4 New Carbon Projects Listed in California
The California Air Resources Board (ARB) posted four new carbon projects on its website earlier in the week.
The new projects include two Forestry, one Livestock Methane Capture, and one Destruction of Ozone Depleting Substances projects.
Both Forestry projects are located in Virginia, and total up to nearly 10,000 acres.
As Improved Forest Management (IFM) Carbon Projects, the management practices have been altered in order to store more carbon on the property than is common practice for the area.
By extending harvest rotations and encouraging new tree growth, IFM projects provide carbon revenue in addition to traditional timbering, which is permitted as long as it is done so in a sustainable manner.
A total of 59 projects have been submitted to the ARB to provide carbon credits to the California carbon market.
Forest carbon projects are expected to provide the bulk of credits to California businesses that must begin accounting for their annual emissions.
Carbon credits will be in high demand, since only a few project types have been approved for use.
A study by the American Carbon Registry forecasts a 67% shortfall by 2020.
A separate report completed by Thomson Reuters predicts that carbon credits could be valued as high as $50 by 2020.
(8/7/13)