Project:
Harborview Farms by Nori

Type of project: Soil carbon

In Compensate's portfolio since: 06/2020 - 10/2020

Innovative carbon capture

Carbon credits bought: 2 755

Project also supports pollinators, clean water, healthy soil

Harborview Farms in Maryland, USA uses climate smart farming to remove carbon from the atmosphere. With simple, yet unconventional farming methods, the project binds CO₂ into soil. Healthy soil means cleaner water and less erosion as well. This is great for biodiversity and especially for pollinators like bees.

Up to date, Harborview Farms has issued 14 010 tonnes of carbon removal. Even though this project resides in the US, there is no issue of double counting: Credits are removed from the national registry when sold outside the US.

What is climate smart farming?

It’s following Mother Nature’s playbook: First, it means using living plants to absorb sunlight as many days out of the year as possible. Harborview Farm plants “cover crops” on fields to literally cover the soil during the fall and winter months. This means that for more months out of the year, there are plants using photosynthesis to bind CO₂ from the atmosphere to the soil.

Second, these cover crops make it unnecessary to turn over – or “till” – the fields. When soil is plowed and turned, carbon rises to the surface in the form of organic material like plant roots. This will provide nutrients to the crop, but as the soil carbon is exposed to the oxygen in the atmosphere, it turns into carbon dioxide.

So, in short, using cover crops makes for healthy soil while making sure as much carbon as possible stays in the soil as well.

The climate impact and other benefits

In this project, CO₂ is removed from the atmosphere by having crops grow on the field for as long as possible throughout the year. No-till (no turning) method reduces the amount of carbon being released to the atmosphere due to not turning the soil.

Biodiversity benefits are achieved through growing mixed cover crops. Pollinators especially benefit from rapeseed flowers as they bloom early in the spring when bees get active again after dormant winter months. Healthier soil also means cleaner water and less land erosion. For more on the project, visit Harborview Farm's site

With simple, yet unconventional farming methods, the project binds CO₂ into soil.

More projects