Credit categories

This category covers a wide range of projects that aim to reduce and avoid emissions versus business as usual. Examples include: renewable energy, destruction of refrigerants that would otherwise be vented to the atmosphere, and capture of methane emitted from landfills.

Actively curbing potent greenhouse gas emissions where they otherwise would occur is one of the most effective actions we can take today. Avoided emissions from this category are typically irreversible, and it’s often straightforward to quantify the exact amount of CO2 emissions avoided through project activity.

Additionality: Carbon credits count as additional only when funded by the credit itself. If a project is already profitable without this financing, or mandated by law, it's not additional. We are invariably cautious of projects, especially many renewable ones, that don't meet this criterion.
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Potential overestimation: Some projects, such as distributing cleaner cookstoves in rural areas, might exaggerate their emission reductions by assuming too much stove usage or by overestimating biomass that would have emitted without the program. We focus on choosing projects that have clear & transparent metrics.

This category typically consists of industrial, point source carbon capture (e.g., at a smokestack or an oil well), with the carbon then stored for the long-term, for instance in underground caves or wells.

Capturing and sequestering CO2 at major point sources of emissions is an efficient way to remove meaningful amounts of carbon from the atmosphere and thereby drive meaningful impact.

Additionality: Because many of these projects, at least in the United States, also benefit from tax credits, carbon credits may not be additional because the credits themselves are not a but-for cause of the project.
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Limited availability: For similar reasons, credits in this category are uncommon because projects in this category often do not generate them.

This category encompasses a broad range of cutting-edge engineered solutions. While they hold immense potential, many, like direct air capture technology and carbon storage through enhanced rock weathering, are still not available at scale.

The best science suggests that any pathway to avoiding the worst effects of climate change will require between 100 and 1,000 gigatons of carbon removal over the course of the 21st century. This category represents the best opportunity to deliver on that gigaton scale permanent removal by leveraging new technology.

Limited Supply: These technologies have not reached operational scale, meaning that they are limited in availability and immediate impact.

Technology risk: Technologies in this category are largely experimental, so there are not yet fully-developed certifications and processes to measure and verify the amount of carbon removed.

Price: Because the technologies are subscale and experimental, tons of CO2e from this category can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.