Climeworks has achieved third-party certification of its carbon removal activities under the Puro Standard – claiming it is a first for the direct air capture (DAC) industry.
In collaboration with CO2 storage and mineralisation partner Carbfix, the Puro Standard methodology for geologically stored carbon was applied to the removal activities at Climeworks’ Orca facility, billed as the world’s first commercial DAC and storage plant in operation which opened earlier this month (click here).
Jan Wurzbacher, Co-founder and Co-CEO at Climeworks, said it is aiming for a gigatonne carbon removal capacity by 2050 and a pre-requisite for scale up is a strong foundation of investors, customers, suppliers and partners.
Eve Tamme, Managing Director at Climate Principles, said for traceability and transparency – and to avoid double counting – the removals certified under the standard are issued in the public Puro registry, where their complete lifecycle is recorded from issuance to retirement. She hopes to see “more carbon removal project developers following in this direction”.
Certification validates that Climeworks produced net removals that fulfil a stringent set of criteria, such as additionality and high durability.
It involves auditing its DAC process as well as Carbfix’ CO₂ mineralisation, with DNV verifying carbon removals.
CO₂ Removal Certificates (CORCs) are issued on the Puro registry and are retired as soon as they are delivered to a specific customer, who is the only one allowed to claim credits, ensuring transparency and accountability in the process.
Last month Climeworks extended its services beyond DAC with Climeworks Solutions, which tailors carbon removal portfolios to companies’ individual needs (click here).
The European Parliament and Council agreed on the first EU-wide voluntary framework for the certification of carbon removals in February.
The IEA notes robust, transparent and standardised international certification and accounting methodologies for DAC are needed ‘to facilitate its recognition in carbon markets and IPCC greenhouse gas inventory reporting’.
