The CCS process works by capturing carbon dioxide produced in concentrated waste streams at industrial facilities and fossil fuel-generated power plants. The captured carbon is then transported and injected into secure, deep underground geological formations.
MSc Development Studies alum Alejandra Padin-Dujon unpacks the recent controversy involving the carbon credit certifier Verra, wherein investigative journalists questioned Verra's 'avoided deforestation' credits, claiming these have been overstating the level of carbon offsetting actually achieved.
Verra is a carbon credit registry that manages the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), the biggest standard in the carbon market based on market share. As a standard, Verra sets rules and requirements for carbon credit projects to ensure that they achieve measurable, high-integrity outcomes.
Timeline for Project Registration The length of the validation process varies from project to project. It can take up to a year or longer (in rare cases). After a successful validation, the project proponent requests project registration with Verra as outlined in the Registration and Issuance Process (PDF) document.
Methodologies provide requirements and procedures to determine project boundaries, identify the baseline, assess additionality, monitor the relevant parameters, and ultimately quantify the GHG emission reductions or removals.
A VCS grouped project combines multiple project activity instances into a single, combined project that adds new instances over time. Using VCS requirements for grouped projects, a project proponent may avoid undergoing a full validation for each new instance added to the project.
Long lead time (e.g., 3-5 years, variable by project type) before carbon credits are finally issued (the methodology must be developed, the project must be developed and implemented) Risky, since it can be difficult to get new methodologies approved.
The VCS project lifecycle consists of several stages, including project design, registration, implementation, monitoring, verification, and issuance. Each stage plays a crucial role in ensuring the generation of high-quality carbon credits.
Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Methodologies are technical documents used by project developers to quantify the GHG benefits of different project types.