Exxon Commits to Net-zero Emissions by 2050

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As reported earlier, Exxon pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions from its global operations by 2050.

In a statement, Exxon’s Chairman and CEO, Darren Woods, “We are developing comprehensive roadmaps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our operated assets around the world.”

Woods went on to say, “Where we are not the operator, we are working with our partners to achieve similar emission-reduction results.”

Exxon’s plans to reduce carbon emissions.

In addition to net-zero global operations by 2050, Exxon has promised:

Exxon also bid highest to obtain offshore properties to use for carbon sequestration.

Critics feel Exxon is not doing enough.

Exxon’s goal involves scope 1 and scope 2 targets. This includes oil, gas, and chemical production. So, these cuts do not apply to consumer emissions, which are scope 3.

Critics feel this puts Exxon behind competitors who are scope 3 focused.

Josh Eisenfield, corporate accountability communications manager with Earthworks, said that by not including scope 3 emissions, Exxon would be “pushing the blame off of themselves and onto consumers.”

Scope 3 emissions matter.

In 2020, 650 million tons of GHG emissions were from Exxon’s oil sales.

This would not be addressed under Exxon’s net-zero pledge. 

However, Exxon is investing in carbon capture and storage, and the creation of hydrogen and biofuels. By doing so, Woods believes these fuels will be more accessible to consumers.

The need for action.

The fossil fuel industry accounts for over 36 billion tons of GHG emissions each year. Without more action, this number will rise.

In addition to new technologies, oil companies are using carbon credits to reduce their footprint. Some are even selling oil and gas as a bundle with offsets to create carbon-neutral oil as a short-term solution.

After Exxon’s announcement, its shares went up by 1.7 percent.

Carbon Prices to reach $360 by 2030

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According to a report by Getting to Zero Coalition, carbon prices might reach $360 per tonne by the 2030s.

The Getting to Zero Coalition is a collaboration of the Global Maritime Forum, Friends of Ocean Action, and the World Economic Forum.

Carbon dioxide currently accounts for 98 % of shipping GHG emissions.

The addition of LNG-powered tankers may cause carbon credit prices to soar even further.

LNG produces methane gas which has 25 times the emissions as carbon dioxide.  So one metric ton of Methane is equivalent to 25 carbon credits.

The 25x is conservative and based on a 20-year time frame. Over a 100-year timeline, methane can have over 80 times the equivalent emissions as CO2.

The report analyzes two scenarios in which emissions are lowered by 50% or 100% by 2050.

In each case, a carbon price is implemented beginning in 2025, with GHG emissions peaking in 2030.

To achieve a 50% decrease in GHG emissions by 2050, the carbon price level should average $173/tonne CO2.

In the event of complete decarbonization, the average carbon price would be roughly $191/tonne CO2.

In both scenarios, the price level begins at $11/tonne CO2 when introduced in 2025 and ramps up to around $100/tonne CO2 in the early 2030s, at which point emissions begin to decline.

The carbon price subsequently rises to $264/tonne CO2 in the -50% scenario and $360/tonne CO2 in the -100% scenario.

Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of scientists and others from 195 countries, warned that methane was a crucial component of LNG and that it needed to be reduced if the Paris targets of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius or less were to be fulfilled.

 

Are Plastic Offsets the Next Carbon Offsets?

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Plastic offsets may help solve the world’s plastic crisis. Each year, fourteen million tons of plastic make their way into the world’s oceans, causing 80% of all debris.

What are plastic offsets?

The plastic offset industry is like the carbon offset industry.

With the carbon offset industry, companies buy carbon credits. Each credit equals one metric ton of carbon. That metric ton of carbon is then “offset” through an environmental project, like reforestation.

The carbon offset industry has improved greatly over the past few years by fine-tuning its verification process. Even leaders at COP26 recognize its value, deciding that a global standard should be set. Because of these improvements, and the need for companies to reduce their carbon footprint, the industry is booming.

The plastic offset industry works the same way, except companies invest in projects that tackle plastic.

What are some concerns about plastic offsets?

Alix Grabowski, Director of Plastic and Material Science at the World Wildlife Foundation, told Forbes that carbon and plastic are so different. So, measuring plastic as offsets is more challenging.

“A company can make a claim about being plastic neutral. At the same time, you can find a branded product of theirs on the beach or in a river. So, there is inherently some dishonesty in that kind of claim. Even if that plastic does get eventually picked up [or dissolve], it is still impacting the environment while it’s there.”

However, Grabowski believes plastic offsets are possible, with “really strong governance, grievance mechanisms, and social and environmental safeguards.”

How can plastic offsets be successful?

Philippines-based Plastic Credit Exchange (PCX) works with Pepsi and Colgate Palmolive to prevent consumer plastics from leaking into the environment.

The Philippines ranks third in the world for ocean plastic pollution.

PCX founder Nanette Medved-Po wants projects to be transparent. She believes that PCX can build trust by recognizing and learning from mistakes made by the carbon offset industry.

“In fairness, the carbon markets were building the plane as they were flying it, so it was not surprising that they made mistakes. Hopefully, it’ll be better because we’ve learned some valuable lessons.”

Without action, plastic in our oceans could triple by 2040.

Climate Activists Target 30 Global Corps

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Environmental group, Friends of the Earth, which won a landmark court case against Royal Dutch Shell last year, is targeting 30 other firms with operations based in the Netherlands.

Last May, they won a landmark victory over Shell and forced then to decrease its environmental impact.

This time around they want significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in these large organizations.

Letters were addressed to the CEOs of some of the largest banks, retailers, oil, energy giants, builders, and industrial manufacturers.

The letter requested the firms present plans describing how they will reduce carbon emissions by 45% from 2019 levels by 2030.

Failing to do so may result in legal action and they have set a 3-month deadline for the corporations to present a climate plan, which is due on April 15.

Firms include:

Insurer: Aegon, Atradius, NN Group, ING Group,

Industrials: AkzoNobel (Paint maker), BAM Group (Builder), Boskalis Westminster (Dredger), Vopak (Storage), Stellantis (automotive), Tata (Steel)

Oil firms: BP, ExxonMobil, Shell,

Chemical manufacturers: Dow Chemical, Yara chemical, LyondellBasell

Dairy, & Agriculture & Nutrition: Friesland, Campina, Vion, DSM

Aviation: KLM, Schiphol airport,

Banks & Pension funds: Rabobank, ABP, PfZW,

Conglomerates: Unilever

Energy & Trading: Uniper, RWE, Vitol energy,

“We have made it plain that, if necessary, we are willing to go to court. But, of course, we hope that these businesses will go on their own ” spokesperson for Friends of Earth stated

They will be used to establish an emissions baseline against which progress in reducing climate-heating gases can be monitored, according to the group.

SpaceX to Explore Carbon Capture

Through carbon capture, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced a program to create rocket fuel. He is even offering a $100 million Carbon Removal X-Prize for new carbon capture technologies to help make it happen.

Elon Musk is the founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla.

Is there another reason behind SpaceX’s carbon capture program?

Many have criticized Musk for his space missions, saying these missions do little to benefit the Earth.

In fact, in 2021, SpaceX had 31 launches.

It is important to note that just one rocket launch emits over 300 tons of carbon into the atmosphere — staying there for years. Some flights are just six minutes long!

Musk believes that CO2 capture to use as fuel is the solution to:

1.) Improving the climate here on Earth; and
2.) Making a settlement on Mars possible (which is Musk’s ultimate goal).

Why is SpaceX offering a $100M prize for new carbon capture technology?

Believe it or not, making rocket fuel with carbon isn’t the tricky part. Capturing CO2 is, which is the reason behind the prize.

Direct air capture is so expensive that it can cost between $600 and $800 per ton.

To win, “teams must demonstrate a working solution at a scale of at least 1000 tons removed per year; model their costs at a scale of 1 million tons per year; and show a pathway to achieving a scale of gigatons per year in future.”

Does Carbon Capture work?

Not everyone is on board with carbon capture. Even Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a strong supporter of green initiatives, is skeptical. Others are less focused on carbon capture technologies and more interested in the carbon credit industry, which is booming.

But Musk disagrees.

If capturing  CO2 becomes more accessible and affordable, we can help life here on Earth while exploring space.

Musk is currently Time Magazine’s Person of the year.

How to Make Money Producing and Selling Carbon Offsets

Governments across the globe are working to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) released into the atmosphere by implementing stricter regulations and eco-friendly policies.

One of the ways this is taking place is through the creation of a “carbon offset” ecosystem.

Carbon offsets are valuable certificates that are issued when carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere—or prevented from being emitted in the first place. That can be accomplished through advanced extraction technology, through pumping it into rocks, or even just through planting trees.

The help of every farmer, rancher, and private landowner is necessary to produce enough carbon offsets to achieve the vision of global carbon neutrality—or at least come close. The good news is that anyone who owns or operates land can use the production and sale of carbon offsets to increase their profit margin while helping the environment.

Here are a few key takeaways from this article:

  • Producing and selling carbon offsets is finally becoming a lucrative business in the United States, and first movers will have a huge advantage.
  • Small farmers, ranchers, and landowners can earn additional revenue by optimizing their operations to produce carbon offsets.
  • Carbon offsets are transacted on the rapidly-growing but still complex voluntary carbon market.
  • How much a farmer, rancher, or landowner can earn per credit / per acre depends significantly on the location and the carbon offset project.

What Exactly Is a Carbon Offset?

Numerous programs will now measure and pay for every ton of carbon removed from the atmosphere through carbon offsets.

Carbon offsets are essentially a tradeable certificate that proves that one ton of CO2 or the equivalent amount of one ton of another GHG has been removed from (or not emitted into) the atmosphere.

  • One carbon offset = one metric ton of carbon or other greenhouse gas (GHG).

If it’s difficult for you to gauge just how much a ton of carbon is, rest assured, you are not alone. After all, when most people think of a “ton,” they think of something physical, like a Volkswagen Beetle. But that is hard to do for a gas like CO2.

  • Think of a good ol’ fashioned fire extinguisher, like the one hanging on the wall in your office building or apartment. Put 500 of those together, and you’ve got one tonne of CO2.

500 fire extinguisher representing 1ton of carbon

Since it’s difficult to understand just how much a ton of carbon is, the term “carbon offset” gives emissions a manageable metric.

The concept of using carbon credits to measure emissions started in the early twentieth century. The decision to market them, however, didn’t begin until the 1997 UN Kyoto Protocol, the first international agreement to cut CO2 emissions.

Since then, carbon credits and their cousins, carbon offsets, have become a popular revenue generation tool for farmers, ranchers, and landowners.

Carbon Offsets Are a Brand New Financial Market

Carbon offsets have proven to be a robust and financially lucrative market across Europe, Australia, and Canada. The EU, for instance, is aiming to reduce emissions by over 55% by 2030, with zero emissions by 2050—and that can only be achieved with the help of massive carbon offset purchases.

The EU price on carbon allowances is more than €80/ton. And yet, high-quality carbon offsets can be purchased for less than $10/ton. For corporations that need to decrease the impact of their emissions, buying verified carbon offsets is a no-brainer. And that means huge income potential in the EU for people who quickly understand the market and how to use their land to produce carbon offsets.

The good news for U.S.-based landowners is that the entire spectrum of participants in the carbon offset market is also finally starting to mature in the United States. The federal government and state governments are passing stricter regulations that raise the cost of carbon emissions, and individual citizens are searching for ways to reduce their own carbon footprint.

Right now, the most significant carbon market in the U.S. is located in California, which has stricter environmental protection regulations than any other state. Most carbon offsets are also sourced from California through various land-use-related sequestration projects.

You may have heard it said that “California is the United States in ten years.” It could not be truer than in the case of carbon offsets. Right on schedule, states have begun following in California’s footsteps, implementing additional ecological compliance standards, carbon emissions limits, and taxes on carbon.

This new U.S. market comes with new financial incentives for landowners across the country to adopt more efficient agricultural operations and preserve their forested acreage. How much of an incentive? In 2016, $190 million in carbon offsets was transacted, representing 63 million tonnes of CO2. By 2019, offset transactions had almost doubled, accounting for 104 million metric tons of CO2—and worth $282 million.

Fast forward in 2023, the total volume of carbon offsets used (retired) by entities to compensate for their CO2 emissions hit almost 180 millions MtCO2e.

voluntary carbon credit retired and issued 2023

The “Forestry and Land Use” line is the one landowners should take note of. It’s an over half-billion-dollar opportunity that will have become even bigger by the time you read this. But what does the future look like for this market? According to experts surveyed by the Taskforce for Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets (TSVCM):

“Based on stated demand for carbon credits, demand projections from experts… and the volume of negative emissions needed to reduce emissions in line with the 1.5-degree warming goal… the market size [for carbon offsets] in 2030 could be between $5 billion and $30 billion at the low end and more than $50 billion at the high end.”

That means something between 20x growth and 200x growth for the carbon offset market in under a decade. If you own any amount of acreage—even if not all of it qualifies—this is something you want to learn about before it’s too late.

projected growth of carbon offset demand

A Tale of Two Carbon Marketplaces

Before you learn how to make money by using your land to produce carbon offsets, it’s important to understand why a market for carbon offsets even exists. And to get there, you have to start with carbon credits. Carbon credits are traded on the compliance carbon market. Here’s how it works…

Many countries and some states have passed “cap-and-trade” regulations, which limit the number of tons of CO2 a business can emit in a year. These tons are allotted as carbon credits.

Even companies that work as hard as possible to shrink their carbon footprint might find that the allocated emissions “cap” is not enough for their operations. They might be years away from substantial and compliant reductions in emissions, and they still have to keep operations going to make a profit in the interim. As such, they need to find a way to be able to emit more carbon than their cap without breaking the law.

  • When companies hit their emissions cap, they look to the compliance market to “trade”—they’re trading money in exchange for another company’s credits.

Here’s a quick example. The Hoover Company is only allowed to emit 300 tons of carbon per year, but they know their operations will result in 400 tons of CO2 emissions. To avoid a financial penalty, the Hoover Company can make up for the extra 100 tons by purchasing credits from another company that will only emit 200 tons of carbon this year.

The voluntary carbon market works much differently. As suggested by the name, participation in the VCM is optional. It’s a place where companies and individuals can, at their choosing, buy carbon offsets to offset their carbon emissions.

This market is mostly made up of entities that are environmentally conscious and work to offset their carbon emissions because they want to. It could be a company that wants to demonstrate to its clients that it is doing its part to protect the environment. Or it could be a person who wants to offset the carbon emission from their flight travel.

Take the Hoover Company example. Suppose they announced their operations would be net zero by a certain date, but they’re still emitting 200 tons of CO2 on that date. They can easily purchase 200 tons worth of carbon offsets to meet their net zero guarantee.

Regardless of who is purchasing or the reason they’re purchasing offsets, they are looking for a way to reduce their emissions footprint—and by producing carbon offsets, landowners can provide an excellent way to do that. As a farmer, rancher, or landowner, you can sell offsets on the voluntary carbon market, creating an additional (and sometimes substantial) source of income.

How Landowners Can Produce Carbon Offsets

Farmers, ranchers, and landowners can produce and sell carbon offsets by capturing and storing emissions. They do this using carbon farming and carbon sequestration processes, which involve implementing practices that remove CO2 from the atmosphere by converting the gas into organic matter within the soil and eventually into plants. Once absorbed, the CO2 helps restore the soil’s natural qualities—simultaneously enhancing crop production and reducing pollution.

Farmers, ranchers, and landowners can offset carbon emissions in countless ways. Though not a comprehensive list, here are a few practices that typically qualify as offset-producing projects.

  • Returning biomass to the soil as mulch after harvest instead of removing or burning. This practice reduces evaporation from the soil surface, which helps to preserve water. The biomass also helps feed soil microbes and earthworms, allowing nutrients to cycle and strengthen soil structure.
  • Using conservation tillage or no-tillage practices that improve the quality of water and the air by increasing nutrients, soil structure, porosity, and tilth.
  • Using nutrient management and precision farming to maintain plant and soil health instead of chemicals or pesticides.
  • Planting cover crops during the off-season to ready the land for cash crops by improving the soil quality.
  • Replacing surface irrigation systems with flood irrigation systems so that runoff water can be recycled to improve efficiency.
  • Promoting forest regrowth to remove, store, and re-purpose carbon within trees and plants.
  • Returning degraded soils to their natural state, converting acreage into grasslands, or planting trees or seeds to change open land into forest or woodlands.
  • Rotating crops to ensure soil nutrients remain plentiful.
  • Switching to alternate fuel types, such as lower-carbon biofuels like corn and biomass-derived ethanol and biodiesel.
  • Altering manure management and changing feeding schedules.

After reading this list, you might be wondering how the volume and value of carbon offsets produced via each of these methods are determined. To be clear, it’s not an easy task. Monitoring and evaluating emissions and reductions can be a challenge for even the most experienced agricultural professional.

Fortunately, when it’s time to list offsets on the VCM, a third-party verification expert can collect, analyze, and verify data from your property, possible even conducting a site visit, to determine how many offsets you are eligible for. New technology being developed can also remotely track the amount of carbon sequestered by your land, eliminating the need for any guesswork.

What Are Carbon Credits Worth?

In 2023, over $10 billion in carbon offsets were traded on the VCM. Total carbon offset volume was more than 2,400 MtCO2e. Simple math says the average price paid for a tonne of carbon removed from the atmosphere in this manner was $4.

There is a wide variance, however, in the price paid for carbon offsets, depending on project quality, issuance year, verifiability, additional benefits created by the carbon offset, and other factors. For live VCM pricing, please click here.

One major factor in pricing is the type of project. Different projects include forestry and conservation, waste-to-energy projects, and renewable energy projects. Some of these projects can be worth less than $1 per carbon ton offset, while others can be worth more than $50.

For example, imagine you planted a forest of shade trees. The chart below estimates that a typical urban shade tree will store approximately five tonnes of CO2 forty years, generating $12,500 in revenue at $10/tonne carbon. If the value of carbon rises to $50/tonne, that single tree could be worth more than $1,000 a year.

# of Trees Planted Average Annual Carbon Credits Generated Total Carbon Credits Generated Over 40 Years Total Value of 40-Year Contract @ $5/tonne Total Value of 40-Year Contract @ $50/tonne
250 31.25 VERs 1250 VERs $6,250 $62,500
500 62.5 VERs 2,500 VERs $12,500 $125,000
1,000 125 VERs 5,000 VERs $25,000 $250,000

Alternatively, imagine you are producing carbon offsets using your wheat farm, and you are paid $15 per tonne of carbon removed. Depending on how you sequester the carbon, you might earn anywhere from .25 to 2 offsets per acre. If your 1,000-acre wheat farm removes 1 tonne per acre, that is 1,000 carbon credits—and $15,000 profit annually.

Sounds pretty good when it’s theoretical, right? Here’s what that actually looks like in real life. Indigo Agriculture, a Boston-based for-profit carbon sequestration startup, guarantees farmers who signed up in 2019 $15 per tonne of CO2 that they sequester. Farmer Trey Hill received a payment of $115,000 for 8,000 tonnes of carbon—a little over $14/tonne—last year and has continued to receive payments since.

How to Sell and Get Paid for Carbon Offsets

There are numerous online carbon exchange programs located both within the United States and internationally that enable sellers to get cash for the carbon offsets they’ve produced. The exchanges work the same way as various stock and commodity exchanges.

The three largest voluntary carbon registries in the United States have created standards for producing carbon offsets. In addition, use strict protocols that both scientists and stakeholders have implemented.

To enroll, you need to have land maps available that document your ownership of the land, as well as the legal description of the land. You also need have to document your management practices and obtain a signed contract between yourself and those purchasing/paying for the carbon credits. All fees should be listed.

Before signing a contract, it’s important to thoroughly research the company, understand what’s required of you, and ensure the amount you’re paid is appropriate. If the contract you sign is overly optimistic on the amount of carbon sequestered, you could later be charged the shortfall amount. On the other hand, if the contract you sign lowballs the amount, you could miss out on income.

The Future of Carbon Markets

Former President Barack Obama said:

When Americans are called on to innovate, that’s what we do… once we have a clear target to meet, we typically meet it. And we find the best ways to do it.

The world is aware that much is at stake, with the climate change crisis at the forefront of everything we do. As nations, companies, and individuals work together to address GHG emissions, far more ambitious neutrality goals will be set.

Both the regulatory and voluntary carbon markets are set to expand dramatically in the next decade. Recall that according to the TSVCM, the demand for carbon credits could increase by 15x or more by 2030 and by a factor of up to 100x by 2050.

  • The momentum behind those figures is that carbon marketplaces provide companies and individuals the power to experiment, innovate, and reach more people—strengthening environmental initiatives for generations to come.

When the United States and the world moves forward collectively to combat the climate crisis, change will happen, and a lot of money will be made. As a farmer, rancher, or landowner, now is the time to begin producing carbon offsets using your land.

China to Limit Carbon Allowances

To reduce carbon emissions, China looks to limit carbon allowances and raise the cost of pollution.

Under China’s current policy, carbon allowances are lenient. In fact, this past year, China gave allowances for 4.5 billion tons of carbon to 2,200 power firms.

These allowances accounted for 40% of China’s total carbon emissions.

Is it possible for China to limit carbon allowances?

Some analysts are skeptical and believe that lowering it to anything beyond -0.5% won’t easily be accepted by the power sector.

So, for China to meet current climate goals, regulators will have to find a way to balance climate objectives and power-industry interests. The carbon market may play a bit of a role here.

China’s national carbon trading market.

To reduce emissions, UBS Group AG thinks that carbon trading will help China decarbonize. They predict it could be worth 500-billion yuan, which is $79 billion.

And, if carbon prices continue to increase, that figure could quadruple, rising to two trillion yuan, or $316 billion.

China’s official national carbon trading market launched in July of 2021. It is called the National Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Right now, ETS’ focus is on the power sector.

China’s climate goals.

At COP26, China agreed to work with the United States on an ambitious climate action plan. Both acknowledged that they needed to do more to reduce carbon emissions, but details were not provided.

In a joint statement, China and the United States said that they will “recall their firm commitment to work together” and close the “significant gap” that remains to reach environmental targets.

It is important to note that China is the largest carbon emitter globally, followed by the US and India. So, if China were to cut carbon allowances for the power industry, it would be a huge victory.

China hopes to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2060.

India Reaches Renewable Energy Target 9 Years Early

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In 2015, India said that 40% of its installed energy would be from renewable energy by 2030.

In late 2021, they achieved that goal and now over 40% of India’s electricity capacity now comes from non-fossil fuels.

How did India meet its renewable energy goal so fast?

Believe it or not, India has seen the fastest growth in renewable energy across all large economies over the last 7 years.

This growth is likely due to private and foreign investments. In India, foreign investors can enter joint ventures with Indian partners to set up energy generation projects. These joint ventures can be financial, technical, or both.

To put these investments into perspective, from 2014-2019, renewable energy projects received $64.4 billion.

And, in 2019 alone, investments in renewable energy totaled $11.2 billion.

What are additional climate goals for India and other countries?

At COP26, India said its new goal is to reach net-zero emissions by 2070.

Other world leaders have promised to:

  • Reverse and end deforestation.
  • Slash methane emissions by 30%.
  • Phase-out coal by investing in more renewable energy sources.
  • Make new cars and vans zero-emission.
  • Boost cooperation to fight climate change.
  • Help countries that are experiencing loss due to climate change.
  • Set a global standard for the carbon marketplace.

In addition to world leader commitments, over 450 banks, insurers, pension funds, and other firms agreed to use their funds to help.

As countries and companies continue to make and fulfill these promises, the future is looking bright.

 

S&P Global Acquires – The Climate Service

 

The Climate Service’s tech platform quantifies climate risk. It creates a physical climate risk analytics tool for businesses, investors, and governments.

The platform simulates physical risk, such as severe temperatures, drought, wildfire, coastal flooding, cyclones, and water stress.

It also provides clients with intelligence on transition risks, such as shifting legal, regulatory, and market situations.

The outputs include modeled transition risk and physical risk analysis expressed in financial terms. These are consistent with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

More than ever, investors and companies seek evidence-based insights, high-quality data, and advanced analytics to support the decisions driving their strategies linking sustainability and business performance.” says Dr. Richard Mattison, President, S&P Global Sustainable.

The transaction expands S&P Global’s portfolio of essential ESG data, scores, benchmarks, and insights.

New Global Emissions Benchmarks, C-GEO, Launched by CBL

Xpansiv’s CBL marketplace is the world’s largest exchange for carbon credits, RECs, water, and Digital Fuels. They have just launched their newest emissions benchmarks, Core Global Emissions Offset (C-GEO).

Within one day, transactions covered 127,207 metric tons of carbon.

Initial buyers of C-GEO.

Buyers were Carbon Growth Partners, Chevron USA Inc., EKI Energy Services Ltd., Fathon Energy LLC, Mercuria Energy America, LLC, Radicle Group Inc., and Virdiros Capital.

According to Manish Dabkara, CEO and CMD of EKI Energy Services, “The state-of-the-art platform is a great enabler for global companies like us as we continue our stride toward making the planet greener with our strategic and sustainable solutions.”

CBL’s existing benchmarks.

Existing CBL benchmarks include the Global Emissions Offset (GEO) and Nature-Based Global Emissions Offset (N-GEO).

Ben Stuart, Chief Commercial Officer at Xpansiv, said, “The GEO and N-GEO have been a tremendous success in enabling greater market transparency, price discovery, liquidity formation, and risk transference, proving the benefits of standardized benchmarks in voluntary carbon.”

Stuart went on to say that “The C-GEO contracts are the latest evolution of our product design to enable markets to more effectively scale to meet critical net-zero goals.”

How C-GEO works.

There are two parts to C-GEO: C-GEO-1 and C-GEO-2.

Credits with C-GEO-2 are on a rolling schedule. So older credits will no longer be available as CBL adds new ones. This will help CBL set up long-term contracts.

C-GEO-1 is separate. It will collect credits that roll off so participants can still trade older credits since there still are some benefits.

Why Carbon Credits?

The carbon credit industry is booming as companies search for simple ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Even world leaders see the value of carbon credits. At COP26, world leaders agreed to set a global standard to improve the carbon marketplace.

Because of this, many believe the carbon credit industry could be valued at $100 billion by 2030. This is up from a value of just $300 million in 2018.

There are approximately 100 million credits available with C-GEO-2 – quite a bit more than  GEO and N-GEO.

C-GEO has around 57 million credits available.