CCX Members are leaders in greenhouse gas (GHG) management and represent all sectors of the global economy, as well as public sector innovators. Reductions achieved through CCX are the only reductions made in North America through a legally binding compliance regime, providing independent, third party verification by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA, formerly NASD). CCX emitting Members make a voluntary but legally binding commitment to meet annual GHG emission reduction targets. Those who reduce below the targets have surplus allowances to sell or bank; those who emit above the targets comply by purchasing CCX Carbon Financial Instrument® (CFI®) contracts.
Funds generated on the Exchange are used to implement and manage projects that avoid, reduce or absorb greenhouse gases, including:
Agricultural Methane Emission Offsets
Agricultural methane collection and combustion at livestock operations include covered anaerobic digesters, complete-mix, plug flow digesters and covered lagoons.
Agricultural Soil Carbon Offsets
Carbon emission soil sequestration activities in the agricultural sector include continuous conservation tillage and grass planting.
Energy Efficiency and Fuel Switching Emissions Offsets
Energy efficiency and fuel switching offset projects are based on displacement of CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel based energy sources.
Forestry Carbon Emission Offsets
Forest carbon sequestration projects include: Maintaining or increasing forest area; Forest management to increase stand- and landscape-level carbon density; Increasing off-site carbon stocks in wood products and enhancing product and fuel substitution.
Landfill Methane Emission Offsets
Landfill methane capture and combustion.
Offsets from Renewable Energy
Renewable energy projects include wind and solar that are not being used to meet obligations established by state or local mandates.
Coal Mine Methane Emission Offsets
Coal mine methane offset projects are projects which collect and/or destroy coal mine methane which would have vented into atmosphere.
Rangeland Soil Carbon Management Offsets
Agricultural carbon emission reductions for improved rangeland management.
Ozone Depleting Substance Destruction Emission Offsets
Projects engaging in the destruction of ozone depleting substances.
Carbon offset purchases also help to add renewable sources to the national power grid. As the demand increases for these cleaner energy sources, less of our electricity will come from limited and polluting fossil fuels. Supporting the move toward greater diversity in the fuels we use creates a more balanced and sustainable energy future.
CCX employs independent verification throughout its greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and trading system to guarantee transparency, rigor and integrity. Projects must obtain independent verification by a CCX approved verifier. Verifiers use information provided by the project owner or aggregator, combined with potential site visits, to accurately assess a project's actual annual GHG sequestration or destruction. An offset project is subject to initial verification, as well as annual verification for the duration of its enrollment in CCX. Verification reports are reviewed by CCX staff as well as the CCX provider of regulatory services, FINRA, for completeness.
Only Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) members can trade credits on the exchange. That's where ZeroHero.com comes in. Our parent organization, BlueStar Energy Services, is an Associate member of CCX. BlueStar buys and permanently retires blocks of carbon credits, then parses them out to individuals and businesses like you.
