Ditching Oil for EVs: Fighting Climate Change While Building Carbon Credits

The transportation sector is one of the country's major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for as much as 28% of total national emissions (Department of Climate Change, 2022). Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles running on gasoline and diesel emit an average of 1.3268–2.6987 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per unit (kgCO₂/unit). Beyond carbon emissions, they also generate air pollutants such as NOx and PM2.5, which have a direct impact on public health. Meanwhile, Thailand continues to rely on crude oil imports worth over one trillion baht per year (EPPO, 2023). These combined challenges — energy security and the climate crisis — have made the transition to electric vehicles an urgent national priority.

The transition from internal combustion engine vehicles (ICE) to battery electric vehicles (BEV) not only helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector, but also opens opportunities for the private sector to generate income through greenhouse gas reduction mechanisms. TGO's Premium T-VER standard applies the greenhouse gas reduction methodology T-VER-P-METH-04-01, which establishes transparent and verifiable criteria for calculating carbon credit volumes. A key condition that project developers must comply with is that the vehicles being compared — ICE vehicles (baseline scenario) versus BEV vehicles (project scenario) — must be of the same type, with a load capacity or engine power difference of no more than 20% compared to the internal combustion engine vehicle, in order to ensure accuracy and transparency in calculating the volume of greenhouse gas reductions. Eligible vehicle types under this project include four-wheeled passenger cars, motorcycles, three-wheeled motorized vehicles, non-scheduled buses, and trucks. Scheduled public buses, such as city buses, fall outside the scope of this activity; for those, the methodology for converting internal combustion engine buses to electric buses for scheduled passenger transport (T-VER-P-METH-04-02) must be applied instead. In terms of legal and safety requirements, vehicles converted from ICE to BEV must comply with the Motor Vehicles Act and the Land Transport Act, or, where no directly applicable legislation exists, must be certified by a licensed professional engineer registered in Thailand to confirm safety standards before the vehicle is put into service.

To ensure the credibility of carbon credits generated through project implementation, every BEV must be capable of tracking the electricity consumed during charging as well as its mileage. Additionally, charging stations must not use electricity generated from renewable energy sources, in order to prevent double counting of greenhouse gas reductions, which could cause the certified carbon credit volume to deviate from actual figures.

Furthermore, in cases where project owners or developers operate BEV vehicles, they must demonstrate a proper approach to managing damaged or end-of-life batteries in an environmentally sound manner, in order to prevent long-term electronic waste problems. To avoid greenhouse gas emission leakage, project developers must also confirm with evidence that the ICE vehicles in the baseline scenario will not be put into use elsewhere, and that any removed internal combustion engines must not be reused — unless they are being converted into battery electric vehicles. This is to ensure that the volume of greenhouse gas reductions is genuine and is not double-counted from other sources.

The transition from ICE vehicles to BEV vehicles delivers tangible, multi-dimensional benefits spanning environmental, economic, and public health dimensions. Research from the ICCT (2021) found that electric vehicles emit 50–70% fewer greenhouse gases over their full lifecycle compared to ICE vehicles, even when electricity generation is factored in. Furthermore, the average cost of electric energy stands at 0.5–1.5 baht per kilometer, significantly lower than fuel costs of 3–5 baht per kilometer, with maintenance costs also substantially lower (EPPO, 2023). On the health front, reducing emissions from fuel combustion cuts the release of NOx and PM2.5 — pollutants that the WHO (2023) identifies as responsible for more than 7 million premature deaths annually worldwide.

Moreover, this transition helps reduce dependence on crude oil imports, strengthens domestic energy security, and aligns with the country's goals of achieving Carbon Neutrality and Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Premium T-VER greenhouse gas reduction mechanism thus serves both as an economic incentive tool and as a bridge between business operations and environmental responsibility — one that every sector can participate in concretely and meaningfully.

References:

1. Department of Climate Change and Environment. (2022). Thailand's Fourth National Communication on Climate Change. Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
2. International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). (2021). Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from electric vehicles. Washington, D.C.: ICCT.
3. IPCC. (2022). Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Cambridge University Press.
4. Office of National Energy Policy and Planning (EPPO). (2023). Thailand Energy Situation Report 2023. Ministry of Energy.
5. Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (TGO). (2023). Greenhouse Gas Reduction Methodology T-VER-P-METH-04-01.
6. World Health Organization (WHO). (2023). Ambient air quality database. Geneva: WHO.

Source: Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (Public Organization)