Kenyan start-up Octavia Carbon plans to launch a storage site in the Rift Valley in 2024 to trap carbon dioxide and sell it as carbon credits. The company will focus on selling the credits on the voluntary carbon market, which has grown globally by an average of 31% annually between 2016 and 2021, according to the African Carbon Markets Initiative. This market grew even faster in Africa, with a 36% rise in buyers. The voluntary market is separate from regulated markets such as that of the European Union, which imposes emissions limits on the most polluting firms. Carbon credits represent an emerging field of expertise called “Direct Air Capture and Storage.” Initially, the credits will represent 95% of the company’s income, and will decrease as the firm begins to sell CO2 to industries. Octavia Carbon is just one of several Kenyan companies working on carbon capture and storage initiatives in Africa, a part of the world that holds potential for carbon credit sales, with the African Carbon Markets Initiative expecting up to 2,400 million annual tonnes from 2030, up from 22 million in 2021, concentrated in Kenya and other countries.
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It is important that carbon credit schemes also benefit local communities.
The World Meteorological Organisation has stated that 193 countries have given unanimous backing to a scheme to monitor global greenhouse...