Welcome to the Soil Carbon Regeneration newsletter, an effort from Grassroots Carbon to promote transparency and information on this new world of soil carbon markets.
Hi Simon, thanks for reading and your interest. If you register, you will be emailed a recording soon - it will also be posted to our Youtube and blog next week!
I disagree with you about your conclusion. It's important not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
We must push forward with affordable measurements because there is NO ability to make the new practices worth a farmer's time otherwise. The science of soil organic carbon measurements is very young, and if you don't have projects you don't get people to invest in easier/cheaper/better ways to measure things. Full stop.
Right now, credits yield (very) approx $20/ton CO2eq average = $20/acre/year. This is less than the (very approx) $45/acre just for cover crop seed. Then you are recommending we spend most of that $20/acre to get the best quality measurements?
Does that drive anyone to consider transitioning to soil health who wouldn't have done it in the absence of subsidies?
Julie, thanks for your thoughts and I appreciate your framing in the last comment. However, please consider the following:
1)The folks who want direct sampling the most are MRV startups who are "pushing forward with affordable measurements." High-quality soil sampling datasets across space and time are necessary for calibrating these innovative and scalable technologies. Additionally, rigorous soil sampling is getting cheaper and cheaper with better AI and remote sensing of environmental attributes. I'd be curious who is asking you to spend most of $20/acre to get measurements.
2)The risk of miscalculation (or outright fraud) would have serious repercussions for the credibility of soil carbon credits. This would drop the price of credits, scare potential buyers away, and -most importantly- not help the environment nor provide a sustainable source of revenue for land stewards.
3)The phrase "right now" is doing a lot of work in your last point. That price is rapidly rising and I'm seeing closer to $25-30/credit for removals. Plenty of project developers are betting on prices rising when funding these regenAg carbon projects. You need both projects and better MRV. Folks are investing in both - there is no dichotomy. Scalability and rigor can be achieved.
Hello, missed this webinar. Is there a recording available? Thanks
Hi Simon, thanks for reading and your interest. If you register, you will be emailed a recording soon - it will also be posted to our Youtube and blog next week!
Thank you, I did just that
I disagree with you about your conclusion. It's important not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
We must push forward with affordable measurements because there is NO ability to make the new practices worth a farmer's time otherwise. The science of soil organic carbon measurements is very young, and if you don't have projects you don't get people to invest in easier/cheaper/better ways to measure things. Full stop.
Right now, credits yield (very) approx $20/ton CO2eq average = $20/acre/year. This is less than the (very approx) $45/acre just for cover crop seed. Then you are recommending we spend most of that $20/acre to get the best quality measurements?
Does that drive anyone to consider transitioning to soil health who wouldn't have done it in the absence of subsidies?
Julie, thanks for your thoughts and I appreciate your framing in the last comment. However, please consider the following:
1)The folks who want direct sampling the most are MRV startups who are "pushing forward with affordable measurements." High-quality soil sampling datasets across space and time are necessary for calibrating these innovative and scalable technologies. Additionally, rigorous soil sampling is getting cheaper and cheaper with better AI and remote sensing of environmental attributes. I'd be curious who is asking you to spend most of $20/acre to get measurements.
2)The risk of miscalculation (or outright fraud) would have serious repercussions for the credibility of soil carbon credits. This would drop the price of credits, scare potential buyers away, and -most importantly- not help the environment nor provide a sustainable source of revenue for land stewards.
3)The phrase "right now" is doing a lot of work in your last point. That price is rapidly rising and I'm seeing closer to $25-30/credit for removals. Plenty of project developers are betting on prices rising when funding these regenAg carbon projects. You need both projects and better MRV. Folks are investing in both - there is no dichotomy. Scalability and rigor can be achieved.