What types of activities could be included in an international offsets program?
Developing countries do not yet regulate greenhouse gases, so offsets can be generated in the energy, manufacturing, and transportation sectors, in addition to agricultural and forestry sectors. Early offsets projects developed through the CDM have primarily been in renewable energy (65% of projects), methane reduction (14%), and supply-side energy efficiency (10%).[7] Within the renewables category, hydroelectric power generation accounts for 42% of projects, with wind power at 25% and biomass energy at 22%. To date, approximately 4% of CDM projects are in agriculture and only 1% in afforestation/reforestation. Although projects reducing HFC, PFC, and N2O emissions only comprise about 2% of all projects, they represent 27% of the Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) to be generated by 2012, the close of the first crediting period.
