The upcoming Renewable Energy Directive (RED IV) represents a critical opportunity to strengthen Europe’s biomethane market. ERGaR considers the current EU certification framework to be ill-suited to biomethane, as it was developed for other energy carriers and has resulted in fragmentation, duplication, and unnecessary administrative burden across Member States.
ERGaR calls for RED IV to establish a dedicated biomethane certification framework that supports a genuinely integrated and harmonised EU market. A central element of this approach is the introduction of one single certificate for all biomethane use cases, combining the strengths of Guarantees of Origin and Proofs of Sustainability into a coherent system that reduces complexity while maintaining robustness.
To ensure transparency and trust, ERGaR supports a well-functioning Union Database as the EU-wide registry, complemented by national production registries acting as trusted data hubs. The organisation also advocates for clear, harmonised mass-balance rules that recognise the EU gas grid as a single logistical facility, reflecting how biomethane is produced, traded, and consumed in practice.
In addition, ERGaR highlights the importance of workable import and export procedures and an extended lifetime for gas Guarantees of Origin, ensuring that certification rules align with real market dynamics and cross-border trading practices.
ERGaR believes that integrating these elements into RED IV would simplify certification, enhance market confidence, and accelerate both biomethane production and demand—laying the foundation for a robust, efficient, and truly integrated European biomethane market.
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