The image of China as a wasteful consumer of energy is now widespread. It is consistent with the vision of China devastated by pollution due to its coal-fired power plants and massive deforestation. However, there is growing use of clean and cheap energy that helps fight against the destruction of the environment.

This source of energy is biogas, also called "Zhaoqi" or marsh gas, which provides an increasing number of isolated rural households with reliable energy at almost zero cost.

The main problem with this biogas is the initial cost of construction of the tank, which is often far too great an investment, both technically and financially speaking, to be considered by rural families.

However, ID’s objective is to allow the most disadvantaged to have access to clean energy and economic development.

In 2005, after the success of the "water projects" in Guizhou, ID and its partners set up biogas projects in the same district. This was the official start of our "biogas in China" adventure...

With more than 600 biogas tanks constructed in 2008 and a growing number of beneficiaries, in 2009, ID is now developing a new biogas project in the region of Zhaotong in Yunnan.

In February 2011 Initiative Développement signed the Gold Standard pledge, undertaking that at least 51% of the emission reductions (ER) obtained by our projects are validated by the Gold Standard Foundation. The label of the foundation is “today internationally-recognized as the leading indicator of quality in carbon markets”.

Since summer 2010 ID is also one of the sixty NGO supporters of the foundation, sharing this role with WWF, Greenpeace and the Rainforest Alliance.

An emission reduction is sold on the voluntary market in the form of a ton of CO2 equivalent. (One ton CO2e is equivalent to 1 carbon credit). Carbon credits issued by our projects are sold on this market to companies or individuals from developed countries willing to offset their carbon emissions through funding emissions reduction projects.

The particularity of the Gold Standard is that it not only validates a reduction of Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but also ensure that the project respects the principles of sustainable development. This is the reason why ID decided to use the Gold Standard methodology.

The families for whom ID builds biogas tanks or wood-saving cook-stoves through its Yunnan and Guizhou ID projects are extremely poor: some of the villages where we are involved have average annual incomes by inhabitants of 65 euros.
Our projects not only allow emissions reduction thanks to the shift away from traditional fuels (wood and coal), but time and money savings as well as the improvement of indoor air quality are progresses that the Gold Standard allow us to get recognized by the buyers of our carbon credits.

This recognition naturally translates into a higher selling price of the carbon credits than the one of carbon credits issued through a project without social dimension. This valuable funding is used for tanks maintenance, beneficiaries training or investment in new projects.


More information is available on the Gold Standard website:

On the conditions of our pledge.

On our role as NGO supporter.