Renewable Energy

• Renewable electricity generation
• Fuel switch to or use of renewable energy sources for heating/cooling, hot water, and/or other processes
• Production of biofuels

Energy Efficiency

• Energy efficiency improvements (reductions in use or consumption of electricity or fuel) for residential, commercial, or industrial components and/or systems that do not result from new uses of renewable energy
• Improvements to efficiency of energy [generation,] distribution and transmission
• Combined heat and power (CHP, cogeneration) or trigeneration
• Reductions in consumption through recovery and/or recycling of waste, and/or self-generation
• Recovery and reutilization of GHGs other than CH₄

Fuel Switching

• Fuel switch to a lower carbon, non-renewable fuel

Landfill Methane Capture

• CH₄ avoidance, destruction, capture, and/or reutilization at landfills

Livestock Methane Capture

• CH₄ avoidance, destruction, capture, and/or reutilization at livestock facilities (dairies and beef cattle facilities)

Coal Mine Methane Capture

• CH₄ avoidance, destruction, capture, and/or reutilization at coal mines

Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU)

Forestry

• Afforestation, reforestation, and/or revegetation
• Improved forest management
• Reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD), avoided conversion

Agriculture

• Reduction of methane emissions from rice cultivation
• Reduction of direct GHG emissions associated with cropping practices
• Adjustment of tillage, rotation, and/or other soil and crop management practices to increase sequestration

Land Use

• Land restoration

Industrial Process Emissions

• Reduction of direct emissions of CO₂ or CH₄ associated with industrial activities
• Electrification

Transportation

• Mass transit projects
• Modal shift
• Low-GHG vehicle fleets
• Energy efficiency improvements in transportation

Industrial Gas Destruction

• Destruction, avoidance, or reduction of HFC, PFC, SF₆, N₂O gases from industrial processes

The VCS provides a robust global standard for voluntary GHG emissions reduction and removal projects and their validation and verification. It ensures that carbon offsets that businesses and consumers buy can be trusted and have real environmental benefits. The VCS program is managed by the VCS Association which is an independent, non-profit organization registered under Swiss law. The founding partners of the VCS are The Climate Group, the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

All Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) are eligible as long as they are certified according to VCS 2007 or VCS version 3.0, with the following exceptions:

• Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses (AFOLU) projects are eligible as long as the Seller provides proof that the native species requirements under the Green-e^® Climate Standard are met.
• Projects validated under VCS 2007 that have qualified as additional using the VCS “Test 2 Performance Test” are not eligible, unless the performance standard used explicitly lists the eligible technologies.
• Projects certified according to previous versions of the VCS that are grandfathered in under VCS 2007 are not eligible under Green-e^® Climate.
• The period of time for which GHG reductions/removals are verified (verification period) shall not exceed three years for non-sequestration projects, and shall not exceed seven years for sequestration projects.
• Outside of the United States and Canada, hydropower projects must be under 10 MW in capacity in order to be eligible. For a “grouped” project, consisting of more than one instance of the project activity at multiple locations within a defined geographic boundary, which is certified as a group or program of activities, the total capacity of the grouped project may exceed 10 MW capacity; however, no single instance of the project within the group shall exceed the 10 MW capacity limit.
• In the United States or Canada, only GHG emissions reductions from new hydropower generation capacity on a non-impoundment or new generation capacity on an existing impoundment that meets one or more of the following conditions is eligible:
  1. The hydropower facility is certified by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI);
  2. For Canadian hydropower facilities only, the facility is EcoLogoM certified; or
  3. The hydropower facility consists of a turbine in a pipeline or a turbine in an irrigation canal.

For facilities falling under 1 or 2 above, only output generated during the period of LIHI certification or EcoLogo certification is eligible for Green-e^® Climate Certified sale. In the United States and Canada, the Green-e^® Governance Board will consider on a case-by-case basis GHG emissions reductions resulting from new incremental capacity on an existing dam, where the “new” output is equal to or less than 5 MW. The Program will not certify offsets sourcing GHG emissions reductions from new impoundments of water.

With the exceptions listed above, the following VCS project types are eligible:

• Agriculture, Forestry and other Land Uses (AFOLU)
• Energy Efficiency
• Livestock/Landfill/Coal Mine Methane Capture
• Renewable Energy
• SF6 Destruction

The American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, is a leading carbon offset program recognized for its high standards for environmental integrity and transparency. Established in 1996 as the first voluntary GHG registry in the world, ACR has over 15 years of unparalleled voluntary carbon market experience in the development of rigorous, science-based offset methodologies and operational experience in the oversight of offset project verification, registration, offset issuance and retirement reporting.

Effective June 3, 2013, American Carbon Registry Emission Reduction Tons (ERTs) are eligible with the following exceptions:

• Eligibility is limited to projects approved and credits certified in accordance with standards and methodologies approved by ACR after v2.0 of the ACR Standard in 2010.
• Projects that have been operational for five years without becoming validated or producing verified emissions reductions according to ACR’s or another Endorsed Program’s requirements are not eligible.
• Outside of the United States and Canada, hydropower projects must be under 10 MW in capacity in order to be eligible. For a “grouped” project, consisting of more than one instance of the project activity at multiple locations within a defined geographic boundary, which is certified as a group or program of activities, the total capacity of the grouped project may exceed 10 MW capacity; however, no single instance of the project within the group shall exceed the 10 MW capacity limit.
• Eligibility of projects registered under the Afforestation and Reforestation of Degraded Lands methodology is limited to those registered under version 1.1 of the methodology or later.
• Eligibility of projects registered under the Conversation of High-bleed Pneumatic Controllers in Oil and Natural Gas Systems methodology is limited to those registered under version 1.1 of the methodology or later.

With the exceptions listed above, the following ACR project types are eligible:

• Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU)
• Energy Efficiency
• Industrial Process Emissions
• Renewable Energy
• Transportation

Appendix B: Green-e^® Climate Standard

The Green-e^® Climate Standard details the governing principles for Green-e^® Climate, as well as the criteria the Endorsed Programs must meet.