Carbon Intensity vs Carbon Credits

This is Tim Hammerich of the Ag Information Network with your Farm of the Future Report.

What is your farm’s carbon intensity score? If you don’t know, you’re not alone. This relatively new measurement of the carbon footprint associated with the food you produce is fast becoming a hot topic. This is driven by biofuels, says Continuum Ag founder Mitchell Hora, and he says carbon intensity is distinctly different from carbon credits.

Hora… “ Carbon intensity is not a carbon credit, but it is the calculation of your carbon footprint per bushel, and it's more for regulated markets. The calculation comes from the US Department of Energy. The financial driver is coming from the US Department of Treasury, specifically the IRS and the 45 Z tax credit, which is for biofuels. It's different from carbon credits, but it's still a carbon outcome. So you can't do carbon credits and carbon intensity. A carbon credit is one ton of carbon and usually on like a per acre basis., You know, you might be able to question one ton per acre annually. And then they get sold as an offset outside of the supply chain, or they can be sold as an inset internal to your supply chain.”

Continuum Ag makes a software to make it easy for farmers to track their carbon intensity score.