Carbon: Offsets, Removal and Credits

The voluntary carbon market in the United States is rapidly developing with multiple brand name corporations announcing ambitious carbon targets. Unfortunately, it's virtually unregulated,  making it very difficult to measure efficacy, and ripe for abuse. 

This is not the case in Europe however, which is why credits generated by European standards generally trade higher and are increasingly priced based upon their durability (or amount of time before the C02 is re-emitted into the atmosphere via decomposition or other means). 

Carbon removal credits, like those generated when biochar is produced and applied, are thus trading at much higher prices than short-lived credits like those generated by planting trees, and higher yet than carbon 'avoidance' credits such as investment in solar farms which in fact do not remove C02 from the atmosphere. As the market matures, it will become increasingly sophisticated, and the ability to measure and verify the persistence of the removed carbon will be the most relevant factor in driving the value and demand in the voluntary marketplace.

Read more in the articles below:

The math isn’t adding up on forests and CO2 reductions - The Verge

Carbon Offsets Aren’t Enough. We Need to Remove Carbon From the Atmosphere - Grist