(CaliforniaCarbon.info, Oct 27, 2016) California offset issuances were back up this week as market entities prepare to surrender compliance instruments covering 30% of their 2015 emissions in this year’s annual obligation. California cap-and-trade market regulators, ARB, issued around 743k CCOs across three livestock projects and two IFM forestry projects, the bulk of which belonging to a North Coast Resource Management forestry project.

Covering an area of 13,165 acres in Mendocino County, California, Bewley Ranches (ACR 262) is the latest project by North Coast Resource Management to garner credits; who have now accumulated around 3.35 million ARBOCs across the state of California. The project, which is verified by SCS Global Services, gained 676,096 CCOs, making it the 9^th largest reporting period to credit under the ARB compliance protocol.

The second and third reporting periods of Forest Carbon Partner’s Hanes Ranch Forest Carbon Project (ACR 182), also in Mendocino county, make up the remaining 20k credits issued to forestry on the back half of this month. 

Three Wisconsin based livestock projects have been accredited with a combined 47k CCOs in a state synonymous with dairy production. Over half of the credits were awarded to the Rosendale Anaerobic Digester (ACR 283), a project developed by Camco, under the verification of SES.

Energy Systems Group earned the remainder, as 11k and 7k were respectively assigned to the third reporting periods of the Wakker (CAR989) and Deer Run (CAR 982) digester projects. Both projects were verified by Ruby Canyon Engineering.

Whilst no new ARBOCs were issued under the Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) protocol, the Wabashco Clean Sweep 8 (ACR 314) and RemTec ODS Destruction Project #2 (CAR 974) projects reduced their risk to invalidation to 3 years. ACR314 saw 111,977 CCO-8s convert to CCO-3s, while CAR974 saw 156,882 CCO-3 conversions from two reporting periods,.

In the upcoming days, two further projects will soon see their invalidation risk expire, as 50k Golden CCOs will be available to entities before the end of the month.

With no new credits materialising from Quebec, the Canadian province’s offset count remains at 506k. California’s total offsets issued now rise to 48.95 million, taking the number of WCI offsets issued just short of the 50 million mark.

Deducting for those buffered, invalidated and previously surrendered, approximately 31 million offset credits remain eligible for compliance across the WCI. However this may change soon, as the annual compliance obligation due date for Californian entities, expires early next week.

Billy Hamshaw (billy@californiacarbon.info)

Rohan Nongpiur (rohan@californiacarbon.info)