The American Carbon Registry (ACR) is launching a new offset methodology to credit wetlands restoration projects.
The new methodology is designed to restore coastal wetlands along the Gulf of Mexico, which have been significantly damaged by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Isaac. It will enable landowners to calculate the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to be absorbed by the restoration of the Mississippi Delta wetlands. The landowners can sell the resulting carbon credits to companies that want to offset their GHG emissions, which would help compensate for the cost of wetland restoration activities.
“American Carbon Registry is thrilled to announce approval of the wetlands restoration methodology, which we hope will succeed in leveraging the carbon market to bring much-needed funding for these projects,” said Nicholas Martin, ACR chief technical officer.
The number of carbon offsets that could be generated from wetland restoration activities under the new methodology depends on multiple factors, including the type of wetland (ie, marsh or forested), the health of the wetland at the start of the project and the type of wetland restoration, said ACR.
If only one quarter of the eligible 4 million acre Mississippi Delta coastal zone is restored using the methodology, the registry estimates that 200 million-500 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent of emissions could be reduced over the 40-year life of the projects. Depending on the price of carbon, that level of restoration could generate between $5 billion and $15 billion for wetland restoration activities.
The methodology was funded by New Orleans-based utility Entergy, developed by New Orleans-based Tierra Resources and approved for use by the ACR following stakeholder consultation and scientific peer review.
Entergy has provided additional funding to Tierra to pilot the first wetland restoration offset project in the US, the Luling Oxidation Pond Wetlands Assimilation project, which will discharge treated municipal wastewater into an adjacent 950-acre wetland property to help restore the wetland’s function and increase carbon sequestration.
The pilot could produce between 200,000 and 500,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent of emissions reductions over its 40-year life, which could generate between $5 million and $15 million depending on the price of carbon.
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