Verra has published VMR0018 Methane Avoidance Through Separation of Solids from Wastewater or Manure Treatment Systems (AMS-III.Y. Revision), v1.0 in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program. This constitutes a minor revision to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) methodology AMS-III.Y.: Methane avoidance through separation of solids from wastewater or manure treatment systems, v4.0, which applies to project activities that avoid or reduce methane production from anaerobic wastewater treatment systems and anaerobic manure management systems through the removal of volatile solids from the wastewater or manure slurry stream.

VMR0018 includes the following updates:

  • It allows the use of separated solids from animal manure as bedding material in barns. It also introduces measures to prevent negative impacts on animal welfare, human health, and the environment, as well as calculation procedures for potential additional methane emissions.
  • It provides quantification procedures for projects using biofiltration systems (such as vermicomposting) to separate the solids, expanding the scope of the methodology.
  • It requires the use of VCS tools VT0009 Combined Baseline and Additionality Assessment and VT0008 Additionality Assessment for the purposes of establishing the baseline scenario and demonstrating additionality to increase robustness of these assessments.

This methodology revision must be used together with AMS-III.Y., v4.0 (i.e., the procedures and requirements of AMS-III.Y., v.4.0 must be applied unless indicated otherwise in VMR0018, v1.0).

Implications for VCS Projects

  • AMS-III.Y. will be inactivated as a standalone methodology in the VCS Program on July 1, 2027.
  • Projects that request registration on or after July 1 , 2027, must apply VMR0018, v1.0.
  • Project proponents seeking to register a project with the VCS Program comprising only activities included in the scope expansion of VMR0018 (i.e., use of separated solids as bedding material or biofiltration systems) must submit the initial registration request by the earlier of:
    • four years of the initial crediting period start date, or
    • June 3, 2028.
  • All other projects must submit the initial registration request within two years of the initial crediting period start date.
  • Registered projects and project activity instances registered under AMS-III.Y. or VMR0003 must update to an active version of VMR0018 at their next crediting period renewal submitted on or after July 1, 2027.
  • For grouped projects registered using AMS-III.Y. or VMR0003, new project activity instances added to the project on or after July 1, 2027, as part of a verification approval request must meet all applicability conditions in VMR0018. Such grouped projects must fully adopt VMR0018 to include new instances.
  • Further requirements for projects that transition to VMR0018 are included in Section 5.4 of the methodology.
  • Registered projects using AMS-III.Y. may update to VMR0018 during their crediting period using one of the following:
    • Procedure to Change Project Methodology through a Project Description Deviation to align with VMR0018 for future monitoring periods
    • Methodology Change and Requantification Procedure to align with VMR0018  for past and future monitoring periods and requantify the reductions from past verifications
  • Project proponents seeking to register a project with the VCS Program that is registered or was previously registered with another greenhouse gas (GHG) crediting program must demonstrate conformance with the VCS Program rules and requirements and meet all applicability conditions of VMR0018.
LinkedInBlueskyChatGPT