Chapter 12 - C-Lock—A Method to Maximize Carbon Sequestration Value to Agro-Forestry Producers and Purchasers

Abstract

This chapter provides a detailed description of C-Lock, a patent-pending Web-based carbon sequestration accounting and marketing tool. C-Lock, developed by Dr. Zimmerman and his colleagues at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, aggregates carbon emission reduction offsets from individual land parcels and prepares certified units for sale in the marketplace. The C-Lock process allows agricultural producers to quantify the impact of specific land-use management practices for specific agricultural land parcels on the sequestration of carbon in soil and vegetation. It also aggregates carbon emission reduction offsets for individual land parcels into units that can be efficiently marketed. This comprehensive tool has been designed to serve as an interface to link agricultural producers, carbon sequestration science and policy, and those who wish to purchase carbon emission reduction offsets. The C-Lock process incorporates three levels of data validation. Level I validation compares producer input data with lookup data for regional land use. Level II verification consists of a random audit to compare satellite data for a land parcel with reported data. Level III verification consists of submitting all data to a third party to operate the model and confirm the results. The C-Lock system must account for the variability in carbon accounting that results from a wide range of sources.