• Who We Are
    • The Climate Trust
    • Climate Trust Capital
    • Achievements
    • Leadership And Board Of Directors
  • What We Do
    • Action
    • Impact
    • Case Studies
  • Financials
  • Media
    • Blog
    • News & Press
The Climate Trust | Don’t Forget Methane

Don’t Forget Methane

Biogas, Scorcher

Carbon Markets Should Not Ignore Avoidance Methane Offsets

Carbon market hot terms over the past few years have included “removal,” “nature-based solutions” and “standards,” which may overlook the broader importance of all sectors of the voluntary carbon market. Groups such as Science Based Target Initiative and Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative have taken the lead promoting the need for strict guidelines but also favoring removal offsets over avoidance offsets. This conversation ignores an important category of offsets – avoidance of methane emissions.

Methane emissions in the United States account for 11% of total emissions from human activities. The largest sources of methane emissions with abatement potential are enteric fermentation (27% of total methane emissions), landfills (17%) and manure management (9%). There are currently multiple protocols in the voluntary market to create avoidance offsets for these three emissions sources. Yet, there are very limited options and associated protocols to remove that methane from the atmosphere because it is an extremely difficult process. We must continue to do all we can to support methane emission avoidance projects and curb emissions of a gas with a global warming potential of 28 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 100-year time scale.

Keen offset buyers concerned with monitoring, verification, additionality, and permanence should be attracted to methane avoidance carbon offsets from landfills and anaerobic lagoons at dairy operations. These projects either capture and flare biogas or capture and convert biogas to create energy. Because these projects use meters to track the methane concentration and biogas flow, there is high confidence in total volume of offsets created. Modeling the baseline for additionality is also straightforward. In all the cases above, the project is stopping a known emission from entering the atmosphere. To demonstrate additionality in these projects, there must be no environmental law requiring the capture of methane from anaerobic lagoons and landfills. Lastly, buyers have confidence when purchasing these credits because there are no ways for a reversal to occur. Given the security provided by avoided methane emission offsets and the scalability of the impact, these credits should be an integral part of a buyer’s offset portfolio. It would be a big mistake for the voluntary carbon market to dismiss the importance of these credits as recently suggested by some market participants.

EPA Overview of Greenhouse Gases

Tags
Adaptation
Aggregation
American Carbon Registry
Biochar
Blue Carbon
C-AGG
California Air Resources Board
California Carbon Info
Cap and Invest
carbon offset standards
Carbon Pricing
Carbon-Pulse
Clean Power Plan
Climate Action Reserve
Climate Bonds
Conservation Finance Network
Corporate Social Responsibility
CORSIA
Culture
Dairy Digester
Ecosystem Marketplace
Edible Portland
Energy Central
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Justice
EPAF
Farm Power Northwest
GreenBiz
IPCC
Job Announcement
Leadership
Low Carbon Fuel Standard
Milestone
Oregon Carbon Dioxide Standard
Oregon Clean Fuels Program
Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council
Oregon Global Warming Commission
Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy
Paris
Portland General Electric
REDD
Renewable Fuel Standard
Renewable Identification Numbers
Request For Proposal
RGGI
Rice
Risk Management
Scientific American
Social Cost of Carbon
Supply Chain
Sustainable Business Oregon
Triple Pundit
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Verified Carbon Standard
Western Climate Initiative
Recent Comments
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Proud Member Partners in Diversity
  • DONATE
  • CAREERS
  • CONTACT

©2020 The Climate Trust. Crafted by ILLUSIO