The voluntary carbon market provides a unique opportunity to encourage industries to move from high emission common practices to low emission alternatives. With Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) currently accounting for almost 95% of road construction in the United States there is ample opportunity for use of alternatives that result in less GHG emissions. A good example of this is the use of Foam Stabilized Base (FSB) in paving applications. This mix-in technology increases the amount of raw material that can be sourced from reclaimed pavement as well as removing the need for the whole mixture to be heated to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, while providing a high quality final product.

To account for the reductions in GHG emissions inherent in the use of FSB in paving applications, Global Emissionairy LLC, Maryland Industrial Partnerships and Straughan Environmental have teamed up to develop a new methodology that encourages the use of this technology. This new methodology uses a performance benchmark for the determination additionality and the crediting baseline. Performance benchmarks are particularly useful as they further simplify the process for project developers to account for their emission reductions.

As with any proposed methodology, the first step in the VCS methodology approval process is to solicit public comments. To that end, we would encourage you to take a close look at it, and offer your thoughts, both pro and con. The comment period began on 2 September 2014 and will end on 2 October 2014:

VCS staff along with representatives from Global Emissionairy LLC, Straughan Environmental and the University of Maryland will host a webinar describing the proposed methodology, which will be held on 18 September at 11 am (EDT). Register for the webinar by clicking this link.

Please contact the VCS to submit any comments by emailing secretariat@v-c-s.org. Comments must include a name, organization, country and email address.

You can also learn more about other methodologies under development and the VCS methodology approval process.