Taxonomy of ‘renewable gases’

Based on the main findings of the FSR online debate on A common terminology for gases?, of our 15 November workshop and few selected contributions published on the Sector Coupling platform, FSR developed its own “Proposal for a Taxonomy of Renewable gases”.

This proposal was publicly presented at the Madrid Forum in October 2019. The proposal was later on presented at few public and internal events and refined with the input received until January 2020.

The Policy Brief “How Many Shades of Green? An FSR Proposal for a Taxonomy of ‘Renewable’ Gases,” by Ilaria Conti (FSR), summarises and explains the FSR Taxonomy proposal.

It suggests a scientific approach to the classification of the so-called ‘new gases’ (hydrogen, biogas, biomethane and synthetic methane) according to the following two parameters:

• Green Value: its fossil or non-fossil origin as well as the environmental impact, in terms of GHG emissions
• Usability: the possibility for this gas to access the existing infrastructure until the injection phase.

The Policy Brief also includes some reflections on the following topics:

• The value of a taxonomy of the ‘new gases’
• Regulatory and policy challenges ahead

Download the policy brief