Frequently Asked Questions
Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) refers to a set of technologies and processes aimed at mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2).
Carbon Capture involves capturing CO2 emissions from various industrial sources, such as power plants and factories, before they are released into the atmosphere. This is typically achieved through technologies like solvent-based chemical absorption, membrane separation, or solid adsorption. The captured CO2 can then be transported for further processing or geological storage.
Utilization refers to finding beneficial uses for the captured CO2. Instead of simply storing it, the CO2 can be utilized in various applications, such as enhanced oil recovery (EOR) (where CO2 is injected into oil reservoirs to enhance oil production), manufacturing processes, or the production of synthetic fuels and chemicals.
Storage, also known as sequestration, involves the permanent storage of captured CO2 deep underground in geological formations such as depleted oil and gas fields, saline aquifers, or unmineable coal seams. This prevents the CO2 from being released into the atmosphere.
CCUS technologies have the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions and help transition to a low-carbon economy. They can be particularly useful in sectors where direct emissions reduction is challenging, such as heavy industries like cement and steel production or certain types of power generation.
By capturing and storing CO2 emissions, CCUS can contribute to achieving the climate targets set forth by the Paris Accords. When used at power generating facilities like coal and gas plants, CCUS makes coal and gas power generation carbon-neutral.
CCUS is increasingly relied upon by countries such as the United States, Norway, Denmark, Canada, and the UK as a viable pathway to meeting their emissions goals.
Deploying Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage is the only path forward for a decarbonized future. While we view many climate mitigation activities as valid and worthwhile, without CCUS, we will not meet our Paris Accord targets. That is now acknowledged by both the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Carbon Capture is proven, technologically available now, and economically feasible over the long term. It also acknowledges the realities of our prevailing energy mix: namely, that fossil fuels continue to dominate and we have, in Capture Capture and Storage, a viable way to make their use carbon-neutral.
CCUS-derived offsets, therefore, as a vehicle to encourage and help fund the widespread deployment of CCUS, are critical to our carbon-neutral ambitions. CCUS-derived credits are also the highest quality on the market. They are strictly measured by meters installed at capture sites, tightly regulated both in the U.S. and Europe, and precisely measured.
All credits on CarbonKerma’s platform are verified through stringent Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) processes; derive from CO2 sunk under EPA-approved MRV Plans in the US or ISO Standards internationally, and represent real sequestered CO2.
CCUS-derived carbon credits provide assurances to buyers that the credits they are buying cannot possibly have been double-counted and that they are genuinely investing in the reduction of atmospheric CO2. Investing in CCUS-derived offsets through CarbonKerma helps shield companies from accusations of greenwashing and reduces business risk associated with other registries or marketplaces and other sources of CO2 removal or avoidance activities.
Blockchain technology brings many benefits to the CarbonKerma platform and KermaExchange. By digitizing–or tokenizing–carbon credits, we have created a more efficient and transparent marketplace for carbon credits.
All transactions that happen on a blockchain are irreversible and publicly auditable. When a company buys CKT tokens and retires them, they are removed from circulation forever, never to be traded again.
Our tokens are seamlessly traded by and between capturers and emitters with no middlemen but our exchange itself. Because our CO2 is represented as digital tokens, the cost can be spread appropriately along an emitter’s entire value chain. Our tokens are also divisible, meaning less than one metric tonne of sequestered carbon can be traded or offset, as appropriate, for more agile and precise use.
Furthermore, the digitization of carbon credits democratizes access to a proven climate solution that has, to date, been at the sole disposal of the energy sector, which has the resources and knowledge to install the facilities. Participating in CarbonKerma’s carbon offset market allows businesses and consumers to, effectively, participate in CCUS–democratizing access to the most effective decarbonization tool at our disposal.
We use the Polygon (MATIC) blockchain, which is highly decentralized and a Layer 2 network which ultimately records transactions on Ethereum.
DAC refers to Direct Air Capture. Direct Air Capture is a technology that involves removing carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere. The primary goal of DAC is to capture CO2 from ambient air, concentrate it, and either store it underground or use it in various industrial processes.
Much like CCUS, the intention of a DAC facility is to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. The primary difference is that CCUS removes CO2 from emissions at source, whereas Direct Air Capture removes CO2 from the ambient environment.
This poses challenges to the scalability of DAC. The concentration of CO2 in the ambient air is so low that concerns around energy consumption, cost, and scalability remain challenges for DAC.
While CarbonKerma will list DAC-derived CO2 that is sequestered under an EPA-approved MRV Plan or in accordance with ISO Standards and other regulations outside the US, the scale required to make a significant impact on atmospheric CO2 levels is beyond what is currently available in the market.
Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) and Direct Air Capture (DAC) are both technologies related to carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and mitigation, but they serve slightly different purposes and operate in distinct ways.
CCUS is a technology that involves capturing CO2 emissions from industrial processes or power plants, then either utilizing the captured CO2 for various purposes or storing it underground to prevent its release into the atmosphere.
DAC is a technology that involves capturing CO2 directly from the ambient air, regardless of its source, and then concentrating it for storage or utilization. Unlike CCUS, which captures emissions from specific point sources, DAC targets CO2 present in the general atmosphere.
In summary, the main difference between CCUS and DAC lies in their primary focus and application. CCUS primarily targets emissions from specific industrial processes or power plants and involves capturing CO2 before it is released into the atmosphere. The captured CO2 can be utilized or stored.
DAC, on the other hand, captures CO2 from the ambient air and can be applied more broadly to capture carbon dioxide from any location. It is particularly useful for scenarios where point-source capture (like in CCUS) is not feasible or sufficient to address CO2 emissions.
Both CCUS and DAC are part of the toolkit for reducing our emissions.
While CarbonKerma believes that, ultimately, the scale of the decarbonization we will need must rely on the wide scale deployment of CCUS, we also understand the role DAC can play in removing legacy carbon from the ambient air.
Both technologies reduce atmospheric carbon, which is positive. CCUS is more scalable because it removes CO2 from source, in vastly higher concentrations than it exists in the ambient air.
Direct Air Capture can often involve the use of a great deal of energy to separate less than 0.05% of the CO2 found in our atmosphere and then store it, while releasing the balance back into the atmosphere.
Furthermore, CCUS is essential for the underdeveloped world to have a path towards industrial development–development which will be reliant on fossil fuels for the foreseeable future. It is incumbent on rich nations that have achieved a higher standard of living while being responsible for the overwhelming majority of historic emissions, to encourage and enable carbon capture, otherwise this growth will take place unmitigated.
Our marketplace welcomes both CCUS and DAC-derived carbon credits, provided the CO2 is sequestered under appropriate regulatory or ISO standards. Do be mindful, however, that DAC-derived credits are likely to cost more, as the technology is more expensive.
The CO2 on our marketplace has been stored deep underground in geological formations where it is trapped forever. When you purchase CKT tokens and retire them, you will receive an Offset Certificate that indicates exactly where the CO2 has been sunk through our digital identifiers. These identifiers, our patent pending Unique Carbon Tags (UCTs), are attached to CKTs and provide information about the specific CO2 storage sites that the CKTs you own represent.
Our demand for energy will prolong the use of fossil fuels because there is no real alternative. This is particularly true in growing parts of Asia, such as China and India, who continue to build new coal and gas power plants at a rapid pace.
Renewables, after trillions of dollars of subsidies, provide roughly three percent of our energy consumption. Fossil fuels cannot be replaced by renewables. The most practical way to decarbonize, then, is through Carbon Capture. CCUS makes the use of fossil fuels carbon-neutral. It is a pragmatic solution to our decarbonization challenges.
Those that argue CCUS prolongs the use of fossil fuels fail to understand that the same argument could be made of planting trees, or any CO2 removal method. The more trees we plant, one could argue, the longer we can continue using fossil fuels.
Nobody would ever make such an assertion publicly, but the logic holds true if we accept the premise that by removing CO2 from the atmosphere or avoiding putting it there we can continue business-as-usual. CarbonKerma doesn’t believe in business-as-usual. We believe in practical solutions to known problems.
Yes. We are agnostic toward the use of Carbon Capture in Enhanced Oil Recovery or not. Critics assert that the emissions associated with the combustion of the oil extracted using EOR diminishes the impact of the CO2 sequestration activity.
While there are CO2 emissions related to oil production and combustion, the amount of CO2 injected per barrel of oil recovered is greater than the emissions associated with that barrel of oil. This raises the prospect of carbon negative oil.
Furthermore, the criticism ignores the fact that CO2 has value for the Carbon Capture operator. As oil is recovered and some of the injected CO2 re-emerges, they will continue capturing that CO2 and sequestering it until the oil stops flowing, ensuring the permanent subterranean storage of carbon dioxide.
CO2-EOR is also a market mechanism that can assist in the scaling up of CCUS, which is critical if we are to meet our Paris Accord targets. Carbon Capture facilities are expensive, and if the recovery of more oil from a well can assist in defraying some of that upfront CapEx, the deployment of CCUS will be able to scale faster.
CarbonKerma is interested in a pragmatic approach to our global decarbonization goals and good solutions can often appear counterintuitive on the surface. If Enhanced Oil Recovery can help us achieve our Paris Accord targets, it, in fact, becomes a net positive endeavor.
Absolutely it does. Carbon markets have suffered from a long record of abuse. Standards are lax, accountability almost non-existent, and there is almost no transparency. Many corporations around the world have become wary of voluntary carbon markets and are becoming reluctant to use offsets because they have lost trust.
CarbonKerma places carbon market integrity at the forefront of our work. Our aim is to encourage the widespread deployment of Carbon Capture–a real decarbonization solution–and restore trust and integrity to offsetting so that companies with unabatable emissions can reduce their net carbon footprint with confidence.
Furthermore, no major registry has developed the methodology for listing CCUS-derived carbon credits. To the extent that we have already established a sound methodology based on regulatory and ISO standards, DigiKerma plays the role of a registry for CCUS-derived offset credits.
DigiKerma is confident in our own methodology, which is built on EPA and ISO Standards: the highest in the world. As flaws in the voluntary carbon market have been exposed and well-documented, we increasingly find corporations seeking more credible offsetting service providers. CarbonKerma fulfills all the functions of an established registry, but our rigorous onboarding process exceeds those applied by larger registries.
The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) points to the unimportance of registry-ceritifcation if the following conditions are met:
“The carbon-crediting program shall operate or make use of a registry to uniquely identify, record and track mitigation activities and carbon credits issued to ensure credits can be identified securely and unambiguously.”
CarbonKerma, as a marketplace, does in fact play the role of a registry insofar as we “uniquely identify, record, and track mitigation activities and carbon credits issued.”
We use blockchain technology for its many advantages and believe it only adds to the integrity of our marketplace. It is an important feature of CarbonKerma and the Kerma Exchange for the integrity it lends to our carbon marketplace.
We use the Polygon (MATIC) network, which is a well established and trusted blockchain network that ultimately records transactions on the Ethereum blockchain.
However, we understand not everyone is familiar with the technology.
We have made our platform as user-friendly as possible. In future versions of the platform, we will be providing more traditional onramps onto the blockchain, such as the incorporation of Stripe and other, more traditional payment methods.
We also auto-create custodial wallets for users as a courtesy. That way, users without a custodial wallet, such as Metamask, can access our marketplace using Basic Mode, which is the default mode the platform opens in.
We have created a video describing the steps our users need to take to offset their emissions.
We accept three stablecoins: USDC, USDT, and DAI. These are all worth US$1. Users will need to deposit one of these cryptocurrencies into their account to buy CKT. After that, no further knowledge of blockchain technology is required.
If users have any problems, we will gladly walk you through each step of the way.
A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency that is pegged to a traditional fiat currency or to a commodity, such as gold. There are many types of stablecoins. The three we accept on our platform are USDT, issued by Tether, USDC, issued by Circle, and DAI, issued by MakerDAO.
Each of these stablecoins is equal to one US dollar. They are three of the largest stablecoins in the market. The benefit of stablecoins is that they exist on blockchains and can therefore be used to trade for other cryptocurrency tokens, and they are stable in value, so do not have the volatility typically associated with cryptocurrencies.
CarbonKerma accepts these three stablecoins.
We are always here to help. Please email support@carbonkerma.com and we’ll be here to assist you.
Just send us an email at info@carbonkerma.com and one of our team will be in touch to assist you.
