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General
aESTI provides reliable credits arise from sustainable soil management with a focus on small and medium size farms, through an efficient, cheap and an automated control protocol. 90% of the sales price goes directly to the farmer and 10% is used to cover the costs of aESTI. aESTI will start selling CO2 soil sequestration credits, followed by other ecosystem credits such as water storage, water quality and biodiversity. aESTI does not involve any intermediators; credits are sold directly to the end buyer: companies, governments, organizations and consumers, so that the reward for the farmers is maximized, with the eco-return for the buyer.
When managed sustainably, plants capture CO2 from the air and store it as carbon in the soil, which is internationally called as Soil Organic Carbon (SOC). The SOC content in the soil increases as the soil is managed more sustainably. Less plowing is an important part of this. Because when plowing takes place, the soil and the soil life are literally turned upside down and the stored carbon largely disappears again as CO2 in the air. Sustainable soil management increases the amount of organic matter (and thus carbon, since organic matter contains approximately 50% carbon in the soil). Water storage capacity and the (soil) biodiversity also increases. We call these ecosystem services. When farmers are fairly rewarded for these services, we can contribute to the solution for global warming, desertification and biodiversity.
A carbon (CO2) credit equals to a tonne of CO2 stored in the soil as carbon. Sometimes the term a tonne of CO2 equivalent is used. This means that other greenhouse gases (for example methane with a factor of 25 and nitrous oxide with a factor of 295) are also converted into a comparable amount (equivalent) of CO2.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) are included and measured in our methodology. The net result of the reduced emissions of these gases, plus the increased carbon storage in the soil is converted into CO2 credits and traded.
aESTI is unique in the market because; (1) we focus on small and middle scale farmers who are facing high barriers to enter the carbon offset market due to the high costs of auditing (certification and control), (2) the farmer is at the centre in everything we do and this applies to our payment structure, in which 90% of the sales price goes directly to the farmer. This is a major difference when compared to many other programs, (3) we have an efficient, affordable and automated control mechanism that benefits from publicly available data and modern technology, (4) we believe in transparency in the marketplace, which is why we classify our credits based on quality.
Our control mechanism is primarily based on physical soil sampling, combined with administrative controls and (in the near) future, satellite images. Soil samples are taken at the start of the project to determine the 'baseline'. Based on the sustainable measures that the farmer applies, the expected annual CO2 storage is calculated. During the first five years, a very large buffer is maintained to ensure that aESTI is not selling credits more than actually stored in the soil. An annual check is made to see if the sustainable soil practices are still being used and new samples are taken every 5 years. Based on the control, it is possible to determine how much CO2 is stored and the buffer can be reduced. Any credits that are released from the buffer can still be traded. Each credit has a unique serial number that ensures that it can be followed from the moment of creation to termination ('retirement'). Every credit sold is recorded in publicly available records to avoid double selling.
Yes. Upon purchasing the credits, we will send you an aESTI certificate with the name of the project and the buyer (if desired), the amount of CO2 stored, the unique serial numbers of the certificates and the date of the credit retirement. Please make sure you have provided the correct email address and possibly check your spam folder if you have not received an email from us within 24 hours.
You can read our initiators page here to learn more about our team.
For consumers
No. Buyers can purchase credits from all projects in the marketplace. We offer you the opportunity to support a local farmer in your area, but you are free to choose projects in other geographical areas.
You can use Carbon Independent or Footprint Calculator to calculate your footprint.
Your personal information is used to create the aESTI certificate, which will be sent to you as soon as the credit is purchased and paid for. All of our farmers’ and buyers’ data is protected with our personal data policy ('data privacy policy'), which can be found here.
Of course. Please do not forget to enter the name of the person that you are buying the certificates for when you are filling out the purchase form. In this way, the CO2 certificate involves the correct name.
For now, we only accept credit cards and iDEAL (for payments within the Netherlands). We will expand our payment methods in the coming period. For payments with the credit cards, we will charge you with the costs of the credit card payment. This is again to ensure that the maximum outcome reaches the farmer.
The aESTI certificate is a proof of your purchase. It shows that you have bought CO2 storage and compensated your emissions. It only belongs to you and cannot be sold to third parties.
For companies and professional organizations
Companies and professional organizations must register on our website. When you are registering, the Chamber of Commerce number, VAT number and address details are required. We check this data and the legal status. Organizations without the correct information cannot reclaim their VAT. In the Netherlands, we check with the KVK (Kamer van Koophandel) among others.
CO2 credits can be used to offset an organization's CO2 emissions. This way, your organization can become CO2 neutral, or even CO2 negative.
You can use the aESTI certificates to demonstrate your voluntary investment in climate improvements. aESTI certificates are voluntary and therefore cannot be used to comply with legal obligations. We expect from our buyers to use the certificates only once to prevent double counting. This is a part of the aESTI terms of use, which you must agree when purchasing credits.
For farmers
Arable farms, dairy farms and other land-based open field farms are eligible for registration. We welcome small to medium farms (between 1 and 500 hectares), larger farms and groups of smaller businesses in all geographical locations (worldwide).
CO2 can only be stored once as carbon in the soil, therefore credits can only be developed and traded once. So, if you have already registered your project somewhere else, it is not possible to trade it via aESTI. We will also check this when registering your project, because we want to make sure that credits are not traded twice.
There are a number of practices that have positive effects on the carbon storage in the soil such as non-inversion tillage, not disposing crop residues as a by-product, growing cover crops, the use of organic fertilizers and nutrients and/or the use of compost. You can find the complete list of 'carbon farming' activities in our control protocol. To be eligible as a project for trading CO2 credits, you must apply at least two of these operations.
We only help the climate if we store CO2 as carbon in the soil for a long time; preferably forever. Of course, not everyone can make such a commitment. At aESTI, we have a strong preference for projects with a commitment of 20 years. However, we also understand that it is often difficult to achieve especially for farmers. That is why 10 years is our minimum commitment. It is good to realize that credits with a longer commitment can be traded for a higher price.
Here is how our process works: First, register on our website. We will contact you to get a better insight of your project. Then, we ask you to enter your project into the Cool Farm Tool (CFT) to get an insight about your future practices and the expected amount of stored CO2. Based on this, we agree to and sign a project contract. Subsequently, soil samples are used to determine the starting structure of the soil. Credits are sold each year based on the CO2 that is stored in that particular year. Especially for the first five years, we maintain a large buffer to prevent selling more credits than being stored in the soil. aESTI checks whether the project is being carried out as agreed, and after five years soil samples are taken again.
The outcome of the credits depends on a number of factors: how much carbon is actually stored in the soil and the credit price at the time of selling. The amount of stored carbon depends on several factors such as; soil type, the type of tillage and the crop that is being grown and so on. These can be calculated using e.g. the Cool Farm Tool (CFT). Conservative calculations are often based on one tonne of CO2 equivalent per hectare per year, which means that every hectare yields one CO2 credit annually. Credits are sold annually and we do our best to get the highest possible price. 90% of the sales price goes directly to the farmer and 10% is used to pay for the costs of the platform.