CCP label emerges as credibility test in maturing carbon removal market

The ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles (CCP) label is fast emerging as a credibility benchmark in the carbon removal market, drawing a clear line between high- and low-quality credits, according to the head of a US-based firm that became the first to secure the quality stamp for its issuances under a subsurface biomass storage protocol.

Graphyte CEO Barclay Rogers said the Integrity Council of the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) designation, which indicates a positive assessment against 10 quality criteria, including permanence, additionality, and co-benefits, is now becoming a basic requirement for buyers looking for integrity.

“I think of this as more of a ticket to the party as opposed to an invitation to the party,” he told Carbon Pulse. “The market is really sorting itself out – you’re either in or you’re out.”

CDR APPROACH

Graphyte, which uses a process called carbon casting to permanently store biomass residues, last month became eligible for CCP-labelled credits under Isometric’s Subsurface Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage methodology.

Carbon casting locks away biogenic carbon by drying agricultural and timber residues such as straw, bark, and sawdust to around 10% moisture content, below the threshold at which microbial activity occurs.

The dried material is then compressed, sealed in a metallic polymer barrier, and buried in lined quarries to prevent exposure to moisture or oxygen.

“That immediate encasing layer is designed to maintain essentially an impermeable barrier for thousands and thousands of years,” Rogers said. “We have a technical publication in the works that suggests it’s likely to remain for 100,000 years.”

The company has removed about 7,000 tonnes of CO2 to date – making it the second-largest issuer of durable removal credits on Isometric – and currently sells credits for around $150 per tonne, with production costs at under $100 per tonne.

Read more in Carbon Pulse.