Quarterly Offset Network Update | July 2020 No images? Click here Offset Network Quarterly Update July 2020
E-Newsletter Created By Second Nature *NEW* Peer-Reviewed ProtocolThe Offset Network has a new Duke University’s Urban Forestry Protocol has completed technical review and is now approved by the Peer Review Committee for use through the Offset Network. This protocol outlines the methodology for measuring the carbon offsets and documenting project co-benefits generated from an urban tree planting project. Photo Credit: Duke University Thank you to the expert reviewers whose input helped improve this protocol:
Develop a New ProtocolInspired to develop a new type of carbon offset project for your institution? The Offset Network has finalized and updated the Protocol Development Pathway, which includes details on the expert review process. Download the new resource for details. Webinar RecordingTo learn more about Duke University’s Urban Forestry Protocol, and updates to the Protocol Development Pathway, watch a recording of last week’s webinar (7/9/2020). Project Highlights: University of CaliforniaIn March 2019, the University of California released a request for ideas for university-initiated offset projects from faculty, students, and staff across the system’s ten campuses that would help meet the system’s 2025 carbon neutrality goal. At least three of the twelve projects chosen for awards will use Peer Verification through the Offset Network (see projects below). Credit: Photo by Pandu Dunia on Unsplash Unite to Light, a nonprofit that originated at UC Santa Barbara, has already distributed over 125,000 solar lights to households in 78 countries. The Ebony Project, a collaboration between Taylor Guitars and UCLA’s Congo Basin Institute, works with communities in the Congo Basin to reforest degraded land. This project will support the planting of ebony trees and intercropped locally valuable fruit and medicine trees. Credit: Photo by Sven Hornburg on Unsplash The Climate and Conservation project will support work of Pathfinder International, The Nature Conservancy and local partners in communities of Tanganyika District, Western Tanzania where rural poverty, lack of technical support and a rapidly expanding population have led to overfishing and deforestation, challenges compounded by the effects of climate change. Community members will be trained in building energy-efficient cookstoves, establishing tree nurseries, and sustainable agriculture, and will in turn train other community members in these skills. This work will complement Pathfinder’s reproductive health and education work in these communities. Peer Verification OpportunityThe Duke Carbon Offsets Initiative (DCOI) is seeking a peer verifier for its Loyd Ray Farms anaerobic digestion project. The project turns the waste from 8,600 hogs into biogas, which is then used to create renewable electricity on-site. Carbon offsets are generated by destroying the captured methane in either a 65kW microturbine or in a flare. We can provide verification guidance material developed by a Michigan State University team who last evaluated the project, and Offset Network resources would also be available to the peer-verifier. Please contact Matt Arsenault if you’re interested in learning more or potentially verifying the project. Credit: Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash Updated Templates Now Available for UseThe Offset Network now has an updated Project Plan Template, to be completed by the project developer in the early stages of project coordination and preparation. The completed Project Plan will help determine eligibility for inclusion in the Offset Network. We also have an updated Project Description Document Template, which builds upon the project plan and is to be completed once the project is fully developed and ready for validation. Subscribe for This Quarterly UpdateIf you like what you read, and would like to receive these Quarterly Updates directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to this E-Newsletter by clicking on the "Subscribe Here" button below. We're always open to your thoughts and feedback as well, so please feel free to share any thoughts/feedback you have about this E-Newsletter by emailing Amanda Belles. |