Features of Carbon Offsets
Carbon offsets have several common features:
- Vintage. The vintage is the year in which the carbon reduction takes place.
- Source. The source refers to the project or technology used in offsetting the carbon emissions. Projects can include land-use, methane, biomass, renewable energy and industrial energy efficiency. Projects may also have secondary benefits (co-benefits). For example, projects that reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions may improve water quality by reducing fertilizer usage.
- Certification regime. The certification regime describes the systems and procedures that are used to certify and register carbon offsets. Different methodologies are used for measuring and verifying emissions reductions, depending on project type, size and location. For example, the CDM uses another. In the voluntary market, a variety of industry standards exist. These include the Voluntary Carbon Standard and the CDM Gold Standard that are implemented to provide third-party verification of carbon offset projects. There are some additional standards for the validation of co-benefits, including the CCBS, issued by the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance and the Social Carbon Standard, issued by Ecologica Institute.
Read more about this topic: Carbon Offset
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