Oklahoma Carbon Program

Transcription

1 Oklahoma Carbon Program A Voluntary Program for Verification, Certification & Registration of Oklahoma Carbon Offsets Agriculture Forestry Geologic

2 Carbon Offset Results when carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and stored, such as by no-till in the soil. Example: No-till = 0.4 metric tons CO2/acre/year x $1.00/metric ton = $.40 cents/acre/year x $7.00/metric ton = $2.80/acre/year x $20/metric ton = $8.00/acre/year

3 Who Buys Carbon Offsets? On U.S. Market: 400 entities, including Monsanto (MON), IBM (IBM) and Intel (INTC), have signed on to a voluntary program that mandates an emissions cap. When they exceed their emissions cap, they may purchase offsets.

4 Who Buys Carbon Offsets? Off-market: Companies & citizens keeping it local Boutique credits Electric companies Cities Industrial permit holders Casinos

5 Who Sells Carbon Offsets? Aggregators Function: Contract with producers to sell offsets Application to participate as state approved Application fee $300 $10,000 bond Experience CO2 reversal safeguards Insurance Monitoring plan Sample contract

6 Who Sells Carbon Offsets? Aggregators Applications, paperwork, contract, arrange verification On-market and/or off-market Fee typically 10% of sale price Must have verified 10% percent of contracts and/or acres through this program

7 Who Verifies Carbon Offsets? Verifiers Function: Visually assess and document offset Application to participate as state approved Resume Written description of specific experience Description of credentials Documentation of credentials Errors and omissions insurance

8 Verification Determine if a practice is occurring in accordance with a particular standard. Percentage of offset contracts and acres are verified before purchase by buyer. Field verification Conservation Districts Conservation Commission Document verification Conservation Commission

9 Field Verification Visually checking the location, number of acres, and quality of an offset. No-till example: Is 2/3 residue left? What implement(s) was used? Has the soil been disturbed? How many acres? Crop type, rotation, planting dates

10 Document Verification The in-office review of documents and preparation of reports for the aggregator and buyer. Do the documents agree with what was seen in the field? No-till example: Resource management plan Aerial photo Crop certification summary Farm records (planting, harvest, dates, etc.) Farm plan or grazing plan if applicable (preferred)

11 Fees Unfunded Program Voluntary Program Looked at similar programs 2,670 staff hours in 2008 (more than one FTE) Research Secretarial support Legal Meetings Publicity Program development Report preparation Salary Overhead Insurance

12 Fee for Verification Charged to aggregators by Commission Field verification $30 hour + mileage Document verification $50 hour (expected to take one hour or less) *State approved verifiers and other verifiers may set own fees.

13 Fee for Certification Issuing a certificate that indicates your offset was verified by the Oklahoma Carbon Program. Fee: Ten cents ($.10) per metric ton of CO2 verified

14 Oklahoma Carbon Offset Registry Purpose of registry: Public disclosure of information to prevent double-selling

15 Fee for Registration Two types of offsets eligible Offsets verified through the program No charge Offsets not verified by the program $50 per contract A signatory to an Oklahoma carbon offset contract may submit the information.

16 Eligible for Verification Agriculture No-till Grassland Geologic Storage Downhole injection 100,000 Forestry Afforestation Reforestation Managed forests Riparian buffers (off-market only) Resource Management Plan required for all.

17 Applications No-Till and Seeded Grassland Resource management plan (Describe what you re doing) Legal location Aerial photo Crop certification summary Farm records (planting, harvest, dates, etc.) Farm plan or grazing plan if applicable (preferred) CSP contract, if applicable

18 No-Till (other programs) Continuous cotton, soybeans and pulse crops (i.e. beans, peas, lintels, etc.) are eligible only if there is a cover crop. No payments are issued in years in which residue removal and/or burning occurs.

19 Potentially Eligible Implements Miminal soil disturbance: No-till drill Rolling harrows Low disturbance liquid manure injectors Anhydrous ammonia applicator Manure knife applicator Sub-soil ripper with at least 24 inch shank spacing

20 Potentially Ineligible Implements More soil disturbance: Field cultivators Tandem disk Offset disk Chisel plow Moldboard plow In general if the implement requires a leveling or smoothing activity to follow, then it would likely result in too much soil disturbance.

21 Step-By-Step Contact an aggregator Fill out application & submit documents Sign Contract Grow Manage Get verified Get paid

22 Questions You Should Ask Is your aggregator participating in the Oklahoma Carbon Program? How does the aggregator determine what to pay you? How much are the fees? How are the fees paid? Will your offset be verified? How much will verification cost you? How long is the contract? Will your offset be reported to the state or national registry? Does the aggregator have insurance? Where will the aggregator sell your offsets? When will you get paid? How often will you get paid? Who pays if all or some of your offset is reversed? What happens if your offset is reversed by an act of nature? How long will the aggregator hold your offset before selling?

23 Program Goals Protect and conserve Oklahoma s natural resources. Increase funding to Conservation Districts. Enhance the ability of Oklahomans to participate in emissions trading. Provide oversight and guidance. Provide credibility to Oklahoma carbon offsets.

24 CONTACT Stacy Hansen Oklahoma Carbon Program