Carbon Emissions Glossary
Carbon Emission Reduction Credits
An Emission Reduction Credit is a credit issued to a company that has reduced its emissions of air pollutants beyond what is required under environmental regulation. It is a tangible asset with a real market value that represents a transferable right to emit into the air a certain amount of a specific pollutant. Credits for a particular pollutant are usually issued in units of one ton. The credits represent permanent emission reductions that have been measured with monitoring devices and verified by independent assessors. They can be traded or sold to other companies to offset the emissions that have exceeded their regulated limit. They can also be banked by a company and then used to offset future emissions.
A Carbon Emission Reduction Credit, often referred to as a Carbon Dioxide equivalent Emission Reduction Credit, is a credit issued to a company for its documented reduction in the release of carbon dioxide or any another greenhouse gas, such as methane.
Clean Air Conservancy Charitable Trust
The Clean Air Conservancy Charitable Trust, which is administered by the Board of Trustees of the Clean Air Conservancy, was established in 2003 as a separate nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. The purpose of this irrevocable Trust is to hold in perpetuity all of the air pollution credits and allowances that have been donated directly to the CAC or that have been purchased with donated funds. These tradable instruments, which represent a right to emit a fixed amount of a particular pollutant, are held in the Trust so that they can never be used by any other person or company to release that amount pollution into our air. This Trust now holds allowances and credits for carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrous oxides that are equivalent to more than 8.5 billion pounds of these pollutants. The list of the credits and allowances banked in the Trust is constantly updated and can always be seen on our main website (http://www.cleanairconservancy.org).
