WINGAS, a joint venture between Gazprom and German company Wintershall, has been successfully using a trade model for eco-friendly products. The model is based on the sale of natural gas in conjunction with a certificate that confirms participation in the program to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.
The initial purchase cost of acquiring the certificate is included in the price of natural gas.
The model, called “eco-gas”, appeared on the German market two years ago and the volume of gas sold in this way has now reached 2 billion kilowatt hours (about 200 mln. cubic meters).
The concept allows the company to implement a number of climate protecting projects throughout the world. Each certificate is equal to one ton of CO2 and may be used only once. As WINGAS Managing Director for Sales Ludwig Möhring says, the company has already made us of 350,000 certificates.
WINGAS offers two types of “eco-gas” programs. The first involves the use of catalysts in the processing of nitrous oxide. This version is used, in particular, at Caojing chemical plants on the outskirts of Shanghai (China) that produce nitric acid. Another program focuses on the optimal use of various energy sources, which basically leads to a reduction in CO2 emissions. It is successfully used at the geothermal plant project in Salak (Indonesia) as well as at the wind power project Te Āpiti (New Zealand).
[mappress] LNG World News Staff, February 11, 2013; Image: WINGAS