32 – California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
• AM0025 – a methodology for UN Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects on solid waste management
• US EPA – mandates companies to submit annual reports of their greenhouse gas emissions

Biogenic Content Determination by Beta Analytic

By providing accurate and reliable biogenic fraction measurements, Beta Analytic is able to help companies who want to join or are already participating in the EU ETS. Under this cap-and-trade program, companies can obtain carbon credits if they do not emit as much greenhouse gases as the threshold levels established. One way of getting lower GHG inventories is by measuring the biogenic fraction of their solid recovered fuels (CEN 15747) or their emissions (ASTM D6866).