NEW YORK – Feb. 3, 2021 – Today, ACT Commodities Inc. (ACT) and Blue Source, LLC (Bluesource) announced the completion of the first Renewable Thermal Certificate (RTC) voluntary corporate claim on the M-RETS® platform, an industry leading tracking tool for renewable certificates. Thanks to this partnership, ACT became the first company to retire RTCs on behalf of a Fortune 50 corporate client to meet voluntary sustainability goals. This first-of-its-kind transaction represents a new option for corporate clients to utilize renewable natural gas to lower their carbon footprints.
RTCs are a new tool that represent the environmental attributes associated with renewable natural gas and other renewable thermal commodities like green hydrogen.
“Like Renewable Energy Certificates which have an established market, RTCs are another tool for corporate buyers to address their environmental footprints without necessitating a change in their existing energy procurement strategies,” said Ronald Rozgonyi, ACT North America CEO. “We are excited to be a part of this growing environmental commodity market and to establish clear pathways for other buyers to follow suit using the M-RETS® platform.”
M-RETS®, a state-of-the-art platform that validates the environmental attributes of renewable energy, issues a traceable digital certificate for every dekatherm produced by a renewable thermal generator. The accessibility of RTCs on the M-RETS® platform enables voluntary buyers to directly address the emissions related to their natural gas usage. RTCs empower buyers to trace and claim renewable natural gas consumption from specific facilities across the United States and Canada with confidence, lowering their own carbon footprints in the process. More climate friendly than fossil fuels, renewable natural gas is an essential tool to address a company’s Scope 1 emissions and make progress on carbon neutral commitments.
ACT’s leadership in the industry and expertise in identifying and developing new markets for environmental commodities generated an interest for renewable natural gas from one of its key corporate clients, a major consumer goods company in the United States with an ambitious climate goal. ACT turned to Bluesource, a leading environmental project developer, retailer and environmental action partner. With a rapidly growing renewable natural gas portfolio of 45 biogas projects and two decades of experience, Bluesource supplied the renewable natural gas for this innovative transaction.
“This first transaction is a big step toward developing additional liquidity for the renewable natural gas market. RTC demand is evidence of the growing interest from voluntary buyers to follow through on their sustainability goals and purchase renewable natural gas,” said Will Overly, Bluesource Vice President. “As companies continue to make carbon neutral commitments, RTCs will play a vital role in the fulfillment of these goals.”
ACT Commodities
ACT Commodities is a global leader in the environmental commodities ecosystem, with more than 11 years of experience working with over 5,000 clients worldwide, helping them achieve their sustainability objectives through various products and solutions. In North America, ACT provides solutions to market participants in renewable energy certificates, fuel credits, and carbon emission products. ACT is also active in physical renewable fuel, feedstock for biofuel production and biomethane (RNG), promoting biomethane adoption through its international network of corporate buyers.
Bluesource
Bluesource is a climate action partner for private and public companies, nonprofits and governments. Bluesource has pioneered creative solutions to the climate crisis since 2001, with deep expertise across environmental technologies and markets. With more than 200 active projects in the United States and Canada, Bluesource is a leader in voluntary, compliance and pre-compliance carbon, renewable energy attribute, renewable natural gas and energy efficiency markets. For six consecutive years, Bluesource has been voted Best Project Developer (North America) and Best Offset Originator (California) by peers and partners in Environmental Finance’s Annual Market Rankings.
M-RETS®
M-RETS® validates the environmental attributes of energy to serve as a trusted centralized gateway to environmental markets. The objective, accurate and reliable web-based system is used by thermal and electric generators, utilities, marketers, and regulators across North America. M-RETS® is the leading renewable thermal and electricity tracking and trading system in North America, driven by balancing the needs of both voluntary and compliance stakeholders. M-RETS is a nonprofit organization with an independent governance board composed of energy sector, government and NGO stakeholders. M-RETS is recognized for its role in public outreach and education as well as helping to build and support renewable energy attribute markets. More information about the M-RETS platform is available at mrets.org.