Providing Agriculture with Access to the Carbon Markets: American Carbon Registry Agriculture and Carbon Markets: Making Carbon Count June 17, 2010 Washington DC

American Carbon Registry First U.S. private voluntary GHG registry –Founded 1997 by Environmental Defense Fund and Environmental Resources Trust –Over 30 million tons issued to date Established industry standard for transparent on-line reporting and serialization of verified project-based offsets Joined Winrock International in 2007 Large variety of currently registered project types: –Forestry, livestock manure, landfill gas, wastewater treatment, carbon capture & storage, industrial gas substitution, fugitive methane in oil & gas sector, transportation efficiency

Winrock carbon expertise Internationally recognized team of AFOLU carbon experts –Long history of expertise: designed methodologies for earliest REDD projects (e.g. Noel Kempff and Rio Bravo) –Major contributor to 5 IPCC reports, methods manuals, and the like –Member of CDM EB Afforestation/Reforestation Working Group –Board member now Executive Secretary of UNFCCC Terrestrial carbon analyses, protocols, methodologies, methods manuals for – –US EPA, US Forest Service, USDOE 1605(b), USAID, World Bank, International Tropical Timber Organization –Two DOE Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships –EPRI and electric utilities –CDM, ACR, CCAR, CCBA, RGGI, VCS

Protocol Development Process ACR publishes general and sector-specific standards Flexibility in methodology choice –Use ACR-published methodology –Use approved CDM methodology (as applicable) –Propose/modify existing methodology –Submit new methodology for approval Public consultation and blind scientific peer review of all standards and methodologies –Shortest time to market and lowest cost –Emphasis on scientific rigor –Balance environmental integrity with commercial flexibility

Recent and Forthcoming Standards, Methodologies and Tools ACR Standard v2.0Published Feb 2010 Forest Carbon Project Standard v2.0Published Jun 2010 Livestock Manure Management Project Standard & MethodologyPublic comment closed, peer review in progress Conversion of High-Bleed Pneumatic Controllers in Oil & Gas SystemsPublished March 2010 Improved Forest ManagementForthcoming REDDForthcoming Landfill Gas Combustion Project Standard & MethodologyForthcoming Reducing N 2 O Emissions through Fertilizer ManagementForthcoming Improved Grazing Land ManagementIn development BiocharScoping Coastal Wetland RestorationIn development Panda Standard AFOLU specifications, IFM methodology, Grassland Improvement Methodology In development ACR Tool for Risk Analysis and Buffer DeterminationIn development ACR Tool for the Demonstration and Assessment of Additionality in Forest Carbon Project Activities Forthcoming

N 2 O from Fertilizer in the U.S. Analysis of 129 M acres wheat, corn and cotton in 31 states –61 M t CO 2 e emissions ( tCO 2 e /ac.yr) –70% corn, 25% wheat, 5% cotton Analysis includes direct and indirect emission estimates –Investigated several models –Takes into account fertilizer quantity& type, soil texture. drainage, pH, soil C, climate (Pearson et al with support from Packard Foundation)

N 2 O Methodology Development Based on first phase of work—concluded for project scale need to use well parameterized and calibrated process model: –DNDC model is peer reviewed, highly verified, and widely used –Estimates direct N 2 O emissions from fertilizer, and indirect emissions from nitrate leaching and ammonia volatilization –Can be used to estimate baseline and with-project N 2 O emissions due to changes in fertilizer type, quantity, timing, placement –Accounts for site-specific and temporal factors –Data-intensive but rigorous results; cost-effective for aggregated projects

Future Work in Ag Space Agricultural Sector Standard Integrated Improved Grazing Land Management –Soil carbon enhancement, enteric methane, manure management Agricultural soil carbon Reducing N 2 O emissions from poultry operations Reducing CH 4 emissions from rice operations Australia: rangeland management/holistic grazing, fallow crop and residue retention, fertilizer application China: enhancing grassland productivity and reducing livestock methane emissions

Further Information Nicholas Martin Chief Technical Officer, American Carbon Registry (703)