Harnessing farms and forests in the low-carbon economy : how to create, measure, and verify greenhouse gas offsets / edited by Zach Willey and Bill Chameides ; [contributing authors, Gordon R. Smith and others].

"The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-222) and index.

Introduction : the role of landowners and farmers in the new low-carbon economy -- The process of creating offsets -- Land-management options for creating offsets -- Step 1 : scoping the costs and benefits of a proposed project -- Step 2 : determining additionality and baselines -- Step 3 : quantifying the carbon sequestered in forests -- Step 4 : quantifying the carbon sequestered in soil -- Step 5 : quantifying greenhouse gas emission from manure -- Step 6 : quantifying and minimizing methane and nitrous oxide emissions from soil -- Step 7 : estimating leakage or off-site emissions caused by the project -- Step 8 : verifying and registering offsets -- Conclusion : putting these guidelines into practice.

As the United States moves to a low-carbon economy in order to combat global warming, credits for reducing carbon dioxide emissions will increasingly become a commodity that is bought and sold on the open market. This is a how-to-manual for farmers, traders, and investors who want to participate in future carbon markets.--[book cover].