The North Maine Woods Project is a 92,000-acre project containing areas of mature hardwood stands over 100 years old, located near the Canadian border within the largest undeveloped forest in the eastern United States. Part of a landowner co-op in northern Maine comprising 4.5 million acres and aiming for responsible management and conservation, the project is estimated to remove approximately 3 million metric tons of CO₂ over its lifetime. Its carbon revenues will help pay off the initial purchase loan as well as buy additional timberlands for sustainable forestry management. A baseline scenario for a timber property such as this would involve aggressive timber harvesting, which would compromise both wildlife and biodiversity.

The project area is home to black bears and a thriving moose population that averages eight to ten moose per square mile as opposed to the typical two to three per square mile. Additionally, because the project area is part of a larger network of forests, it provides important connectivity for populations of Canada lynx, while its wetlands contain unique species of both butterflies and moths.

While this project generates both removal and avoided emission offsets, this listing is for removal credits only. The registry allows us to distinguish between credit types upon retirement and so the credit will be tagged as "Verified Removals."

Andes applies natural beneficial microorganisms into soils alongside crop seeds. These microbes grow with the crop roots and accelerate the natural mineralization of atmospheric CO₂. The resulting stable carbonate minerals are then securely and durably stored in the soil for thousands of years. Andes directly measures the accumulation of these carbonate minerals in soils in order to quantify CO₂ removal.

Aside from removing CO₂, this process provides important co-benefits for crops and farmers, including guaranteed same-season cash payments. This novel carbon removal technology presents itself as both scalable and cost-effective, as it can be integrated easily into existing agronomic practices. The Andes team has already deployed this technology on 50,000 acres of farmland across the US Midwest, with plans to expand to South America and Africa—improving climate and community outcomes with every additional acre.

To ensure verifiability, Andes has developed an ISO methodology in collaboration with EcoEngineers. The methodology has been reviewed by renowned experts in biogeochemistry, soil science, agriculture, and carbon markets and is currently under validation by an accredited auditor.

Tradewater is a B Corp and mission-based project development company that is strategically focused on the collection, control, and destruction of potent non-CO₂ greenhouse gases. Tradewater searches around the world for canisters of antiquated refrigerants and fire suppressants that are up to 10,000 times more potent than CO₂ and destroys them before they rust and leak. Tradewater also plugs orphaned oil and gas wells that are actively spewing methane and carcinogens. By using technology available at scale today to prevent emissions of some of the world’s most potent greenhouse gases, Tradewater is rapidly reducing global emissions and “hitting the emergency brake” on climate change. To date, Tradewater has permanently prevented over 7.5 million tons of CO₂e from reaching the atmosphere and has set a bold new goal of collecting, controlling, and destroying at least 3 million tons of CO₂e annually moving forward.

For this project, Tradewater is plugging 1 orphaned gas well in Greene County, Indiana to prevent methane emissions, remediate land, and improve local air and water quality. Over a 20-year period, methane has a global warming potential that is 84 times greater than CO₂. Since the Industrial Revolution, methane has caused 30% of global warming.

Orphaned wells are those where the company that drilled and operated them is either bankrupt or otherwise insolvent, leaving no company liable to plug the wells. While some federal funding has been allocated to plug these wells, it is nowhere near enough to cover the cost of plugging all existing orphaned wells in the US, making Tradewater's work highly additional. These wells are located on farms, public land, and even in backyards, leaking methane and toxic gases like hydrogen sulfide and the known carcinogen benzene. Tradewater conducts field tests to directly measure methane releases, then coordinates with landowners and state agencies to plan plugging activities. Tradewater hires qualified local contractors to remove surface equipment, plug wells per state regulations, and remediate the land, permanently stopping current and future methane leaks and returning the land to its rightful state.

Credits were generated from the plugging of orphan wells in accordance with the protocols set forth by the leading carbon registry American Carbon Registry (ACR). All ACR projects are third-party verified to ensure compliance and quality.