SACRAMENTO, CA, April 29, 2016 – The American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, has approved a methodology for Emission Reduction Measurement and Monitoring for the Transition to Advanced Formulation Blowing Agents in Foam Manufacturing and Use. The methodology was developed by Dentons US LLP and Foam Supplies, Inc.

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are commonly used blowing agents that are released at varying rates during manufacture, use and at end-of-life of foams. Foam blowing agents are used in numerous applications including refrigerators and freezers; industrial refrigeration systems and refrigerated transport; boats and buoys; and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

According to the EPA Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions and Sinks, industrial process emissions account for over 300 MMT of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent annually, over half of which is from chemicals such as HFCs. While HFCs are not Ozone Depleting Substances and are therefore an acceptable substitute under the Montreal Protocol, they have global warming potentials (GWPs) up to 4000 times higher than CO2 and contribute to global GHG emissions.

HFCs are also considered short-lived climate pollutants, so mitigating emissions of HFC is important for limiting near term climate impacts. In fact, HFCs are considered one of the fastest growing sources of GHG emissions globally, and there is currently no internationally agreed phase out schedule for HFC consumption or production.

Alternatives to HFC-based blowing agents are available but are not commonly used in certain segments of the foam manufacturing industry due to cost and other challenges to adoption. The ACR methodology is intended to provide access to carbon finance to increase uptake of available advanced technologies and accelerate a transition to low GWP blowing agents in these sectors more rapidly than would otherwise occur.

“ACR’s approval of this methodology is an important step to reward early action and facilitate meaningful and significant reductions in emissions from HFCs in foam blowing agents,” said Jeff Fort, senior partner at Dentons.

Methodology co-author Susan Wood, former senior advisor to Dentons, added “the publication of this work is very timely in that it addresses the reduction of the short-lived climate pollutants currently being discussed by scientists around the world. We appreciate ACR’s support and leadership to move the needle in this offset category.”

Arlington, Va., Oct. 19, 2015 – The American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, announced today the approval of a methodology for the measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions from the use of certified reclaimed hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants and advanced refrigeration systems. The methodology was developed by EOS Climate, with financial support provided by A-Gas Americas, Hudson Technologies and Diversified Pure Chem.

Under the Montreal Protocol to Protect the Stratospheric Ozone Layer, all nations ended production of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants. A phasedown in production of, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) is also underway and in the U.S. is more than 90% complete.

Developed as “ozone-friendly” alternatives, HFC refrigerants are powerful greenhouse gases when released to the atmosphere. Pound for pound, HFCs have global warming potentials (GWPs) up to 4000 times higher than carbon dioxide (CO2). Unless bold action is taken to limit their production and use, HFC emissions are expected to nearly triple in the U.S. by 2030. The new ACR offset methodology incentivizes GHG emissions reductions through the re-use of certified reclaimed HFC refrigerants and deployment of advanced low-GWP commercial refrigeration technologies.

“This is a major milestone in our ongoing efforts to deliver market-based solutions addressing global climate impacts of carbon-intensive chemicals and other commodities,” said Jeff Cohen, Senior Vice President at EOS Climate. “Through the new ACR methodology, industry leaders across the refrigerant value chain – service technicians, refrigerant suppliers and producers, equipment manufacturers, and the wide range of refrigerant end-users such as commercial building owners, hotels, supermarkets, car makers, and municipalities, now have an additional tool to strengthen their carbon reduction strategies.”

A groundbreaking industry collaboration to leverage the new ACR methodology was announced at a White House event last week. The collaboration, involving EOS Climate, The Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy, The Indoor Environment & Energy Efficiency Association (ACCA), Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) and The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) will develop and implement a Reclaimed HFC Credit Bank as a component of the Global Refrigerant Management Initiative (GRMI) – GRMI is targeting reductions in global HFC emissions by 30 to 50 percent in 10 years.

The new methodology is part of a continuum of market-based solutions targeting fluorochemicals, notably an ODS Destruction Protocol, also originated by EOS Climate and an important part of California’s cap-and-trade market. The new industry effort complements domestic regulations including California’s Refrigerant Management Program, U.S. EPA’s SNAP program and the recently proposed extension of federal regulations issued under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act.

“American Carbon Registry is extremely pleased to announce the approval of this first-of-a-kind methodology, which we hope will stimulate large-scale emissions reductions from HFC production and use,” said John Kadyszewski, American Carbon Registry Director. “We look forward to working with companies as they implement their HFC reduction strategies.”

NEW ORLEANS, LA – Aug. 26, 2015 – Today, Tierra Resources announced the success of a three-year pilot project to plant mangroves to protect against wetland erosion and hurricane surge. This marks the first successful test of air seeding of mangroves by crop duster airplane, providing a cost-efficient, scalable method to prevent wetland loss.

Additionally, the American Carbon Registry has certified Tierra Resources’ expansion of a wetland carbon quantification methodology that provides a path to market for verified emissions reductions – issued as carbon credits – to help finance wetland restoration techniques that prevent wetland loss and the associated release of greenhouse gas emissions. As the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, Tierra Resources, led by Dr. Sarah Mack and in collaboration with Entergy Corporation, ConocoPhillips and other companies, has developed the science and research to help fund and implement projects to restore America’s wetlands, which provide critical protection to the nation’s seafood, maritime trade, and oil and gas industries.

“Louisiana’s wetlands protect a large portion of our nation’s seafood industry, oil and gas infrastructure and key ports, but they are disappearing in front of our eyes,” said Dr. Mack. “Our carbon finance methodology paired with techniques like mangrove air seeding provide the opportunity to expedite wetland restoration at a scale and a cost that hasn’t been done before. This innovation is vital to the protection of our region’s communities, culture, and the national economy.”

It is estimated that Louisiana experiences wetland loss equivalent to one football field every hour. As these wetlands and waterways disappear, so does the protection of a region critical to the nation’s economy. For example, a three-week closure of Port Fourchon from a hurricane would result in national losses of $11.2 billion in sales, $3.1 billion in household earnings and negatively impact nearly 65,000 jobs. Oil pipelines at risk in the surrounding wetlands provide a critical connection to the nation’s refineries.  The loss of coastal wetlands is not a local problem. It is an American crisis that requires the support of public and private entities.

Tierra Resources selected mangroves for the project due to their ability to thrive in saltwater environments while protecting fish habitat and establishing complex root systems to reduce erosion. Mangroves protect communities and industry by slowing hurricane surge and reducing related flooding. Tierra Resources utilized the innovative method of air seeding by crop duster airplane, which proved successful at approximately 3 percent of the cost of conventional restoration techniques. Mangroves that were seeded in late 2013 are now a few feet high. This new technique establishes a scalable approach to conserve large areas of wetlands, in a short period of time, at a fraction of the cost. While the research focused on Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes – including the nationally important Port Fourchon – the technique shows potential to expand to other areas of coastal Louisiana and around the world.

“We have proven that wetland restoration can be cost-efficient and scalable,” stated Dr. Mack. “The future of this region and its ability to protect itself and the national economy will require new public-private paradigms and a national commitment to environmental stewardship.”

After the mangrove planting project’s success with ConocoPhillips, Entergy announced that they will join forces with Tierra Resources in 2016 to further demonstrate the scalability and affordability of mangrove air seeding.

“At Entergy we understand the economic value of our natural resources and are committed to helping preserve those resources for the benefit of all our stakeholders,” said Chuck Barlow, vice president of environmental strategy and policy. “Through our work with Tierra Resources and other partners, we are helping restore wetlands through a variety of initiatives funded by our shareholders and supported by our employees. Mangrove restoration is just one of many initiatives helping to ensure regional and national prosperity and preserve a way of life our customers value.”

As Tierra Resources and its many counterparts and partners in Louisiana lead the world in innovating cost-efficient, scalable restoration techniques to prevent wetland loss, creative funding strategies are critical to the viability of these techniques and the future of America’s coast. In early 2015, Tierra Resources and Entergy announced the results of a study that evaluated carbon finance opportunities from blue carbon – the carbon naturally stored in mangroves and coastal wetlands. The study provided potential positive financial impacts of the American Carbon Registry’s 2012 certification of the methodology Restoration of Degraded Deltaic Wetlands of the Mississippi Delta. This methodology, developed by Tierra Resources and supported by Entergy’s Environmental Initiatives Fund, introduced wetland restoration to carbon markets. The study showed that carbon finance has the potential to create as much as $1.6 billion in private wetland restoration funding over the next 50 years should the prevention of wetland loss also be included in carbon markets.

Using the results of the mangrove planting project, Entergy’s Environmental Initiatives Fund was able to support Tierra Resources’ expansion of the American Carbon Registry’s wetland methodology. This revision accounts for wetland restoration activities that prevent previously stored carbon from being released back to the atmosphere as wetlands erode and convert to open water. The inclusion allows for wetland restoration projects to account for more carbon benefits and may lead to additional long-term funding.

“While funding for wetland restoration remains a critical challenge, the carbon finance methodology provides a strong business case for companies around the country to invest in preventing wetland loss,” stated Dr. Mack.

The Gulf Coast is building globally relevant restoration techniques and funding strategies to increase economic and environmental sustainability. The commitment of capital and collaboration among companies and public entities will determine the future of the coast and the communities that call it home. In the next ten years, Tierra Resources aims to stand by its commitment to preserve wetlands for the next generation by scaling its proven air seeding restoration technique to over 30,000 acres of coastal Louisiana.

SACRAMENTO,  April 27, 2015 – The American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, announced today the approval of a carbon offset methodology for the measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions associated with carbon capture and storage (CCS) of carbon dioxide (CO2) in geologic formations. The methodology was developed by Blue Strategies, LLC, an affiliate of Blue Source, LLC.

CCS technologies prevent CO2 emissions pro­duced from industrial processes or from the use of combustion fuels in electricity generation and industry from entering the atmosphere. A typical CCS project consists of capturing, transporting, compressing and securely storing the CO2 underground in depleted oil and gas fields or deep saline aquifer formations.

The new ACR CCS methodology outlines the requirements for the creation of carbon offsets by CCS project developers that capture and store CO2 in oil and gas reservoirs including eligibility, ownership, regulatory compliance and rigorous monitoring, reporting, and verification during active project operation as well as post-project to ensure permanent CO2 storage. Eligible CO2 sources include power plants that burn coal, natural gas, or oil and industrial facilities such as petroleum refineries, oil and gas production facilities, iron and steel mills, cement plants, fertilizer plants, ethanol distilleries and chemical plants. The methodology draws on the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions’ Greenhouse Gas Accounting Framework for Carbon Capture and Storage Projects.

According to the U.S. EPA’s Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, the electricity and industrial sectors combined account for 52% of all GHG emissions in the U.S.  CCS technologies possess great potential to permanently store CO2 emissions from these sectors, and this methodology aims to provide a first of its kind incentive designed to spur increased investment in CCS projects.

“Today’s announcement marks a critical step in the ongoing quest to enable and facilitate viable, meaningful, measurable and sustainable reductions in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions through geologic sequestration,” said Bill Townsend, Chief Executive Officer of Blue Strategies.  “The methodology will help enable both market and regulatory incentives which, in turn, will incentivize both quantification and monetization of material volumes of greenhouse gas reductions. We are grateful for ACR’s leadership on this issue.”

The new methodology also has the potential to inform California regulators at the Air Resources Board (ARB), who have recently embarked on the development of a CCS GHG emissions reductions quantification methodology. Once approved by the Board, the ARB quantification methodology is intended to be used for accounting for potential reductions in compliance obligations for regulated entities in the Cap-and-Trade Program and is also being proposed under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard for reductions in the carbon intensity of fuels produced in processes that employ CCS technologies.

“American Carbon Registry is extremely pleased to announce the approval of this innovative and rigorous offset methodology, which unlocks the potential to drive carbon finance for large-scale emissions reductions from CCS projects,” said John Kadyszewski, American Carbon Registry Director. “We look forward to working with companies as they develop CCS offset projects as well as to expanding the applicability of the methodology to new geographies and for new regulatory contexts.”

SACRAMENTO, April 27, 2015 – The American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, announced today the approval of a carbon offset methodology for the measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emission reductions associated with carbon capture and storage (CCS) of carbon dioxide (CO2) in geologic formations. The methodology was developed by Blue Strategies, LLC, an affiliate of Blue Source, LLC.

CCS technologies prevent CO2 emissions pro­duced from industrial processes or from the use of combustion fuels in electricity generation and industry from entering the atmosphere. A typical CCS project consists of capturing, transporting, compressing and securely storing the CO2 underground in depleted oil and gas fields or deep saline aquifer formations.

The new ACR CCS methodology outlines the requirements for the creation of carbon offsets by CCS project developers that capture and store CO2 in oil and gas reservoirs including eligibility, ownership, regulatory compliance and rigorous monitoring, reporting, and verification during active project operation as well as post-project to ensure permanent CO2 storage. Eligible CO2 sources include power plants that burn coal, natural gas, or oil and industrial facilities such as petroleum refineries, oil and gas production facilities, iron and steel mills, cement plants, fertilizer plants, ethanol distilleries and chemical plants. The methodology draws on the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions’ Greenhouse Gas Accounting Framework for Carbon Capture and Storage Projects.

According to the U.S. EPA’s Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, the electricity and industrial sectors combined account for 52% of all GHG emissions in the U.S.  CCS technologies possess great potential to permanently store CO2 emissions from these sectors, and this methodology aims to provide a first of its kind incentive designed to spur increased investment in CCS projects.

“Today’s announcement marks a critical step in the ongoing quest to enable and facilitate viable, meaningful, measurable and sustainable reductions in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions through geologic sequestration,” said Bill Townsend, Chief Executive Officer of Blue Strategies.  “The methodology will help enable both market and regulatory incentives which, in turn, will incentivize both quantification and monetization of material volumes of greenhouse gas reductions. We are grateful for ACR’s leadership on this issue.”

The new methodology also has the potential to inform California regulators at the Air Resources Board (ARB), who have recently embarked on the development of a CCS GHG emissions reductions quantification methodology. Once approved by the Board, the ARB quantification methodology is intended to be used for accounting for potential reductions in compliance obligations for regulated entities in the Cap-and-Trade Program and is also being proposed under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard for reductions in the carbon intensity of fuels produced in processes that employ CCS technologies.

“American Carbon Registry is extremely pleased to announce the approval of this innovative and rigorous offset methodology, which unlocks the potential to drive carbon finance for large-scale emissions reductions from CCS projects,” said John Kadyszewski, American Carbon Registry Director. “We look forward to working with companies as they develop CCS offset projects as well as to expanding the applicability of the methodology to new geographies and for new regulatory contexts.”

The American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, announces the open public comment period for a new methodology for Emission Reduction Measurement and Monitoring Methodology for Use of Reclaimed HFC Refrigerants and Advanced Refrigeration Systems.The Methodology was developed by EOS Climate.

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are used as coolants in refrigeration and air conditioning systems, as propellants in aerosol sprays and medical devices, and as insulation foam blowing agents. While HFCs are not Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) and therefore an acceptable substitute for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) under the Montreal Protocol, they have high global warming potentials (GWPs) and contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According to the 2014 EPA Inventory of US GHG Emissions and Sinks, the substitution of ODS with chemicals used as ODS alternatives, such as HFCs, accounts for 159 MMT CO2e/year.

The intent of this methodology is to incentivize voluntary GHG emissions reductions through the use of reclaimed HFC refrigerants to displace the production and use of virgin HFC refrigerants, and through the use of zero/low GWP alternatives in commercial and industrial refrigeration systems.

REGISTER HERE to join a free ACR webinar on Wednesday, April 1, 2015 to learn more about the methodology and provide feedback on eligible activities as well as baseline and emission reduction quantification. Presentations will be made by Jeff Cohen of EOS Climate and by Eric Ripley of ACR.

Please send public comments on the methodology to ACR@winrock.org by April 15, 2015.

The American Carbon Registry (ACR), a non-profit enterprise of Winrock International, has in the approval process a new methodology entitled Emission Reduction Measurement and Monitoring Methodology for the Conversion of Foam Blowing Agents from High-GWP Materials to Low-GWP Materials. The methodology was developed by Dentons US LLP.

It is common for the foam manufacturing industry to use blowing agents that contain hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) which have high global warming potentials. Today, alternatives to these HFC-based blowing agents are available but are not commonly used. The Methodology provides a performance standard-based quantification framework for the creation of carbon offset credits from the resulting reduction in GHGs from the use of alternatives to HFC-based foam blowing agents and is intended to be used as an incentive for the industry to make the transition to low emissions alternatives.

Please send comments to ACR@Winrock.org by March 20, 2015.

American Carbon Registry is accepting stakeholder comments on the following technical documents:

-Proposed updates to the American Carbon Registry Standard, which details ACR’s requirements and specifications for the quantification, monitoring, and reporting of project-based GHG emissions reductions and removals, verification, project registration, and issuance of voluntary carbon offsets.

-Proposed modification to the modular methodology for Restoration of Degraded Deltaic Wetlands of the Mississippi Delta

Visit ACR’s website for details on these proposed modifications.

Please send comments to ACR@winrock.org by December 22, 2014.