Post by
tamari on May 14, 2023 4:18pm
New North American registry to assess greener farming method
...article in Quantum Commodity Intelligence:
https://www.qcintel.com/carbon/article/new-north-american-registry-to-assess-greener-farming-method-13564.html
New North American registry to assess greener farming method
3 May 2023
Quantum Commodity Intelligence – A methodology to generate carbon credits from regenerative agricultural practices will soon be the first to be submitted for approval to a new North American registry built on blockchain technology.
Carbon RX, headquartered in Regina in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, has been working on greener farming techniques since the start of the year and is finalising it for submission to the Pure Sky registry, said Karlee Vorrieter, chief of staff at Carbon RX.
She said the methodology would combine the best aspects of other industry approaches, such as Verra, Gold Standard and the Canadian government, to “find the best efficiencies and accuracies within those methodologies to apply them to our projects”.
When the methodology is received by Pure Sky, the registry’s membership will assess the protocol to “see if it aligns with their mission and the vision of the registry” and will then vote on whether or not to approve it, said Vorrieter.
Regenerative agriculture combines techniques such as greater use of cover crops and crop rotation; elimination or decrease of tillage to enable more carbon to be stored in the ground; a reduce the use of artificial fertilizers, and the use of greener grazing for livestock.
Pure Sky is one of several “incubator” projects for US start-up BlueSphere Ventures, its executive chairman Shidan Gouran told Quantum.
The registry’s founding members are Gouran, BlueSphere chief executive Eddie Soleymani, and Carbon RX CEO Marty Seymour.
Gouran said the registry was founded out of frustration felt by landowners with the slow pace of project development and approval at existing registries, such as Verra.
“What I proposed to the farmers was why don’t we start our own registry where the process is not five years but six months and why don’t we do it in a very open fashion where everybody can see exactly how everything is decided,” he said.
Decentralized Autonomous Organization
Pure Sky is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), which has a company structure that operates with no central governing body, but instead unites all stakeholders through a common, forward-looking goal.
The Pure Sky DAO is controlled by holders of their Pure Tokens or PRTs, whose holders are incentivized via a profit sharing that “keeps member interests in focus”, according to the registry’s website.
“Each PRT holder will formally vote on various decisions for the organization, split into various subcommittees,” it said.
Pure Sky has a “decentralized process” that is governed by the Ethereum blockchain, which stores all of Pure Sky's financial records and programme rules.
“Blockchains provide transparency so that each investor can see every detail of the company’s history. It’s a record that promotes accountability and verification,” the registry website says.
Each carbon credit project proposed and considered by Pure Sky will be peer-reviewed and certified by an open committee of industry experts, it adds.
“We built a system where we incentivize people to work for the organisation without being employed by the organisation,” said Gouran.
Carbon RX’s Vorrieter said: “We are trying to find the best way to increase transparency and velocity within the industry so that credits can be available sooner than a traditional registry.”
The developer is finalising the agriculture methodology but has also started work on some of the projects.
This is “because we have to start measuring baselines” and prioritising a start to the schemes before “seeding starts” for this year in Canada, she said.
Forestry methodology
Carbon RX is also developing a forestry methodology and is working with Delta Clean Tech on projects for the hydrocarbon sector.
There is also potential for further projects with the landowners signed up for the regenerative agriculture schemes that have untouched grasslands.
The aim is to pull the principles from the Canadian Grasslands Protocol for this, said Vorrieter.
Pure Sky currently has three Carbon RX projects listed as proposed on its registry – Canadian Prairie Regenerative Ag Intensity Project, Fire Break Integrated Forestry and Grazing Project, and Methanator RX Destruction on Low-Pressure Wellhead Emissions.
There will also be projects developed through the registry by companies other than Carbon RX, she added, but was unable to give more details at this time.