5.28.2008 - 12:11pm ET

(CSRwire) BURLINGTON,VT - May 28, 2008 - AgRefresh, the greenhouse gas accountants, consultants, and carbon offset brokers, announced completion of 2007 year-end carbon accounting on behalf of its American dairy farm partners, operating manure–to-energy projects. After application of stringent standards, this network of farms produced 83,363 tonnes of carbon offsets, verified by third-party specialists. These offsets are offered to the voluntary carbon offset marketplace, branded as Pure Farm Energy(R) Verified Emissions Reductions (PFE VERs).

AgRefresh Executive Director Jeffrey Frost advised that, globally, ag-sourced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions exceed transportation-sourced GHGs. Rigorously managed and measured farm energy projects are recognized by leading GHG reduction programs because they reduce GHG emissions and mitigate climate change pressures. Farm methane capture projects are also known for subsidiary sustainability attributes in addition to the production of renewable energy.

AgRefresh PFE VERs are third-party-audited, site-specific, current vintage, serial-numbered, registered, and meet additionality tests. PFE VERs meet or exceed a majority of market standards and are designed to comply with international environmental accounting standards, withstand scrutiny of a broad range of stakeholders, and produce robust carbon offset/credits that will retain value in transition to regulated markets. Two-thirds of monies from PFE VERs pass directly to the PFE Producer Network farms.

AgRefresh's emissions accounting was verified by Agri-Waste Technology, Inc., an agricultural engineering and consulting firm in Raleigh, North Carolina with extensive experience in verification of carbon offsets from dairy anaerobic digestion projects.

Family-owned dairy farms in Washington and Wisconsin are the source of the AgRefresh-aggregated PFE VERs. AgRefresh Marketing Director, Ed Tivnan observed,"PFE farm projects didn't just capture methane in 2007, they also generated over 12,000 megawatt hours of renewable electricity and significant sustainability co-benefits, including: groundwater protection, soil management practice enhancements, mercury emissions reductions, rural job creation, and energy price stabilization."



About AgRefresh

AgRefresh consults on Anaerobic Digester (AD) projects and carbon offsets, and currently contracts with several farms nationwide. Farm-focused, AgRefresh also is currently executing on a competitively won USDA grant to develop a carbon offset protocol designed to quantify the GHG reductions, energy benefits, and sustainability of high benefit biofuels throughout their lifecycle.

Majority-owned by farmers, one of whom has successfully operated an AD for over two decades, AgRefresh environmental accounting processes are transparent and audited, following an operational model derived from the work of founder, Jeffrey Frost, who designed the assessment framework, led the research team, and wrote the final report on national economic, environmental, and energy impacts for the USDA federal legislative impact analysis required by Congress for the Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency program, (Section 9006) of the last five-year Farm Bill. Frost also was, and remains, an active participant in the select World Resources Institute (GHG Protocol) working groups that developed and continues to refine environmental accounting protocols.

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