Avoided Greenhouse Gases (Ghg) Emissions By Implementing Clean-Energy Mini-Grids In West Africa: Calculation And Carbon Market Opportunities

Abstract

Since the Industrial Revolution, the anthropogenic greenhouse gases emissions have notably increased. With their ability to trap heat and their important level of concentrations, the greenhouse gases are the source of the global warming, which leads to the climate change. In order to reduce the atmospheric concentrations of the GHGs, it appears important to cut the emissions from the main sources as the power sector which depends on the burning of fossil fuels for heat and electricity production. The set of emissions limit to keep the global temperature increase under 2ºC, has forced the main polluters to reduce their emissions or to buy carbon credits. Therefore the implementation of CDM projects that avoid GHGs emissions in developing countries can offset the emissions from developed countries. With a low electrification rate in West Africa, the development of CDM projects as clean energy mini-grids can help to tackle the energy issue while it could also represent an important opportunity in the carbon market. The work carried out in this study is a calculation of the avoided emissions for three renewable energy based mini-grids, located in Senegal, using the Gold Standard methodology. In addition the opportunity from the carbon market is assessed based on the minimum carbon price set by UNGC.