Press release – Nine members from eight different European countries met on the 28th September 2016 in Ghent, Belgium, to attend the establishment meeting of ERGaR, an association that seeks to establish and independent, transparent and trustworthy documentation scheme for mass balancing of biomethane distributed along the European natural gas network.
Building on national registries the documentation system enables cross-border trade of renewable gases via the European natural gas network while preventing double sale and double counting. The injected biomethane gets blended with natural gas in the pipelines and the methane molecules of fossil and renewable origin cannot be differentiated anymore. Hence, mass balancing with appropriate documentation is the only feasible solution to track the renewable fuel (biomethane) in the natural gas system.
The first task of the ERGaR association is to elaborate the detailed procedures for performing the mass balancing of biomethane injected into the European natural gas system and to apply for the recognition of the voluntary scheme by the European Commission in accordance with the Renewable Energy Directive, Fuel Quality Directive and other related legislative documents.
The founding members of ERGaR welcome and expect other organisations (such as national biomethane registries, national biogas associations, natural gas industry partners, other stakeholders in the European biogas and biomethane industries) to join the ERGaR association and to participate in establishing the documentation system applicable all over Europe.
Source: European Biogas Association