ISCC Regional Stakeholder Committee – Southeast Asia

A new working group for Methane Reduction and Avoidance (WGMR) was formed at the last meeting of the ISCC Technical Committee SEA in Bangkok on 24 March 2015. This WGMR is formed with the goal to:

1. Explore various methodologies which are implemented in palm oil mills to reduce methane emissions from open ponds
2. To collect existing studies on; and (where not available) explore conducting studies on the calculation of methane reduction to comply with methodology accepted by EU RED by cooperation with various stakeholders (including Academia, Governments, Civil Societies, Research Agencies)

Currently the only established methodology which has been extensively studied for its methane reduction effect and mentioned directly in the EU RED is methane capture. In the past technical committee meetings, the members have sent a very clear message: that there is an urgency to explore and study other methods which reduce methane in the mill. The urgency is due to the fact that the threshold for minimum GHG reduction and implementation of the Fuel Quality Directive is just around the corner (1 and 2 years from now) while not all mills have the capacity to install methane capture facility. Looking at the time needed to study, install and certified any new technology, this WGMR should start working and produce results.

We ask for any interested members (and members-to-be) to join this working group; where they can before the next meeting:

1. Submit to us a methodology which has proven to reduce methane
   1. Proof of methane reduction should be based on a study (internal/ external which shows
      concrete GHG reduction
   2. Where possible, if there are any scientific article please submit as well
2. Introduce experts who are familiar with the methane reduction potential of the methodology
   1. This can be government or academia. Funding of such experts will be discussed at the next meeting
   2. Where are interested funders of such project, please also submit
3. Propose site(s) of which the WGMR members can visit/ use as a pilot project
   1. For verification purposes and to understand more on the implementation