Offsets, Credits & Removals
The market for carbon outside a company’s own footprint — offsets vs removals, carbon credits, additionality, permanence, baselines and removals from afforestation to direct air capture.
23 terms
Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR)Carbon dioxide removal (CDR): taking CO2 out of the atmosphere and storing it durably - not the same as…AdditionalityAdditionality: the test that a carbon credit's reductions would not have happened without the finance - the…Afforestation and ReforestationAfforestation and reforestation (A/R) establish forest to remove CO₂. How they differ, the carbon they store…Avoided Emissions (Scope 4)Avoided emissions - Scope 4 - are the GHG cuts a product enables for customers vs a higher-emitting…Baseline (Counterfactual)Baseline (counterfactual): the emissions that would have occurred without a project - the reference every…BECCS (Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage)BECCS: bioenergy with carbon capture and storage burns biomass and buries the biogenic CO2 - durable carbon…BiocharBiochar: stable carbon made by pyrolysing biomass and stored in soil for centuries - a carbon removal method…Buffer Pool (Reversal Risk)A buffer pool is a shared reserve of carbon credits insuring against reversals: if stored carbon is lost, the…Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)Carbon capture and storage (CCS): capturing CO2 at the source and storing it underground - on fossil…Carbon HandprintA carbon handprint is the positive climate impact you create for others - the emissions a customer avoids…Carbon InsettingCarbon insetting funds emission cuts inside your own value chain, so they lower reported Scope 3 - unlike…Carbon Sequestration (Land Removals)Carbon sequestration captures atmospheric CO₂ in forests and soils. As a land removal it counts as a negative…Direct Air Capture (DAC)Direct air capture (DAC) chemically extracts CO2 from ambient air; with durable storage (DACCS) it is a…Enhanced WeatheringEnhanced weathering (ERW): crushed silicate rock spread on land turns CO2 into durable ocean bicarbonate…Mineral CarbonationMineral carbonation speeds up nature's slowest carbon sink - reacting CO2 with silicate minerals into…Nature-Based SolutionsNature-based solutions (NbS) protect, restore and manage ecosystems to tackle climate change — how they…Negative EmissionsNegative emissions are CO₂ removed from the atmosphere by deliberate action — how they differ from avoided…Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE)Ocean alkalinity enhancement adds alkalinity to seawater so it absorbs more CO2 and grows less acidic…Permanence (Carbon Storage)Permanence (durability): how long removed carbon stays out of the atmosphere before it can reverse - the…PyrolysisPyrolysis heats biomass without burning it, splitting it into char, bio-oil and syngas - turning labile plant…REDD+REDD+ is the UN framework rewarding developing countries for cutting forest emissions. The five activities…Removal vs Avoidance CreditBoth are one-tonne carbon credits — but avoidance prevents emissions while removal takes CO₂ out of the air.…Soil Organic CarbonSoil organic carbon is the carbon held in soil organic matter — the largest terrestrial carbon pool.…