BETACarbon Credits
What each type of project is, who certifies it, and what to check before you buy. In MintCarb you record the credits you hold and their retirements, and track your CCTS compliance position.
Types of carbon credit projects
Renewable energy
Solar, wind, hydro or biomass power that displaces electricity from fossil-fuel plants on the grid.
- Typical projects
- Grid-connected wind or solar farms, run-of-river hydro, solar irrigation pumps replacing diesel
- Certified under
- Verra (VCS), Gold Standard
- Check before buying
- Whether the project would have been built anyway (additionality) — many buyers now ask for evidence.
Clean cooking
Efficient or clean-fuel cookstoves that cut firewood or charcoal use in households.
- Typical projects
- Improved biomass cookstoves, LPG or biogas stoves, electric cooking
- Certified under
- Gold Standard, Verra (VCS)
- Check before buying
- How fuel savings and stove usage are measured — over-crediting has been reported for this type.
Forestry & land use
Avoided deforestation (REDD+), new forests, improved forest management and soil carbon.
- Typical projects
- Forest protection, afforestation and reforestation, improved forest management
- Certified under
- Verra (VCS), ACR, Climate Action Reserve
- Check before buying
- The baseline for avoided deforestation, the risk of reversal, and the buffer pool that covers it.
Blue carbon
Restoring or protecting coastal ecosystems that store carbon: mangroves, seagrass, salt marshes.
- Typical projects
- Mangrove restoration, tidal wetland and seagrass conservation
- Certified under
- Verra (VCS)
- Check before buying
- Monitoring of sediment carbon and community rights over the coastal land.
Carbon removal
Taking CO₂ out of the atmosphere and storing it — as distinct from avoiding emissions.
- Typical projects
- Biochar, direct air capture with storage, enhanced rock weathering, bioenergy with carbon capture
- Certified under
- Puro.earth, Verra (VCS), Isometric
- Check before buying
- How long the carbon stays stored (permanence) and how that is verified.
Industrial efficiency
Cutting fuel or process emissions in industry, buildings and waste.
- Typical projects
- Efficient kilns and boilers, waste-heat recovery, landfill-gas capture
- Certified under
- Gold Standard, Verra (VCS)
- Check before buying
- The measured energy or emission baseline and the monitoring plan.
India CCTS certificates (CCC)
Compliance certificates under India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, 2023, issued by BEE to obligated entities that beat their emission-intensity targets.
- Typical projects
- Surplus from obligated entities; traded on CERC-regulated power exchanges
- Certified under
- Bureau of Energy Efficiency (Ministry of Power, S.O. 2825(E), 28 June 2023)
- Check before buying
- The trading windows and eligibility notified by BEE and CERC for the compliance cycle.
How credits work in MintCarb
Credits are bought and cancelled on the registry that issued them. MintCarb keeps your record and reports on it.