FACTSHEET
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
AMS-III.C. - Emission Reductions by Electric and Hybrid Vehicles
Developer
Developed by Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the category of “Indicative
simplified baseline and monitoring methodologies for selected small-scale CDM project
activity”
Location
http://cdm.unfccc.int/methodologies/DB/7DYUF4TWIPX6BHOM3EHMM8B8LIKF1M/vie
w.html
Methodology
This methodology is for project activities introducing new electric and/or hybrid vehicles
that displace the use of fossil fuel vehicles in passenger and freight transportation. This
methodology is applicable under these conditions:
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Project and baseline vehicles should belong to the same vehicle category. Vehicles
under a category have comparable passenger/load capacity and power rating with
variation of no more than +/-20 %;
The prevailing regulations pertaining to battery use and disposal shall be complied
with.
The project boundary includes the electric and hybrid vehicles that are part of the project
activity and the electricity supply source.
The additionality1 of the project activity shall be demonstrated using one of the options
below:
Option 1: It should be demonstrated that the project activity would not have occurred
anyway due to at least one of these barriers: investment barrier, technological barrier,
barrier due to prevailing practice or other barriers2.
1
The concept of “additionality” under the CDM refers to the project has to prove that the emission
reductions are additional to any that would occur in the absence of the certified project activity (CDM
Rule book: http://cdmrulebook.org/84)
2
More information is available at: http://cdm.unfccc.int/Reference/Guidclarif/ssc/methSSC_guid05.pdf
Option 2: It should be demonstrated ex-ante that the market share of project
electric/hybrid vehicles is equal to or smaller than 5% of the vehicles of the same category.
No leakage calculation is required.
Baseline Emissions
The baseline scenario is the operation of the comparable vehicles that would have been
used to provide the same transportation service. The baseline emissions can be calculated
based on baseline emission factor and annual average distance of travelled by vehicles.
Project Emissions
Project emissions include the electricity and fossil fuel consumption associated with the
operation of project vehicles and shall be calculated based on the emission factors of
project vehicles and annual average distance of travelled by these vehicles.
Inputs
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Emission factor for baseline vehicle categories (EFBL)
Specific fuel consumption of baseline vehicle category (SFC)
Net calorific value of fossil fuel consumed by baseline vehicle categories (NCVBL)
Technology improvement factor for baseline vehicles (IR)
Parameters Monitored
The parameters below are required for monitoring the project activity progress.
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Annual average distance driven by project vehicles (DD)
Average technical transmission and distribution losses for providing electricity
(TDL)
Consumption of specific fossil fuel/electricity consumption per km per project
vehicle categories (SFCPJ,km, SECPJ,km)
Net calorific value of fuels (NCVPJ)
CO2 emission factor of fuel used by project vehicles categories (EFPJ)
CO2 emission factor of electricity used by project vehicles (EFelect)
Number of project vehicle in operation (N)
Pollutants/Gases Analyzed
CO2
Evaluation
No independent evaluation has been undertaken of this methodology. However as a CDM
based methodology the following strengths and weaknesses apply.
Strengths
Weaknesses
This methodology allows
estimating accurately the emission
reduction of biodiesel production
and use for transport applications.
It does an ex-ante appraisal, which
has to be validated in the future
with ex-post estimation in order to
get the Certified Emissions
Reductions (CER) (Emissions
reduction estimations may result
in the acquisition of CER).
This methodology is considerably
data-intensive due to the
requirement for verification of
progress during the lifetime of the
project and the need to undertake exante and ex-post analyses. These data
may also not be readily available in
developing countries.
Costly data collection which
frequently exceeds what CDM credits
pay. (Punte, 2011)
Strict guidelines for data collection
and a clear procedure make this
methodology accurate.3
Guidelines are available online.
References
CDM – Executive Board, Emission reductions by electric and hybrid vehicles, AMS-III.C./
Version 13, Sectoral Scope: 07, EB 61.
Punte, S., Replogle, M., Mejia, A., 2011. Transport Emissions Evaluation Models for Projects
(TEEMP). Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions as Catalysts for Environmentally
Sustainable Transport. Seoul, South Korea.
http://www.transport2012.org/bridging/ressources/documents/2/1362,4.-TEEMPOverview-Seoul-12Apr2011-f.pdf
3
Each CDM project has to be verified during the lifetime of the project comparing the real emissions with
the corresponding forecasted emissions.