Offsets, Auctions, and Allowance Trading

Evaluating and Procuring GHG Offsets

SAIC helps organizations meet voluntary and mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) obligations by using internal reduction strategies and by procuring GHG offsets from external emission reduction projects. Offsets trading may enable organizations to meet their GHG objectives in a cost-effective manner if the offsets can be achieved at a cost that is lower than the internal reductions.

Supporting GHG Auctions and Allowance Trading

Numerous states, regions, and national governments are working to establish mandatory GHG cap-and-trade systems. SAIC provides support to these programs by helping implement efficient and credible allowance auctions and advising on the effective administration of auction proceeds.

Case Studies

Supporting RGGI Carbon Allowance Auctions

SAIC is part of a team supporting the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative's (RGGI) allowance auctions involving New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont. RGGI is the first mandatory GHG trading system to be implemented in the U.S. and has a goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in the region by 10 percent from 1990 levels by 2018.

Offsets Advice for Major U.S. Financial Institution

SAIC provides technical advice to a large financial institution to implement its $20 billion environmental and climate initiative. Measures include credit cards offering GHG offsets rewards and the purchase of GHG offsets to meet corporate emission reduction targets. SAIC is helping the institution purchase high-quality voluntary GHG offsets by evaluating accounting methodologies, assessing the stringency of available GHG offsets programs, and preparing a proposal for offsets purchases.

Bid Support for Utility District Offsets

The Sacramento Municipal District (SMUD) carbon offset program allows residential customers to reduce their carbon footprint by purchasing GHG offsets. SMUD's current offset supply comes from two dairy digester projects that are undergoing commissioning. SAIC is assisting SMUD in procuring additional offsets to supply the program beyond 2009. This includes conducting outreach to potential project developers and evaluating and selecting winning proposals based on their technical merit, project risks, and economic viability.

Developing Protocols for GHG Offset Projects

SAIC is a leader in developing protocols for GHG offsets in the U.S. For the Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Leaders program we developed protocols for offset projects covering commercial and industrial boilers, transit fleet improvements, end-use of recovered methane, and coal mine methane. For California's Climate Action Reserve, SAIC helped develop offsets protocols for agricultural digesters and coal mine methane projects and examined issues related to developing new protocols for boilers and tidal wetlands restoration.