- Date
- 20th March 2024
- Categories
- Carbon Finance, Webinar Recording
The webinar ‘Technical challenges of dMRV in Modern Energy Cooking’, organised by the Modern Energy Cooking Services programme and RE-Innovation, was held on Wednesday 20th March 2024, at 09:00-10.30 UK time (GMT).
Access the webinar recording:
Webinar Description
The increasing use of digital technology in Modern Energy Cooking (MEC), coupled with advances in the measurement of fuel use, has allowed for new methodologies to be created for calculating carbon emission reductions with greater accuracy and lower cost. The Gold Standard Methodology for Metered & Measured Energy Cooking Devices (MMMECD) and Verra’s new draft “Methodology for Improved Cookstoves and Other Distributed Thermal Energy Generation Units” are important examples of these.
Although standard-setting bodies are increasingly embracing digital monitoring, reporting and verification (dMRV) and digitising their tools, their regulation and guidance around dMRV is very new and still under development. Moreover, there are different technical and organisational approaches for meeting the requirements for measuring cooking device usage under the methodologies. MECS consequently commissioned a consultancy group to conduct a review on the technical needs and available resources related to the Gold Standard Methodology for Metered and Measured Energy Cooking Devices and similar standards.
Their new report “A review of the standards, methodologies, technical needs and available resources related to digital monitoring, reporting and verification for modern cooking devices in the context of carbon finance” aims to provide project developers with an overview of the present ecosystem relating to digitisation for modern cooking devices, suggesting available resources, providing technical guidance, and highlighting future trends.
During the webinar, the lead authors of the report Matt Little and Annika Richter presented the main findings and recommendations of the report. This was followed by a panel discussion where representatives of several leading groups, representing diverse viewpoints and industry backgrounds, offered their perspectives on recent developments.
The review has shown that digitisation provides a promising pathway to increased integrity for carbon markets and clean cooking activities in particular. In the meantime, device manufacturers, carbon project developers, climate tech companies and other market actors are developing innovative hardware and software solutions for dMRV, but high costs, a need for technical expertise and a lack of incentives still represent barriers to large-scale uptake. Fully integrated end-to-end dMRV platforms with automated data onboarding, processing and verification, are the ultimate goal. The potential to realise these objectives and timelines involved was discussed during the webinar.
Webinar Agenda
The webinar was held on Wednesday 20th March 2024 from 09:00 to 10:30 (GMT).
- 09:00 – 09:10: Welcome & Introduction (Prof Ed Brown, MECS)
- 09:10 – 09:40: Presentation of the report: context, key findings, and recommendations by Matt Little and Annika Richter
- 09:40 – 10:05: Panel Discussion, moderated by Prof Matt Leach of MECS
- Nadine Planzer, SustainCERT, Director of Business Development, Environmental Markets
- Rehema Mbalamwezi, UpEnergy, Vice President Operations – Africa
- Mahesh Badgujar, KPay Innovation Pvt. Ltd., Business Development Manager
- Zach White, GSMA, Senior Insights Manager
- 10:05 – 10:25: Q&A session with all panellists