ENV-09-22 Petrochemical and Refinery Strategies for Investing in Carbon Markets: A Methodology for Evaluating and Selecting Carbon Offset Projects

Description:

This paper outlines a comprehensive methodology to identify, prioritize and develop a diverse portfolio of carbon offset projects that can be used by the petrochemical industry to generate carbon credits for exchange in the emerging U.S and existing international compliance and voluntary cap-andtrade markets. The analysis presents a brief review of current regulatory and market drivers including the role of carbon offset projects, and then describes a method for prioritizing investment opportunities associated with a range of existing carbon offset project types. Decision analysis techniques are used to provide a framework for ranking and selecting a diversified portfolio of carbon offset project investments that might be used by the petrochemical industry to hedge future carbon emission risks.