A new voluntary carbon market standard by Hyphen Global and Social Carbon can recognise carbon credits measured through on the ground carbon fluctuation data, as opposed to predictive satellite measurements that currently make up much of today’s highly volatile carbon market.

The release of the catchily titled Module for Eddy Covariance-Based Continuous Quantification of Greenhouse Gas Fluxes, or Module SCD0003 for short, was developed in cooperation with voluntary carbon market standard Social Carbon Foundation.

The Module establishes an alternative standard of measurement for carbon credits, shifting away from traditional activity-based methods that rely on standardised emission factors and calculations to estimate emissions reductions or removals, replacing them with direct measurements of greenhouse gas exchanges between the terrestrial surface and the atmosphere.

The makers claim this means that organisations no longer have to rely on predictive estimates; giving access to real-time, continuous measurements that quantify actual greenhouse gas removals or reductions, providing better accuracy and transparency.

The SCD0003 Module is open-source and available to all carbon projects and MRV providers. It provides authoritative guidance for quantifying carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission reductions and removals over time through direct, terrestrial-based measurements of the net ecosystem exchange of these gases with the atmosphere.

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