There are four types of carbon credit generation in the voluntary market
Who generates carbon credits in the voluntary market? There are four main types of credits: forestry, clean energy, landfill and biomass.
Starting with forests, they are subdivided between reforestation areas and conservation areas (REDD+ or “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation” projects).
Second, clean energy carbon projects are simple to understand: a company builds a wind or solar farm with the capacity to replace coal or diesel power generation. The construction of clean energy parks avoids GHG emission by another form of carbon intensive energy generation (coal-fired power plants, diesel).
The third type is the landfill. Decomposing organic matter releases a lot of methane gas, and although it is much less bulky in our atmosphere, methane is much more intensive in terms of its greenhouse impact than CO2: 20 to 30 times more. The solution to avoid landfill GHG emission is simple: install plants or pipes to burn this gas (flaring).
Finally, the fourth type of voluntary carbon credit is biomass. In this case, the concept is aimed at small companies that have furnaces, such as small brick, tile, ceramic factories, etc. The energy used, which previously came from burning wood that was cut from local forests, is replaced by renewable fuels. Examples of these materials are sugarcane bagasse, peanut shells, fruit shells, remains of furniture, and wood shops, among several other products that are renewable. This substitution not only pollutes less, but also greatly reduces the deforestation of local biomes.
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