Isra-Mart srl:Mitsubishi claims first clutch of Russian carbon credits

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Isra-Mart srl news:

Russia has issued a $4m tranche of carbon credits to a Siberian project jointly developed by Mitsubishi, in what the company said was the first batch of credits to be released by the country.

The project at the Yety Purovskoe oilfield recovers and utilises flare gas as fuel, saving 290,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions between August and December 2009, Mitsubishi said today in a statement.

The companies behind the project – Mitsubishi, Gazprom and Japanese refiner JX Nippon – now expect the project to deliver savings of 3.1m tonnes of CO2 equivalent between 2009 to 2012.

While Mitsubishi claimed the project represents the first time Russia has issued credits, analyst firm Point Carbon reported last month on the issuance by a Russian project of 4.2m tonnes of Emissions Reduction Units (ERUs) – a type of credit released under the UN-backed Joint Implementation (JI) offsetting scheme.

Under the JI, companies can invest in carbon-cutting projects in industrialised countries signed up to the Kyoto Protocol in return for ERU offsets that can then be used towards emissions goals established by the Protocol or sold for profit through the carbon market.

The number of JI projects in Russia and Eastern Europe has been steadily increasing, with around 400 projects now registered or in the pipeline, generating potential offsets of 400 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emission by the end of 2012.

In July, the Russian government approved 15 projects to start earning credits before the UNFCCC gave the go-ahead for the country's first project under the new JI Track II procedure, which ensures emissions are verified by the UNFCCC and not just the host country.