CENTRO CLIMA
3. Activities carried out during Phase 3 - Period 2
3.1. Summary of Selected and Contingency SSN Projects – Material for SSN
Project website
SELECTED PROJECT 1
1. Project Title: Fueling garbage trucks with biodiesel produced from used
vegetable (cooking) oils in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Figure 1: Representation of the baseline considered in the project
Petrol
Refinery
Diesel Oil
Diesel Oil
and station
pup
Comlurb and
Hidroveg
Trucks
Landfill
disposal
Transportation
by truck
Pipeline
Renewable production:
Plantations to produce
vegetable oil
Vegetable oil
production
Residual
vegetable oil
Use for cooking in
fast-food chain
Mud
Transportation
by truck
Sewerage
System
Collection and
transportation
by truck
Reuse market: eg.
Soap production, etc.
Figure 2: Project Activity Representation
Renewable production:
Plantations to produce
vegetable oil
Vegetable oil
Production
Use for cooking in
fast-food chain
Transportation
by truck
Biodiesel
(Methyl ester)
COMLURB
and police
Trucks
Petrobras
Residual
vegetable oil
Collection and
transportation
by truck
Transesterization
plant
Glycerin
Methanol from fossil fuel
and electricity from the
grid (hydro and term
electrical power)
2. Brief Description of Project Activities
This project is designed to partially replace fossil fuel (diesel oil) by biodiesel in the
transportation sector. Biodiesel is a methyl ester obtained through transesterization
and in this Project it is produced from used vegetable (cooking) oils. The use of
biodiesel avoids 38.5 ktCO2 equivalent emissions during its ten-year crediting period.
The avoided emissions that would occur without this Project Activity are obtained
through the renewable CO2 biodiesel burning cycle that replaces the non-renewable
CO2 cycle based on fossil fuel, according to the Baseline described below. Also
considered are the GHG emissions due to the use of methanol and electricity in
biodiesel production, and the emissions from the transportation of the collected
residual vegetable oil and of the biodiesel distribution.
3. Project Boundaries
This Project covers only the carbon dioxide emissions caused by burning fuel for
transportation purposes. Without any Project Activities, part of the used vegetable
(cooking) oils would be dumped on sanitary landfills. As this oil decomposes, it
generates methane and these emissions might consequently be included in the
Baseline accounting, which would increase the emissions avoided by the Project
Activities. However, one of the baselines does not take into account these methane
emissions from a conservative standpoint, as there is still some uncertainty regarding
the exact disposal systems for used vegetable oils and their decomposition. A less
conservative baseline would consider these methane emissions. As the
transesterization reaction required to produce the biodiesel uses only 22% (total
mixture volume) of the methanol deriving from fossil sources (natural gas), the GHG
emissions caused by burning the portion of the methanol-related biodiesel are
included in the accounting process. A by-product of the biodiesel production process,
glycerin can also generate methane, depending on the type of its use or disposal.
Glycerin, however, is not considered within the Project boundaries, as the Brazilian
oil company Petrobras - Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. will consume this waste glycerin as a
drilling fluid, partially replacing current drilling fluids. The use of glycerin (generated
as a by-product of biodiesel production) as a drilling fluid will not generate methane
emissions. The consumption of biodiesel in diesel motors is 10% greater when
compared to the use of fossil based diesel.
4. Project Participants and Beneficiaries
The project participants and beneficiaries are IVIG/COPPE/UFRJ
(www.ivig.coppe.ufrj.br ), COMLURB, McDonald’s and HIDROVEG. The
facilitating institution is the International Virtual Institute for Climate Change (IVIG
 Instituto Virtual Internacional de Mudanças Globais), Graduate Engineering
Programs Coordination Unit – Rio de Janeiro Federal University (COPPE / UFRJ),
housed at the Alberto Luís Coimbra Institute for Research and Graduate Studies in
Engineering (Instituto Alberto Luís Coimbra de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação em
Engenharia), which is in charge of technological development, partner selection,
technology transfers and product quality control.
The trucks operated by the Rio de Janeiro Urban Cleaning Company (COMLURB 
Companhia Municipal de Limpeza Urbana do Rio de Janeiro) will run on biodiesel
produced through this Project. The McDonald's fast-food chain will provide part of
the used vegetable (cooking) oil free of charge, which will be recycled as feedstock to
produce biodiesel. The project owner is HIDROVEG Indústria Química Ltda., which
runs the biodiesel processing plant and is also responsible for collecting the used
vegetable (cooking) oil as feedstock, as well as for technological developments,
jointly with IVIG/COPPE/UFRJ. The owner is also the Project investor, although
other investors are welcome.
5. Baseline
Both COMLURB’s and HIDROVEG’s trucks are fueled by diesel oil. The diesel used
in 2 COMLURB trucks and the HIDROVEG trucks will be replaced by all the
biodiesel produced -153,000 liters per month - through the proposed project activities.
HIDROVEG’s fleet uses 70,000 liters of diesel per month, which will be replaced by
77,000 liters of biodiesel. In addition, two COMLURB trucks will also run on
biodiesel instead of diesel, each consuming 1,500 liters per month. The consumption
of the remaining 70,000 liters per month will be left to other official vehicles such as
police trucks, etc.
This baseline is strongly supported by the business-as-usual scenario for the
transportation sector from the Greenhouse Gases Emissions Inventory for the Rio de
Janeiro Municipal District, whose methodology was also used for preparing the
baseline methodology for this Project, in particular regarding the following aspects:
- CO2 content in kWh used from the grid in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan
region (generation of thermopower and hydropower).
- Diesel vehicles would continue to use mineral diesel oil (no further changes in
the fuel)
- Methane from the disposal of residual vegetable oil in landfills (production
coefficients)
6. Project Goals (in terms of CO2 reductions and related GHG emission reductions
within the project boundaries);
6.1. Assumptions
The transformation of vegetable oil used into biodiesel is 98% efficient in volume and 220ml
of methanol (CH3OH) is consumed. Thus, to obtain one liter of biodiesel it is necessary to
have 1.02 liters of oil and 224.5ml of methanol. During the combustion of 1 liter of biodiesel,
which uses 224.5 ml of methanol in its production, 244.5g of CO2 are generated.
It is expected that in the first six months of the year 2003, only 90m3 of biodiesel will be
produced a month, to supply the HIDROVEG and COMLURB trucks. From then on,
production will achieve 150 m3 a month, and other consumers will start to use it. In these first
six months of 2003, 90 m3 of biodiesel will be replacing 81m3 of diesel every month. From
then on, 150 m3 of biodiesel will come to replace 135 m3 of diesel a month. The calculation
of CO2 emissions per liter of diesel includes the following assumptions:
Conversion factors used by IPCC:
A tEP/m3
0.80560 (Brazilian diesel)
B TJ/tEP
0.04522
C tC/TJ
20.2
The carbon content of one cubic meter of diesel is 0.73583tC/ m3 (A * B * C). Since
each carbon atom, when it burns, is associated to two oxygen atoms, 12g of carbon
will produce 44g of CO2, therefore the amount of CO2 produced in the combustion of
1 liter of diesel is 2.698g CO2 (0.73583tC/ m3 * 1,000m3/L * 44tCO2 / 12tC).
According to IPCC methodology, 7.7% (per weight) of the residual oil disposed in
landfills is converted to methane. One liter of used oil corresponds to 880g, where
7.7% (67.76g) convert to methane, which, considering its GWP of 21 corresponds to
1423.0g CO2 per liter.
6.2. Results
Baseline (conservative and non-conservative) and project activity emissions
(tCO2)
Year
Baseline (A)
Baseline (B)
Project activity (C)
(CO2 emissions from
(CO2 emissions from burning
(CO2 emissions from
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Total
burning diesel)
diesel and methane)
biodiesel production)
3,497
4,370
4,370
4,370
4,370
4,370
4,370
4,370
4,370
4,370
42,834
5,161
6,557
6,557
6,557
6,557
6,557
6,557
6,557
6,557
6,557
64,178
352
440
440
440
440
440
440
440
440
440
4,312
Emissions Reductions without methane: (A) – (C) = 38,521
Emissions Reductions with methane: (B) – (C) = 59,866
CO2 emissions from burning diesel  Baseline
7. Mitigation Costs Involved
7.1. Assumptions
The difference between the costs of the business-as-usual scenario (Baseline) and the
mitigation scenario (Project Activity) divided by the total amount of avoided
emissions gives us a mitigation cost ranging between 55 and 20 US$/t CO2- the lower
range accounting for the revenues from selling glycerin as a drilling fluid. The
discount rate used for the capital costs is 20%. The internal rate of return ranges from
9% - if the revenues from the sale of glycerin as a drilling fluid were not to be
accounted - to 44%, in the opposite situation. If the avoided methane emissions were
to be included, the avoided emissions would increase, resulting in a lower mitigation
cost ranging between 32 and 12 US$/t CO2 respectively. Since the revenues from the
CERs have not been accounted for the IRR estimation, the inclusion of the avoided
methane emissions does not impact the IRR. The costs are extremely sensitive to the
price of one input - the used vegetable (cooking) oil. If this price goes up by 20%, a
feasible situation, since the market for this good is quite volatile, the mitigation costs
go up, from 20 to 41 US$/t CO2, and the IRR falls to 22%.
7.2. Mitigation costs and IRR (tCO2)
Without
Mitigation costs and IRR
methane
(tCO2)
55 US$/tCO2
Without glycerin
20 US$/tCO2
With glycerin
With glycerin when the
residual vegetable oil price 42 US$/tCO2
is 20% higher
8. Project Status
IRR
9%
44%
With
methane
32 US$/tCO2
12 US$/tCO2
IRR
9%
44%
23%
25 US$/tCO2
23%
This Project is ready for implementation, with the biodiesel production technology
being fully mastered by the agents involved: IVIG/COPPE/UFRJ is already running
this process on a pilot scale and carrying out physical, chemical and mechanical trials,
with HIDROVEG as the project owner ready to start large-scale production. Firm
understandings have already been reached among the parties. The SSN Project Design
Team has been working on the development of the Project, and the documentation
required for submitting the project to the Executive Board. The drafting of this
document was based on the proposed PDD model, still under discussion at the
UNFCCC. This proposal refers to large-scale projects. For this very reason, the PDD
was developed with greater detailing, since the proposed PDD model still wasn't
available for small-scale projects
9. Summary Table of Project
Crediting Period
Without methane = 38,521 tons CO2
With methane = 59,866
tons CO2
10 years
Mitigation Cost
US$ 14 to 55 /ton CO2
IRR (of project not project activity)
9 to 44 %
SD Index (New methodology)
10
Project Participants
IVIG, Hidroveg, COMLURB, McDonald's
Financier(s)
Hidroveg, others welcome
Level of Government Support
Not yet approved
Total Avoided Emissions
SELECTED PROJECT 2
1. Project Title: Power Generation through Biogas and Biodiesel at the Jardim
Gramacho Landfill, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Figure 1: Representation of the baseline considered in the project
Waste disposal
in landfill
Gas (CH4 ) landfill
production
Atmosphere
Landfill
disposal
Renewable production:
Plantations to produce
vegetable oil
Vegetable oil
production
Use for cooking in
fast-food chain
Residual
vegetable oil
Mud
Transportation
by truck
Sewerage
System
Reuse market: eg.
Soap production, etc.
Collection and
transportation
by truck