Nori Regenerative Tonnes™
Nori Regenerative Tonnes™ are on-chain carbon removal credits.
One Regenerative Tonne represents approximately one tonne of removed CO2 stored for a minimum of ten years. More specifically, each Regenerative Tonne represents a verified claim that one tonne (+/- 10%) of CO2 has been removed from the atmosphere and a contractual commitment that the removed carbon will be sequestered for a minimum of ten years. Nori issues Regenerative Tonnes to Suppliers who provide verified evidence that they meet these criteria.
Part of the rationale for a ten year contract term is driven by Nori's current work with Suppliers. For many Suppliers, that's the longest term for which they can sign a contract, whether because they lease their land or because forecasting their operations out longer is difficult. Longer terms would introduce a higher barrier to entry and limit carbon removal supply.
The Regenerative Tonne lifecycle
Nori Regenerative Tonnes can only be sold once and are immediately retired upon sale. Once sold, they never trade hands again. An overview of the Regenerative Tonne lifecycle is as follows:
Project formation: Suppliers provide data on carbon removal to create a project
Quantification: An independent third party and / or tool estimates the project's carbon removal
Verification: Independent third parties verify project data
Regenerative Tonne creation: Regenerative Tonnes are created, commensurate to the additional carbon removal
Regenerative Tonne sales and retirement: Buyers purchase Regenerative Tonnes from Nori's marketplace. The Regenerative Tonnes are then immediately retired and Nori logs the transaction on-chain for traceability.
This subsection will now explore each of these steps in greater depth.
Project formation
When a Supplier applies to register their project, they apply to establish a project baseline with verifiable data that adheres to a carbon removal methodology covered by Nori. Registration commits the Supplier to report operational data relevant to the carbon removal activity for at least ten years and to facilitate the monitoring of carbon removal and changes in carbon sequestration levels for that term.
To have a project approved for registration, Suppliers must supply substantial operating data on their project, including past and present data and practices. In the case of Suppliers who adhere to Nori's soil carbon sequestration methodology in U.S. croplands, this involves outlining the history of land management practices on the land covered by the project that the prospective Supplier operates. Both the prospective Supplier's proposed practice changes and past operating data inform how the quantification and verification steps of the lifecycle will translate into estimates of carbon removal and Regenerative Tonnes.
The data Suppliers provide Nori must be sufficient for the CQT(s) or other carbon removal quantification process Nori has identified as fit to quantify carbon removal for the methodology in question. Carbon removal claims derived from models and measurement techniques must include uncertainty ranges before conversion to Regenerative Tonnes. Suppliers must also designate a specific switch date, i.e., the date upon which their proposed practice changes went or will go into effect.
Finally, Suppliers must provide evidence that, in the case they are not the landowner, the landowner agrees with all terms of the agreement and is aware that the land operator is entering into a ten year commitment to work with Nori.
Quantification
Once a Supplier enters their project data, a third-party carbon quantification tool or other carbon removal quantification process designated by Nori is used to estimate the carbon removal amount attributable to a Supplier. Coupled with the project's carbon removal baseline, these estimates inform the amount of additional carbon removal for which Nori credits the Supplier. Nori is not involved in generating a project's carbon removal baselines, nor its carbon removal estimates to avoid conflicts of interest.
Nori also credits carbon removal conservatively. Concerning soil carbon sequestration in U.S. croplands, Nori’s methodology requires the comparison of two different projections for carbon removal in soils. Between the two projections, Nori always credits Suppliers based on the more conservative of the two. Nori will apply a similar approach to future methodologies.
Nori designates eligible CQT(s) or other quantification processes for each methodology supported in its marketplace. More information on the importance of quantification methods and processes and Nori's criteria for them will be available in the release of the next whitepaper section. Similarly, more information on Nori's current soil carbon sequestration in U.S. croplands methodology will also be made available in said release and is currently available here.
Verification
Once a Supplier provides data to Nori, and an approved carbon removal quantification method quantifies it, an independent third-party verifier ("Verifier") must review the report and provide independent assurance that six critical components are reasonably estimated and / or true:
The Supplier has the right to list the project and sell Regenerative Tonnes in Nori's marketplace
The data/evidence provided by the Supplier is reasonable and can be replicated
The selected project switch date is appropriate
The carbon removal claims represented in the verification report are not directly or indirectly listed for sale or have not been sold through other registries or marketplaces
The Supplier and any associated entities comply with existing laws and regulations
The Verifier does not have a Conflict of Interest with the project
Suppose the Verifier finds that modifications in the reported data are required. In that case, the Supplier will resubmit data through Nori to the carbon removal quantifier or via the quantification method to regenerate a new draft verification report.
Upon receipt of a positive report from the Verifier, Nori approves the application, lists the project as registered (subject to the Supplier's final approval and formal acceptance of the agreement terms), publishes the project's initial baseline, and provides the Supplier with a projection of the Regenerative Tonnes due to them for the Supplier’s approval.
Once approved, Suppliers must submit annual activity/practice updates. Each time Suppliers provide updates, new verification is required. Guidance on mandatory annual data reporting and recordkeeping requirements are included in each relevant methodology for Suppliers.
Suppliers must also submit a final audit in the final year of their project’s term that complies with the most recent Nori guidelines associated with the applicable methodology. In the case of the soil carbon in U.S. croplands methodology, this audit is designed to finalize that the carbon remained sequestered in the ground for the 10 year contract term and to provide a final carbon sequestration number for the project. In general, final audit data helps Nori continuously improve its methodologies and confirm carbon sequestration.
Nori anticipates that current Suppliers will continue in our marketplace and continue to enroll fields until carbon flux (i.e. the soil has reached full carbon saturation) which is hypothesized to be anywhere between 20 and 30 years from when a regenerative practice is adopted.
Nori Regenerative Tonne creation
Nori uses the carbon removal estimates generated by the CQT or other quantification process to determine how many NRTs to create for a project. Nori generates one Regenerative Tonne for approximately one tonne of removed CO2 stored for a minimum of ten years. Nori does not issue credits for carbon removal when an activity is not yet verified.
When generating Regenerative Tonnes, Nori mints NFTs on-chain to represent them. These NFTs include details on the carbon removal data provided by Suppliers and persist on the public blockchain in some form forever, save for one particular case we will explore below. In the case of Suppliers who use Nori’s U.S. croplands soil carbon sequestration methodology, each NFT corresponds to Regenerative Tonnes from a given field, in a given year.
NFTs are sent to Suppliers’ blockchain-based wallets when their Regenerative Tonnes enter Nori’s marketplace for sale. For more on the NFT lifecycle and how it aligns to the Regenerative Tonne lifecycle, you can explore mechanics in greater depth on our github.
Regenerative Tonne sales and retirement
When ready for sale, The NFTs representing the Regenerative Tonnes are transferred to a ‘Market’ smart contract, altering the status of the NFTs on-chain. Nori’s marketplace primarily operates on a first-in, first-out basis, meaning new Regenerative Tonnes enter at the back of the queue. For more on this, see the Other marketplace mechanics subsection of this whitepaper.
Once purchased by a Buyer, Nori Regenerative Tonnes are immediately retired and transferred to the Buyer’s account. This mechanism prevents double counting and defines who owns the Regenerative Tonne and at what point in time the transaction occurred. It also positions Nori Regenerative Tonnes as a commodity (meaning it is typically bought for immediate use and not for repeated resale) under U.S. securities and commodities trading regulation.
When a Buyer purchases a Regenerative Tonne, what functionally happens is that the NFTs representing said Regenerative Tonnes are transferred to a ‘Certificate’ smart contract that designates that the associated Regenerative Tonnes have been retired and removed from circulation. These NFTs are updated with bookkeeping data covering final ownership and sales price, in addition to the original Supplier data.
Once they enter the certificate contract, the NFTs become non-transferrable. The only circumstance under which a certificate NFT mapping to Nori Regenerative Tonnes would be altered is if there’s a problem with a Supplier’s Regenerative Tonnes. Under this circumstance, the certificate NFT can be burned (read as destroyed) and the Regenerative Tonnes are replaced to make the Buyer whole.
For more on the NFT lifecycle and how it aligns to the Regenerative Tonne lifecycle, you can explore mechanics in greater depth on our github.
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