Royal Decree 163/2014 established the Carbon Footprint, Compensation and Carbon Dioxide Absorption Projects Registry. This allows organisations such as teCH4+, operating within Spanish territory, to register their carbon footprint in a voluntary, officially recognised national registry.
As a company, we recognise this as a tool with significant potential for climate change mitigation, which is why we decided to integrate it fully into our organisation. Now a strategic cornerstone, it guides our environmental responsibility while enhancing our competitiveness in global markets.
Beyond calculating and registering emissions, this initiative underscores the importance of reducing them. Organisations that register their carbon footprint are therefore required to submit an emissions reduction plan as well. If they subsequently demonstrate that reductions have been achieved, the Registry formally acknowledges that accomplishment.
By the end of 2017, the Registry counted 547 organisations that had collectively registered a total of 1,031 carbon footprints. It operates through a system divided into three sections, as illustrated in the figure below.
In the first of these, Section A, organisations must calculate their carbon footprint and submit an improvement plan — that is, a set of measures through which they intend to reduce the emissions generated by their activity. Section B encompasses carbon dioxide absorption projects, while Section C comprises those entities — previously enrolled in Section A — that have successfully offset their emissions through one of the absorption projects listed in Section B. Through this system, MAPAMA recognises the effort and commitment of each entity by awarding different types of seals: "Calculate", for organisations that have registered their carbon footprint; "Calculate and Reduce", for those that have achieved a reduction in emissions over the preceding three-year period; and "Calculate, Reduce and Offset", granted to entities that, in addition to reducing their emissions, have also chosen to compensate for them.
teCH4+ was incorporated as a Limited Liability Company in 2014. Our primary environmental contribution lies in the fact that the thermal hydrolysis technology we commercialise increases biogas generation from organic waste, thereby displacing the use of fossil fuels. The resulting biosolid is also an organic fertiliser that reduces dependence on synthetic fertilisers and improves soil resilience.
Yet beyond commercialising a technology that actively supports the fight against climate change, we are committed to doing our part in addressing this global challenge. That is why, from our very first year of operation, we incorporated the carbon footprint into our strategic management toolkit and obtained the CALCULATE seal in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
We have recently taken a further step forward by obtaining, for 2017, the CALCULATE AND REDUCE seal — recognition of our efforts to implement our emissions reduction plan and validation of the results we have achieved.
