Projects that capture and store carbon dioxide (CO₂) from point sources or directly from the atmosphere through technical means (CCS and/or engineered CDR) are complex, capital and resource-intensive, and involve many actors along the value chain of capture, transport, and storage. They typically require long-lived assets and large upfront capital. Given that such projects do not generate any goods and services that could be sold, and that public funding is often scarce, revenues from the sale of carbon credits on the voluntary carbon market (VCM) are important to mobilise investments. Carbon credits need to be real, additional, permanent, and avoid double counting. This can only be achieved through a robust monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) approach. This perspective explores the financial implications of conventional versus digital MRV (dMRV) for CCS and engineered CDR project investments.

Originally published by IOP Science as part of the Environmental Research Series.
DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ae20ad