Florida Department of Environmental Protection Offset Protocols and Florida’s Greenhouse Gas Cap-and-Trade Program Kelly Stevens Meteorologist Division of Air Resource Management

Background Florida Climate Protection Act requires DEP to generally consider cost containment mechanisms for any draft rule proposal for GHG cap-and-trade program for electric utilities May 24, 2010 released our Comparative Study of Selected Offset Protocols for Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Reporting Programs Accessible at:

Offsets Reduce or sequester greenhouse gas emissions at any non-capped location e.g. landfill gas capture of methane, forest sequestration of CO 2 Offers choice for regulated entities Protocols are the set of directions or recommendations for an offset project Can vary from highly technical and specific to more general and suggestive

Purpose of this study What this study is NOT: Evaluate program level issues Evaluate cap-and-trade program issues Policy or policy recommendations What this study is: Evaluation of technical elements Highlights similarities and differences Informative & unique Guide for future stakeholder discussion

Table 0.1 — Protocols by Project Type Alberta Offset System American Carbon Registry Chicago Climate Exchange Clean Development Mechanism Climate Action Reserve GE Energy Financial Services New South Wales Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative U.S. DOE 1605(b) U.S. EPA Climate Leaders Voluntary Carbon Standard AOSACRCCXCDMCARGE AESNSWRGGIDOEEPA CLVCS Forestry Agriculture Waste Management Miscellaneous In Study

Table 0.1 — Protocols by Project Type Approved  Under development  Considered for future AOSACRCCXCDMCARGE AESNSW RGGIDOEEPA CLVCS Afforestation/reforestation  Forest management  Forest conservation and preservation  Forest products* Urban forestry  Manure management  Agriculture land management   Rangeland management   Landfill gas capture  Waste and wastewater management  End-use energy efficiency  Ozone depleting substances  SF6-related projects Geologic sequestration  Cement plants 

Landfill Gas Capture Byproducts of decomposing material in landfills is CO 2 and methane Landfill gas capture as a GHG offset involves collecting LFG for destruction or use Image from EPA:

LFG Capture – Table Sample Table 3.1 Waste Management Offsets Chicago Climate ExchangeClean DevelopmentClimate Action Reserve Landfill Gas CaptureCCXMechanism (CDM)CAR Linking to other programsISO for baseline calculations NoneCDM, ISO calibration standards, IPCC technical values Landfill must be NSPS exempt Yes, but will accept credits from before NSPS controls are operational Not explicitly stated but requires project to be above regulatory Yes Applicable uses of captured Flaring Electricity generation Flaring Electricity and thermal energy production Pipelined

LFG Capture – Technical Comparison Varied level of detail: Some included gas utilization effects (e.g. CCX, CDM, etc.) while others did not (CAR, RGGI) Monitoring: LFG flow rate continuous measurement required by 5 protocols, others do not Baseline and other calculations: 6 protocols consider GWP of CH 4 21 tons CO 2 e, two protocols 23 tons CO 2 e

LFG Capture – Applicability to Florida Governor’s energy and climate change action plan: Ranked 8 th of 28 recommended projects based on cumulative reduction of GHG Quantification of existing sites in Florida As many as 90 other landfills which do not require air permits and may be eligible for LFG capture offset projects Currently 8 LFG projects listed or registered with CAR in FL Map from CAR:

Map from CAR: L: Landfill gas capture L: Livestock gas capture F: Forestry O: Organic waste digestion O: Ozone depleting substances C: Coal mine methane N: Nitric acid Listed and Registered Offset Projects with CAR

LFG Capture – Applicability to Florida Inventory of potentially eligible landfills in Florida illustrates that there may be some applicability of this offset project type in Florida Simpler, less detailed requirements could be easier to comply with but may be inconsistent Complex ones more accountable Varying levels of complexity and requirements may be more suitable for Florida

More Information Kelly Stevens (850) 921 – 9550 Electric Utility GHG Reduction page