356,559 California carbon offsets issued
Over 350,000 California carbon offsets were issued this week according to the California Air Resources Board (ARB) website.
Businesses purchase California carbon offsets to help meet the state’s goal to improve air quality.
Beginning this year, large companies like power plants and fuel refineries are required to account for the annual emissions associated with their operations.
To meet these new regulations, businesses can purchase California carbon offsets to meet up to 8% of their compliance obligation, creating the demand for up to 200 million offsets by 2020.
However, less than 1 million California carbon offsets have been registered so far from only a handful of ARB-approved project types.
EOS Climate successfully registered one of its projects involving the destruction of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS), often found in cooling systems, that are very harmful when allowed to leak into the atmosphere.
The ODS gases are often gathered from individual refrigerants and transported to facilities where they can be converted into less potent emissions.
Market analysts predict that the amount of ODS diminish over time, regulated businesses will rely heavily on other ARB-approved projects.
Forest Carbon Projects from around the country are expected to supply millions of California carbon offsets.
This past month Green Assets registered only the sixth Avoided Conversion Forest Carbon Project in the country.
The project was issued over 140,000 offsets that will be eligible for use in the California carbon market.
(10/9/13)