Among the difficult tasks in removing and storing carbon dioxide in order to reduce global warming is how to validate, value, and count reductions and storage from various, non-central places, such as landowners and non-energy businesses. Texas-based Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy says it has come up with a nationwide protocol for storing carbon, using market principles
They call it “BCarbon” and it allows “landowners to monetize soil carbon storage as a property right.”
The Baker Institute group that developed the proposed voluntary standard says it could offer a “new multibillion-dollar market while restoring the robust ecosystem of the native prairie and grasslands.” In the paper describing the protocol, the Baker Institute team says, “Increasing biodiversity, restoring natural water cycles and improving drought resistance are all important co-benefits that enhance quality of life for rural communities and economic resilience of ranches and farms.”
The BCarbon proposal consists of 10 principles:
”Principle 1: The credits under this system are issued for the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by photosynthesis and storage in the soil as carbon.
“Principle 2: Any landowner who sequesters carbon dioxide in the soil within a given calendar year is eligible for soil storage payments for that year.
”Principle 3: Transactions may occur on an annual basis after an initial declaration of intent to participate in the soil carbon sales program and the initiation of soil carbon testing requirements.
“Principle 4: Transactions can be based upon estimated values subject to verification. Soil carbon testing is required for verification.
“Principle 5: To become eligible for payments, a landowner must agree that the land will be maintained and protected in a way that promotes and protects soil health and landscape ecological health for 10 years. Transactions occurring in subsequent years will require renewal of the 10-year commitment, creating a “rolling” 10-year requirement.
“Principle 6: Landowners are not required to manage their land in any particular fashion. However, certain land management techniques will lead to greater carbon sequestration than others.
“Principle 7: A buffer account will be maintained to ensure all credits issued under this standard are protected against failure risks.
“Principle 8: It is anticipated and specifically allowed that third-party entities will act as assemblers (also described as “aggregators”) of credits creating the market between buyers and sellers.
“Principle 9: All credits issued under this standard must be certified.
“Principle 10: All credits certified under this standard may be bought and sold until retired, with all transactions being recorded with the certification entity.”
The group that came up with the proposal began working a year ago, led by attorney Jim Blackburn, a law professor at Rice, and Kenneth Medlock, a fellow and director for the Center for Energy Studies at the Baker Institute.
Blackburn and Medlock wrote, “These 10 principles represent the best effort of the working group to articulate a system that is fair, works for landowners and carbon storage buyers, and offers independent verification and both scientific and market-based credibility. The BCarbon team at the Baker Institute is moving forward with this strategic framework, finalizing the specific protocol and implementing the necessary systems and partnerships.”
— Kennedy Maize