Understanding CDM Methodologies - SuSanA

No Additionality
Problem
Another common feature of projects using the three methodologies is that
additionality is undisputed and no request for review has ever been launched
on any of the registered projects on additionality grounds. The projects do
(almost) not create any revenue in the absence of the CDM 220 .
5.3.1 AM0001
Project description
HCFC-22 produces
HFC-23 as
Byproduct
Host Country
Regulation on
HFC Destruction
determines
Baseline
Only pre-2005
Plants with
3 Years of
Operation before
2005 are eligible
No Destruction
in an Another
Country
HFC-23 originates from the production of Chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22)
which is used as a refrigerant and as a feedstock for the production of PTFE
(Polytetrafluoroethylene also known as Teflon).
In CDM projects using AM0001, the HFC-23 is prevented from entering the
atmosphere by oxidization of the HFC-23 gas at very high temperatures in an
incineration furnace before the stack.
In the absence of any regulations HFC-23 is typically released to the
atmosphere as it does not make economic sense to capture it. The amount
of HFC-23 produced during the manufacture of HCFC-22 depends on two
factors: the way the process is operated and the level of process optimization.
Generally, the bandwith of HFC-23 emissions is on the order of 1.5 to 3 % of
the HCFC-22 production. According to IPCC estimates, a reasonable average
estimate is 2% (IPCC 2000). According to the methodology, the emission
reductions are therefore the quantity of gas destroyed in the CDM project
minus the emissions from the decomposition facility minus leakage.
The project will usually require the installation of a HFC-23 waste gas
collection facility, a storage facility (to buffer HFC-23 from the HCFC-
22 production process), an incinerator (in most of the cases this will be
natural gas-fired device), a cooling tower and a neutralization pond. The
decomposition facility will produce a sludge that will need to be landfilled.
Applicability conditions
In the CDM projects using AM0001, an incinerator needs to be used to
convert the carbon in the HFC-23 to CO2 which is then released through the
stack of the plant. Production plants that started operation after 31.12.2004
are not eligible to use AM0001 (see Box 17). The plant additionally needs
to have an operating history of at least three years between beginning of
the year 2000 and the end of the year 2004 and has been operated from
the start of 2005 until the start of the CDM project. In case the host country
requires the destruction of all the HFC-23 waste gas generated AM0001
cannot be used. Offsite transport from the HCFC-22 production plant to
another site is not allowed under the methodology (see Box 22)
Box 22: Destruction of HFC in another country
The Mexican “Quimobásicos HFC Recovery and Decomposition Project” (UNFCCC
no. 0151) initially planned to destroy HFC-23 in an existing decomposition plant
in the U.S. However, the EB decided that this is not covered under AM 0001 255 .
The project developers therefore built the decomposition plant on their site.
220
Thermal decomposition projects can technically generate heat that might be used to generate steam for on-site
use.
221
EB 22, para 27
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