CEMEX Costa Rica: Use of biomass residues in Colorado cement plant

Audit Analysis

A CDM biomass-energy project at a CEMEX cement plant in Costa Rica that substitutes fossil fuels with biomass residues. Additionality was confirmed by TÜV NORD CERT via a combined test, and the verified emissions reductions for the 2011–2012 monitoring period are broadly consistent with the pro-rata lifetime estimate. However, the project-specific baseline, a set of five corrective actions and eight non-material observations, and the absence of several key monitoring parameters in the extracted record limit confidence in the overall integrity and transparency of the credit.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Five corrective actions were required at verification, including missing GHG emissions from on-site transportation and drying in the ER calculation and an outstanding Letter of Approval from Costa Rica
• ⚠The additionality discussion was flagged as unclear and the initial PDD used an invalid version of the additionality tool (NIR 5, NIR 6, NIR 7)
• ⚠Project-specific baseline with no jurisdictional or standardised reference, and no buffer pool or permanence mechanism in place
• ⚠Only one monitoring period (2011–2012) is documented out of a ten-year crediting period, leaving the remaining nine years unverified in the available record

Credit Vintages