Processing and energy use

Module name	Processing and energy use
Module category	Transformation
Version	1.4
Methodology ID	RBW-MOD-P&ENG-V1.4
Release date	July 1st, 2026
Status	In use

Glossary

This is a Transformation Module and covers processing and energy use related to the project. A modular approach allows Project Developers to choose the relevant modules for their project, and shall be used with the necessary accompanying modules and methodology.

How to use this module

BiCRS Methodology

Eligibility and scope

This module covers all processing stages and non-transport energy inputs. It is intended to cover all eligibility criteria and GHG quantification for all processes that are not included in the other modules: feedstock production, transport, infrastructure/machinery, and carbon storage.

Specific processes vary by project, and may include but are not limited to:

• storing, drying, mixing, shredding and grinding of feedstock

• operation of pyrolysis/gasification/carbonation machinery

• direct GHG emissions from off-gas released to the atmosphere (e.g. methane)

• purification, liquefaction, intermediate storage and other post-processing of products

• use of electricity, gas, heat, water, or other material inputs

• waste treatment and management of non-valuable co-products

This module must be used with another Rainbow Methodology. Eligible technologies, certification requirements, and any other requirements shall be taken from the applicable methodology.

Principles & requirements

The principles and requirements specific to this module are detailed in the sections below.

Other principles and requirements shall be taken from the accompanying modules and methodologies:

Methodology

• Additionality

• No double counting

• Environmental and social safeguards

Other modules

• Durability

• Co-benefits

• No double counting

• Environmental and social safeguards

• Leakage

Environmental and social safeguards

Project Developers shall prove that the project does not contribute to substantial environmental and social harms.

Projects must follow all European, national, and local environmental regulations related to, for example, syngas combustion national emission regulations.

The only project design requirement in this module is that any pyrolysis gases produced during the process must be either captured or cleanly burned, if the project is using pyrolysis/gasification. Waste heat and energy coproducts should be used onsite, and fossil fuel based energy should be minimized.

Environmental and social risk assessment

Project Developers shall fill in the methodology-specific risk assessment template, to evaluate the identified environmental and social risks of projects. The templates include Standard-level risks, methodology-level risks and relevant risks from this module.

The identified risks in this module include:

• Pests and pathogen growth from biomass feedstock storage

• Leachate and runoff from biomass feedstock storage

• Gaseous emissions from pyrolysis/gasification/combustion/carbonation

• Improper disposal of waste by-products (ash, tar, residue...) causing soil and water contamination

• Inefficient use of waste heat

• Worker exposure to particulate matter or other gaseous pollutants from pyrolysis

• Worker exposure to dust from biomass shredding/grinding, respiratory risks

Project Developers shall assign a likelihood and severity score of each risk, and provide an explanation of their choices. The VVB and Rainbow’s Certification team shall evaluate the assessment and may recommend changes to the assigned scores.

Any identified material risk (defined as issues with a risk score of moderate or higher) shall be subject to a Risk Mitigation Plan, which outlines how Project Developers will mitigate, monitor, report, and if necessary, compensate for any environmental and/or social harms.

Additional proof may be required for certain high risk environmental and social problems.

The Project Developer, the Rainbow Certification Team, or the VVB may suggest additional risks to be considered for a specific project.

Note that the life-cycle GHG reduction calculations account for the climate change impacts of most environmental risks. Nonetheless, Project Developers shall transparently describe any substantial and sensitive GHG emission risks in the risk evaluation template.

All risk assessments must also address the Minimum environmental and social risks defined in the Rainbow Standard Rules.

The processes covered in this module are highly dependent on the project type, so not all risks may be relevant to a given project. Project Developers may explain how a risk is not applicable to their project.

Monitoring

Monitoring Plans for this module shall include, but are not limited to, tracking of the following information for each Production Batch and/or each calendar year:

• Amount and type of any input/emission

Monitoring Plans shall include the following information for each monitored parameter:

• monitoring frequency

• emission sources and sinks

• data source

• measurement methods/procedures, and their accuracy and calibration

• quality assessment or quality control procedures

• responsible party for collecting and archiving data

GHG quantification

The GHG reduction quantification instructions from all other modules used by the project must be used in conjunction with the present module in order to obtain full life-cycle GHG reduction quantifications. It is a catch-all module that includes all relevant processes that are not included in other modules.

The system boundary of this quantification section includes GHG emissions from at least the following mandatory activities, unless justified to be negligible or not applicable for the project technology:

• Electricity and fuel production

• Fuel combustion

• Direct emissions of off-gas/flue gas

• Water use

• Waste treatment

According to the Rainbow Standard Rules, processes with the lowest contributions to impacts, which each account for less than 1% of total impacts, may be excluded from the GHG quantification, up until the cumulative excluded processes exceed:

• 2% of total induced emissions for avoidance credit calculation and

• 2% of gross removals for removals credit calculation.

These processes shall be transparently identified and justified.

For example, if a screening simulation shows that tap water use for wetting feedstock contributes to less than 1% of project GHGs, then tap water may be excluded from the calculations.

Data sources

The required primary data for GHG reduction calculations from projects are presented in Table 1. These data shall be provided for each production batch and made publicly available.

Table 1 Summary of primary data needed from projects and their source for initial project certification and validation. Asterisks (*) indicate which data are required to be updated annually during verification (see Monitoring Plan section).

Parameter	Unit	Source
Technology operating conditions (e.g. pyrolysis/gasification target temperature and residence time), for each batch*	Varies	Operations records
Detailed process diagram with included/excluded processes	Flow chart	Internal process documents
Type of input/emission*	Text description	Internal process documents
Amount of input/emission*	kg, liter, kWh, MWh, GWh, m$^3$	Meter readings, bills, internal tracking documents, invoices, contracts, gas analyzers or sensors on pyrolysis equipment, calculated using conversions from other primary project data

The ecoinvent database version 3.12 (hereafter referred to as ecoinvent) shall be the main source of emission factors unless otherwise specified. Ecoinvent is preferred because it is traceable, reliable, and well-recognized. The ecoinvent processes selected are detailed in Appendix.

If the available emission factors do not accurately represent the project, a different emission factor may be submitted by the Project Developer, and approved by the Rainbow Certification Team and the VVB. Any emission factor must meet the data requirements outlined in the Rainbow Standard Rules, and come from traceable, transparent, unbiased, and reputable sources.

No other secondary data sources are used in this module.

🇪🇺CRCF requirement: Emission factors

For projects that comply with the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation (EU/2024/3012), emission factors shall be calculated according to the rules set out below.

🇪🇺 CRCF emission factors for electricity

The emission factor for electricity consumption shall be calculated in accordance with paragraphs 5 and 6 of Part A of the Annex to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1185.

Paragraph 5: Fully renewable electricity

Where electricity qualifies as fully renewable under Article 27(3) of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), its emission factor is zero. Electricity qualifies as fully renewable under either of the following conditions:

• It comes from a direct connection to a dedicated renewable generation installation, provided that Project Developers can demonstrate compliance with the rules set out in Article 3 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1184, summarized below for information purposes

  • The installation comes into operation after, or at the same time, as the carbon removal project; and

  • The installation is either not connected to the grid, or is connected to the grid but evidence can be provided that the electricity consumed by the project has been supplied without drawing from the grid.

• It is taken from the grid and Project Developers can demonstrate compliance with the rules set out in Article 4 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1184. According to Article 4, electricity taken from the grid qualifies as fully renewable if:

  • the project is located in a bidding zone where the grid is already over 90% renewable, within a capped number of operating hours proportional to that renewable share.

  • the grid's emission intensity at the project location is below 18 gCO₂eq/MJ and the Project Developer has a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) backed by electricity that meets temporal and geographical correlation requirements.

  • it is consumed during periods when renewable generators were being curtailed (redispatched downwards), meaning the project is effectively absorbing excess clean energy that would otherwise be wasted.

  • Where none of the above apply, grid electricity can still be counted as fully renewable if it meets the full set of requirements: additionality, temporal correlation, and geographic correlation as defined in Articles 5, 6, and 7 of that same Regulation.

Paragraph 6: Electricity not qualifying as fully renewable

Where electricity does not meet the above conditions, one of the following three methods shall be used to determine its GHG emission factor

• Use the default GHG emission values calculated according to Part C of the Annex to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1185. This gives a country- or bidding-zone-specific average emission factor for grid electricity, based on the actual energy mix of the grid where the facility operates.

• The GHG emission factor is determined by comparing the number of hours the production facility operates per year against a regulatory threshold, defined as the number of hours in which renewable generators or nuclear power plants set the marginal electricity price in the preceding calendar year.

  • If the facility operates for a number of hours equal to or below that threshold, it is considered to draw electricity only during periods when the grid is predominantly supplied by clean energy. Grid electricity is therefore assigned a GHG value of 0 gCO2eq/MJ.

  • If the facility operates for more hours than that threshold, the facility is also running during periods when fossil fuels set the electricity price. Grid electricity is therefore assigned a GHG value of 183 gCO₂eq/MJ, which is the standard fossil electricity comparator under RED III.

• Where publicly available, the GHG emission factor of the specific unit generating electricity at the exact time of electricity consumption by the project can be used, as published by the national transmission system operator (TSO) of the relevant bidding zone.

If the emission factor is determined by comparing the operating hours against a regulatory threshold (method 2), this methods shall be applied to all electricity consumed by the project, including any electricity that would otherwise qualify as fully renewable under Paragraph 5. Developers cannot combine this method for grid electricity with a zero-emission factor for their dedicated renewable supply. The choice of method is therefore a commitment that applies across the entire electricity input of the project.

Additional information for the calculation of the electricity emission factor

Calculation timeframe. By default, emission factors are calculated over a full calendar year. Where the project's monitoring period does not align with calendar year boundaries, the following flexibility applies:

• If the monitoring period falls entirely within a single calendar year, the emission factor may be calculated either for the exact monitoring period or for the full calendar year.

• If the monitoring period spans two calendar years, a separate emission factor shall be calculated for each calendar year, either based on the exact portion of the monitoring period falling within each year, or based on the full respective calendar years.

Temporal correlation. Where required by Article 4 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1184, Project Developers shall demonstrate temporal correlation between the consumption and generation of renewable electricity in accordance with the rules set out in Article 6 of that same Regulation, except where the derogation below applies.

Project Developers of new carbon capture facilities or biochar production facilities can apply annual temporal correlation, provided that a final investment decision has been made and construction has started no later than 31 December 2029.

This derogation applies until the earlier of the following:

• 31 December 2044, or

• The end of the first CRCF crediting period

Different electricity sources. Project Developers can choose different methods to calculate the electricity emission factor for different project sites and different electricity sources.

🇪🇺 CRCF emission factors for heat

The emission factor applied to heat inputs shall be determined according to the heat source, as follows:

• The emission factor is zero for heat

  • recovered from a process that is part of the project's activity;

  • generated from non-biomass renewable sources;

  • generated from nuclear energy production;

  • recovered from a process from which heat was not previously recovered until a maximum of three months prior to the start of the project's activity.

• Heat generated by combustion of fossil fuels. The emission factor shall be the lifecycle emission factor for fossil fuel supply and combustion, taken from the latest version of the Joint Research Centre's Definition of input data to assess GHG default emissions from biofuels in EU legislation, and divided by the thermal efficiency of the heat generation process.

• Heat generated from biomass, biofuel, bioliquid, or biomass fuel (Excluding own-heat consumption by a facility capturing CO₂ from biomass combustion for energy generation). The emission factor shall cover supply and combustion emissions, excluding CO₂ from combustion, of the relevant biomass-derived fuel, calculated in accordance with Annex VI of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), and divided by the thermal efficiency of the heat generation process.

• Heat recovered from an existing process, or from a new process coming into operation less than 6 months prior to the start of the project, and not directly related to the project. The emission factor shall be set to the EU ETS benchmark emission factor for heat.

• Heat supplied from a heat network. The emission factor shall be set to the EU ETS benchmark emission factor for heat.

• In the case of net heat export from the project, the emission factor shall be zero.

🇪🇺 CRCF emission factors for fossil fuel and material input

Emission factors can be taken either from the ecoinvent database or from the following hierarchical list, sourcing the emission factors from the first source in the list from which it is available and using, where available, the most recent version of the sources

• part B of the Annex to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1185;

• the most recent version of the Environmental Footprint datasets, or EF-compliant datasets;

• the Joint Research Centre's Definition of input data to assess GHG default emissions from biofuels in EU legislation;

• the JEC Well-to-Wheels report;

• the ecoinvent database, version 3.5 or a more recent version

• official sources such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), International Energy Agency (IEA), or government;

• other reviewed sources or peer-reviewed publications.

Emission factors shall cover all emissions linked to sourcing and delivering inputs up to the point of use. Where needed, emission factors shall be adjusted to remove any carbon contained in the input material itself. If that carbon is later released through processes within the activity, it shall be recorded as a direct emission source.

Example: Diesel use

Consider diesel consumed by machinery on site. The emission factor for diesel covers upstream emissions such as crude oil extraction, refining, and transport to the point of use. The carbon contained in the diesel itself is excluded from this factor. When diesel is combusted, the resulting CO₂ emissions are recorded separately as a direct emission source. Project Developers shall therefore apply two distinct emission factors: one for the upstream supply chain of diesel, and one for its combustion.

Energy types

Projects may only use renewable electricity emission factors for their energy consumption if:

• the energy production is directly linked to the project site, and can prove that there is a physical link, or

• the project holds renewable energy certificates (REC) (e.g. guarantee of origin, GO) plus an energy contract or purchase agreement for the concerned energy. In other words, the project can prove the coupled use of the energy and its corresponding REC.

Use of only a REC is not sufficient and shall be counted as grid electricity.

Electricity grid emission factors shall be taken for the national grid (at the maximum granularity), and if possible, regional mixes shall be used.

GHG emissions from fuel use shall include both the upstream extraction and processing of fuel, plus the direct emissions from combustion.

Project scenario

Based on the project's detailed process diagram, activities and inputs shall be selected for inclusion in the module and listed.

Project Developers shall choose a type of input/emission used among the options in Appendix 1. If the relevant input is not listed, it may be added/considered on a case by case basis, and approved by the Rainbow Certification Team and the VVB.

For each input, Project Developers shall provide the amount used and units per Production Batch and/or per calendar year.

The table below provides an example of the type of data Project Developers may provide to use this module.

Input/emission	Amount	Units	Description	Source
Grid electricity	8	GWh	All electricity used onsite annually	Electricity bills
Diesel	5	liter	Shredding machine. 1 liter diesel per Production Batch, x5 Production Batches per year, calculated using machine fuel efficiency and number of hours used	Technical specifications (liter/hour), record of number of hours used
Methane emissions	20	kg	Emissions calculated from incomplete combustion of syngas	Equipment technical specifications (e.g. 99% efficiency guaranteed), records of amount of syngas produced
Bottom ash waste	50	kg	Management of ash residue from 1 year, landfilled	Invoice from waste management company

Calculations- Project emissions

$\textbf{(Eq.1)}\ E_{\text{Project processing}} = \sum (\text{Amount}_i \times EF_i) \div 1000$

Where,

• $E_{\text{Project processing}}$ represents the total emissions from this module

• $Amount_i$ represents the amount of the input/emission of type $i$, in the same units as the emission factor described below

• $EF_i$ represents the emission factor for the input/emission of type $i$ in kgCO$_2$eq per given unit from the emission factor source

• It is divided by 1000 to convert kgCO$_2$eq to tCO$_2$eq, to be compatible with the Rainbow quantification framework in other modules and methodologies.

Uncertainty assessment

See general instructions for uncertainty assessment in the Rainbow Standard Rules. The outcome of the assessment shall be used to determine the percent of RCCs to eliminate with the discount factor.

Uncertainty may come from project data, but this is estimated to be negligible, since it is required to come from a direct measurement.

This translates to no minimum expected discount factor based on this module.

Appendix

The table below presents a non-exhaustive selection of Ecoinvent activities that may be used in the GHG reduction calculations for this module. Additional activities may be used for any project, if the following selection does not cover all relevant activities.

Table A1 List of ecoinvent 3.12 processes used in the GHG reduction quantification model, all processes are from the cutoff database

Input	Ecoinvent activity name
grid electricity	market for electricity, low voltage market for electricity, medium voltage
onsite solar electricity	electricity production, photovoltaic, 570kWp open ground installation, multi-Si
diesel fuel material	market for diesel, low-sulfur market for diesel
diesel burning	diesel, burned in agricultural machinery diesel, burned in diesel-electric generating set, 18.5kW
natural gas burning	natural gas, burned in gas turbine
heat, from steam	market for heat, from steam, in chemical industry
heat, from municipal incineration	heat, from municipal waste incineration to generic market for heat, district or industrial, other than natural gas
heat, from biomethane burning	market for heat, central or small-scale, biomethane
heat, from straw burning in a furnace	heat production, straw, at furnace 300kW
heat, from natural gas	market for heat, district or industrial, natural gas market for heat, central or small-scale, natural gas
water	market for tap water market for water, decarbonised market for water, deionised
non-hazardous landfill	market for process-specific burdens, slag landfill market for process-specific burdens, sanitary landfill market for process-specific burdens, inert material landfill
hazardous waste treatment	market for hazardous waste, for incineration market for hazardous waste, for underground deposit

Version history

Change	Justification	Date	Version changed
Consolidate risk assessment template at module level with methodology-level risk assessment template	Streamlining of risk assessment templates	July 1st, 2026	V1.3 to V1.4
Add rules for emission factor calculation for CRCF projects	Compliance with the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation (EU/2024/3012)	July 1st, 2026	V1.3 to V1.4
Restructure sections: added Baseline Scope, renamed Eligible technologies to Eligibility and scope, renamed Eligibility criteria to Principles & requirements, moved Monitoring Plan to Principles & requirements	Align with Standard Rules V7 structure	January 21st, 2026	V1.2 to V1.3
Change GHG quantification from ecoinvent v3.11 to v3.12	Using more recent version of database	January 21st, 2026	V1.2 to V1.3
Change from BiCRS module to general module, remove BiCRS specific content	Make module more widely usable, e.g. for enhanced rock weathering and mineralization	September 10, 2025	V1.1 to V1.2
Change GHG quantification from ecoinvent v3.10 to v3.11	Using more recent version of database	June 5th, 2025	V1.0 to V1.1
First release of module	-	December 4th, 2024	V1