California AB-1305 Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosure

California's AB-1305 Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosures Act, effective January 1, 2024 (expected enforcement in 2025), outlines requirements for businesses marketing or selling offsets (Section 44475), those using offsets to make net-zero claims (Section 44475.1), and businesses making net-zero claims without offsets (Section 44475.2).

Applicability of the Act: Andes Ag, Inc., which markets and sells carbon removals within California, is likely subject to AB-1305's requirements. Therefore, Andes Ag, Inc. project information is below:

Protocol used to estimate removal benefits

Andes technology reduces the carbon footprint of agricultural fields by leveraging beneficial microbes that convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into durable minerals, a form of inorganic carbon. Andes is dedicated to transparency and rigorous carbon accounting and follows a methodology developed by climate experts and validated to the ISO 14064-2:2029 standard. This Microbial Carbon Mineralization (MCM) methodology leverages direct soil sampling from a rigorous protocol. The issuance of the resulting removal tonnes are audited by an external Verification Body

Location of the offset project site

Midwestern United States

Project timeline

Andes carbon program operates continuously, generating carbon removals on an annual basis. The first “project,” according to Andes’ first validation and verification report, is 05/07/2022 to 05/07/2027

Type of project

Carbon Dioxide Removal

Project standards

ISO 14064-2:2029, SBTI’s FLAG framework and GHG’s Land Based Removals Protocol

Durability period

The durability of Andes removals is 1,000+ years according to the latest scientific literature

Third-party validation or verification

Andes currently works with Earthood, an approved Verification Body

Carbon removed on an annual basis

Andes generated 23,807 carbon removals in 2022 and 95,466 in 2023. This number will change annually, given that this is a continuous project

Accountability measures: (1) If carbon storage projects are reversed. (2) If future emissions reductions do not materialize

(1) Andes MCM methodology incorporates an uncertainty discount in order to account for potential reversals. (2) If future emissions reductions do not materialize and Andes is not able to fulfill the sold quantity of carbon removal tonnes by the delivery date, Andes and the buyer will discuss a reasonable extension to complete the removal tonnes delivery.

Pertinent data and calculation methods needed to independently reproduce and verify the number of emissions reduction or removal credits issued using the protocol

Andes MCM methodology measures soil inorganic carbon (calcium carbonate equivalent or CCE) to quantify carbon removal. CCE measurement represents all soil inorganic carbon molecules (i.e., dissolved inorganic carbon and carbonate minerals) in a given soil sample. This is the best measurement to quantify carbon given the environmental conditions where we apply our technology (neutral to high pH soils - Dietzen & Rosing, 2023). Section 11 of Andes MCM methodology (pages 22-38) describes the calculations that determine tonnes of carbon removal generated: https://www.andes.bio/methodology

Name of business entity selling the offset and the offset registry or program

Andes Ag, Inc.
As of Nov 2024, Andes uses its own registry (https://registry.andes.bio/) for offsets and insets. Andes registry has been structured to provide a transparent view of the issuance, transfer and retirement of tonnes of CO₂ removed from the atmosphere by Andes CDR technology

The project identification number, if applicable

N/A

The project name as listed in the registry or program

Andes MCM USA 2022; Andes MCM USA 2023

The offset project type and site location

Carbon removal; Midwestern United States

The specific protocol used to estimate emissions reductions

Independent third-party verification of company data and claims listed

Andes currently works with Earthood, an approved Verification Body