This week, our Federal Councillor, Mrs. Simonetta Sommaruga, travelled to Senegal to sign an agreement on the compensation ofCO2 emissions. In the name of the principle of "geographical neutrality" resulting from the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels in one part of the world are compensated by reducing the same amount of carbon released into the atmosphere in another part.
Switzerland is positioning itself as a pioneer in offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. In Senegal, Swiss investments will enable the installation of biogas plants in the countryside, thus reducing the consumption of firewood and charcoal.
For its part, Yverdon Energies supports "Gold Standard" certified projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions . The "Gold Standard" label, set up by the Gold Standard Foundation, has been certifying voluntary offset projects since 2004. Offset projects certified by this standard must comply with a number of points before being validated:
Additionality: The project must be able to prove that the tons ofCO2 saved would not have been saved without the project.
Reliability: AssumedCO2 reductions must be monitored and verified by an independent competent body.
Traceability: The tonnes ofCO2 offset must be traceable to ensure that the project'sCO2 reductions have not been used before or are not likely to be used again in the future. Fraud at this level must be impossible.
Irreversibility: TheCO2 reductions achieved should not be temporary (observed over a number of years) but permanent.
Contribution to Sustainable Development: The project should not only be considered in the environmental vision (fight against climate change) but in all the pillars of sustainable development. The project must therefore integrate local social and economic perspectives.
Yverdon Energies is working with the Swiss foundation myclimate on two new Gold Standard projects:
The first project supported enables women in Kenya to acquire efficient stoves through microcredit groups. Traditionally, in the rural communities of the Siaya region in western Kenya, people cook on open fires, which consume a lot of wood. Now, thanks to communal savings and microcredit groups, women can buy more efficient stoves; this reduces the demand for cooking wood and thus protects the surrounding forests, also reducing CO₂ emissions, an annual reduction of almost 145,000 tons ofCO2. The microcredit groups also help to strengthen the financial and social independence of women.
The second project generates electricity from FSC wood waste in the Amazon. The project replaces several diesel generators and helps to supply the 80,000 inhabitants of the city of Itacoatiara with more climate-friendly electricity. A wood chip power plant produces up to 45,000 MWh of electricity per year, which would otherwise consume some 10 to 15 million litres of diesel. This project is the first in the world to produce emission certificates on the basis of sustainably harvested biomass from an FSC-certified forestry economy. The overall annual CO₂ reduction is equivalent to about 48,000 tonnes.
By subsidising projects abroad rather than in Switzerland, each franc invested in aCO2 offset programme can offset 10 times the amount that could be saved in Switzerland through similar programmes.
More pragmatically, for each kilowatt-hour of natural gas consumed in Yverdon-les-Bains, Yverdon Energies buys a certificate from the myclimate foundation , which guarantees compliance with the criteria set by the "Gold Standard" label, hence the notion of CO2offset natural gas This is why the notion of "Gold Standard" is mentioned in the description of the natural gas products offered to the people of Yverdon.
Since1 January 2017, two products with an "ecological" component have been offered to the residents of the municipality: geco(100%CO2-compensated natural gas) and gmix(10% Swiss biogas and 90%CO2-compensated natural gas).
It should also be noted that since1 January 2017, all municipal buildings are now heated with the " gmix" product, in order to set an example.
More information on the projects supported by Yverdon Energies:
https://www.yverdon-energies.ch/particuliers/produits/gaz-naturel/compensation-co2/
More information on Yverdon Energies' gas products:
https://www.yverdon-energies.ch/particuliers/produits/gaz-naturel/offres-gaz-naturel-particuliers/