3.1.1.5 Carbon offsetting solutions(1)
EDF group commitment3.1.1.5.1
For the EDF group, use of carbon offsetting is the final stage of a process to achieve neutrality, based on the “Avoid-Reduce-Compensate” approach, as already applied to biodiversity and many other fields. Carbon offsetting must not under any circumstances take the place of a strategy designed to drastically reduce the Group’s emissions, whether direct or indirect.
The EDF group is focusing on the use of “negative emissions” projects to offset its residual emissions by 2050, compared to “avoided emissions” projects. This can include technological solutions, such as Bio-Energy with CO2 Capture and Storage (BECCS), or natural solutions, such as carbon sequestration in forests and soil.
In accordance with current carbon compatibility rules(2), emission credits from carbon offsetting are not currently deducted from the EDF group greenhouse gas report and are accounted for separately.
3.1.1.5.2 Group initiatives and management
In addition to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, carbon offsetting can enable an immediate contribution to the transition towards a low-carbon society and meet the expectations of EDF group stakeholders: by contributing to creating carbon-“neutral”solutions, and involving staff and employees in actions in favour of the climate.
Early carbon emission offsetting initiatives are springing up everywhere, including:
- Solutions: the Trading Division developed the "Avantage gaz durable" (i.e."Sustainable gas advantage") gas supply solution, which is a gas solution featuring offsetting of the emissions from its combustion, for its customers in France. This offsetting is managed by EDF Trading through purchasing of credits certified by the United Nations generated initially by a biomass project in China and currently by a wind turbine project. Regarding Luminus, it offers a range of carbon-neutral gas solutions. The “EcoFix Gas” solution is a 3-year, fixed-rate CO2 -neutral solution. The “EcoFlex Gas” solution is also a CO2 -neutral solution but with a variable price indexed every 3 months. The “#BeGreen Fix” solution is also a 1-year, fixed-price carbon-neutral solution;
- Commitment by employees and customers: Enedis has partnered with theNGO “Reforest’Action” to take action in favour of the reforestation of areas hit by natural disasters. Enedis is funding the planting of 1 tree for every 20 customer accounts opened following the installation of Linky smart meters. Enedis is a Reforest’Action “Gold Contributor”, and has planted 50,000 trees since March 2018;
- Travel: Citelum has an offsetting programme with the “Reforest’ Action”organisation to offset emissions from business trips. For the purposes of this scheme, it purchases carbon credits certified by VCS (a project to avoid deforestation in Brazil). The EDF group Foundation offsets travel emissions generated by international patronage through the “Good Planet” Foundation, by funding both manufacturing of solar-powered cookers in Peru and Bolivia and installation of biodigesters in India. The International Division also offsets its emissions generated by business trips with the Good Planet Foundation;
- Finance: through its subsidiary EDF Trading, the EDF group has a diversified carbon credit portfolio and extensive experience in voluntary carbon offsetting markets.
Also see the actions described in section 3.2.1 “Biodiversity”.
The EDF group is developing a methodological framework and appropriate governance to study Group initiatives on a case-by-case basis and guarantee their consistency with Group commitments and Corporate Social Responsibility.
3.1.1.5.3 R&D support
The EDF group R&D Division is implementing the Group’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 by actively monitoring negative emissions technologies and more specifically exploring the following solutions:
- CO2 capture and storage (CCS): the EDF group already has solid skills in this. field, having participated in several international research projects and created a capture demonstrator on its Le Havre site. This €22 million demonstrator (25% co-funded by ADEME, i.e. the French Environmental & Energy ManagementAgency) has captured 1,900 tonnes of CO2 and enabled the technical and economic feasibility of several processes to be determined. An alternative to storage is recovering carbon dioxide captured in a different chemical form (fuels, materials). Applied to bioenergy (considered to be CO2 -neutral), CCS is becoming a way to generate negative CO2 emissions (BECCS) and could play a major role by 2050 in countries committed to achieving carbon neutrality;
- solutions based on nature: these practices, like afforestation (planting trees in an area where no trees have grown for many years), reforestation, proper management of pastures and wetlands or even modification of farming practices, now appear among the most promising potential ways to increase carbon sequestration in soil and forests, and accordingly generate negative emissions. TheEDF group is the third biggest land manager in France, with more than 40,000 hectares of land featuring not only production sites but extensive countryside (including 7,000 hectares of forests and 7.5 billion m3 of water in its reservoirs). The EDF group R&D Division is working to assess (a) the potential of the Group’s land to store carbon and (b) the synergies and potential contradictions of carbon offsetting with other ecosystem services, including preservation and biodiversity;
- atmospheric CO2 capture technologies (DAC, i.e. Direct Air Capture). These technologies are still at the experimental stage. In November 2020, EDF in theUnited Kingdom published a call for expressions of interest to set up a direct air CO2 capture demonstrator on the site of the project of Size well C nuclear power plant. Two innovative technologies are set to be tested in this project, with the long-term goal of being able to make the power plant’s carbon footprint completely neutral, or even negative.
