Renewable electricity matching is a far more credible approach for the GHG

The briefing contrasts two competing approaches to corporate renewable electricity accounting: 24/7 hourly matching and the 'avoided emissions' model proposed by the Emissions First Partnership (EFP). It argues that 24/7 matching provides a necessary demand signal for grid decarbonisation and storage technologies, whereas the EFP proposal is a "repackaging of the controversial offsetting model" that allows companies to claim emissions reductions without actually decarbonising the grids they use. The document urges the GHG Protocol and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to adopt granular, hourly, and local accounting standards to prevent corporate lock-in of fossil fuel infrastructure and to ensure genuine progress toward the 1.5°C temperature limit.

• The Emissions First Partnership (EFP), led by companies including Amazon and Meta, proposes accounting electricity emissions based on estimated avoided emissions and removing geographic boundaries for procurement, which the authors describe as a repackaging of the offsetting model.
• 24/7 hourly matching of electricity consumption with local renewable generation creates a demand signal for the storage technologies and new generation capacity needed to fully decarbonise power systems.
• Research from Princeton and Tsinghua University indicates that annual matching of renewable electricity has negligible effects on displacing fossil fuels, and that strategies based on short-run marginal emission offsetting are similarly ineffective.
• The EFP's proposed shift from matching MWh to accounting for avoided emissions could allow companies to claim large reductions through cheap, low-impact projects in other regions, reducing the incentive to address the harder challenges of their own local grids.
• The expansion of data centers, driven by artificial intelligence, increases the risk of fossil fuel lock-in if companies use flexible accounting to avoid the infrastructural costs of grid decarbonisation.
• The authors recommend that the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) require companies to set 24/7 renewable electricity targets for both scope 2 and scope 3 emissions, regardless of whether the GHG Protocol's revised guidance requires it.

APA

NewClimate Institute (2024). Renewable electricity matching is a far more credible approach for the GHG. http://www.newclimate.org/news/briefing-247-renewable-electricity-matching-is-a-far-more-credible-approach-for-the-ghg

Chicago

NewClimate Institute. Renewable electricity matching is a far more credible approach for the GHG. 2024. http://www.newclimate.org/news/briefing-247-renewable-electricity-matching-is-a-far-more-credible-approach-for-the-ghg.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=NewClimate Institute |title=Renewable electricity matching is a far more credible approach for the GHG |date=10 October 2024 |url=http://www.newclimate.org/news/briefing-247-renewable-electricity-matching-is-a-far-more-credible-approach-for-the-ghg |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{newclimateinstitute2024renewable, author = {{NewClimate Institute}}, title = {{Renewable electricity matching is a far more credible approach for the GHG}}, institution = {NewClimate Institute}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {http://www.newclimate.org/news/briefing-247-renewable-electricity-matching-is-a-far-more-credible-approach-for-the-ghg}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }