Overview
Nori is a carbon removal standard and marketplace that enables individuals and businesses to purchase carbon removal credits, known as Nori Carbon Removal Tonnes (NRTs). One NRT represents the removal of one metric tonne of CO2-equivalent (CO2e) from the atmosphere and its secure storage in the soil through the adoption of regenerative soil treatment and cropping practices. At the time of writing, Nori has 18+ carbon removal projects, 125,000+ tons of carbon removed, and 2+ million paid to farmers.
Nori as a carbon standard
Nori provides the only one available methodology. It is the US Croplands Methodology, which has following supplier requirements:
- adopting regenerative agriculture practices within the last 10 years;
- fields are croplands (of any size) located in the United States
- quality farm management records;
- providing digital field boundaries for fields supplier wants to enroll;
- the land doesn’t have Conservation Reserve Program in its historical land use since 2000
Regenerative Agriculture Practices include changing or expanding crop rotations and cropping intensity, introducing cover crops and/or shifting from annuals to perennials, reducing tillage events and intensity and/or adopting new residue management techniques, and substituting synthetic fertilizers with organic matter additions
Steps to issue Nori Carbon Removal Tonnes (NRTs)
1. To register a carbon removal project with Nori, suppliers must provide data on any new or planned carbon removal practices they have implemented. This data should be sufficient to establish an accurate baseline for the project. In the case of the U.S. Croplands Methodology, farmers must provide their historical land management and crop data for 30 years. Also suppliers commit to annually reporting carbon removal data for at least 10 years.
2. Nori uses Soil Metrics, a third-party carbon quantification tool, to estimate the amount of carbon being stored in the soil of its suppliers. This data is used to model a carbon baseline, estimate the number of NRTs to generate, and ensure that suppliers are paid fairly. By licensing a carbon quantification tool like Soil Metrics, Nori avoids a conflict of interest. This is because Soil Metrics is not owned or operated by Nori, and it has no financial stake in the outcome of the carbon removal projects.
3. Nori requires independent 3rd party verification. There are two paths to become a verifier of Nori projects:
- Fast-track path: Verifiers who are already accredited by markets and registries (such as Verra, American Carbon Registry, and Climate Action Reserve) can be “grandfathered” into the marketplace.
- New verifier application: New verifiers who are not already accredited in existing offset markets can apply via this process.
Independent verification of project data helps Nori avoid a conflict of interest by ensuring that the data is reliable and accurate in specific ways. These ways include:
- Ensures reasonable data: Verification ensures that the project data provided by the supplier is reasonable. This means that the data is supported by evidence and that it is not inflated or exaggerated.
- Proper carbon accounting: Third parties verify that a given project is not listed in any other carbon market registry. This helps to ensure that the carbon removal is not being double-counted.
- Confirms legality: Verification ensures that a supplier has the legal rights to list the project and sell the resulting NRTs. This helps to prevent fraud and ensure that the NRTs are legitimate.
4. Nori creates NRTs to represent the additional carbon removal that is achieved through a carbon removal project. To determine how many NRTs to create, Nori uses the carbon removal estimates generated by the Soil Metrics.
Nori as a carbon market-place
For purchases of up to 10,000 NRTs, buyers can buy directly from the supplier in the Nori marketplace.
For larger purchases over 10,000 NRTs, a dedicated account executive can help execute the order.
A monthly subscription option is also available.
Nori also provides automated purchases through integrations using:
- Web3: Nori’s Web3 integration is a smart contract specifically designed for companies and projects building on the Polygon blockchain.
- API: Nori’s API can be used with a website or mobile app.
In the event of a purchase, the NRTs are immediately retired, making them impossible to resell. The supplier receives the total amount in USDC. Nori charges an additional 25% transaction fee to the buyer. The buyer receives a Nori Carbon Removal Certificate, which certifies the quantity of carbon removed, and where and when it was removed.
