Reducing the Uncertainty of Carbon Trading

PEM is dedicated to reducing uncertainties of carbon budgets at local and global scales using innovative laser-based technology. The PEM Global Monitor Platform (GMP)™, offering automated, high precision measurements of the rare carbon isotope ratios of CO₂, is now in the early stage of commercialization.  PEM is pioneering “Isotopic Verification™” a tool for carbon budgets to support carbon pricing, carbon trading and related capital markets with improved accountability, fraud protection and global standardization. PEM was awarded a DOE Phase I SBIR-STTR grant in 2008 to develop the instrument in conjunction with Rutgers University.

PEM has been awarded a four year (2010 to 2013) DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory cooperative agreement to further develop and deploy the GMP. The PEM GMP is designed to measure the the 13C and 14C ratios of atmospheric and gas samples. Beta site installations are anticipated in Q2 of 2010. Click here for more information on PEMs 14C GMP.

A New Standard for Carbon Trading

The value of traded financial instruments used to comply with greenhouse gas emissions reached US$136 billion in 2009, up 68% over 2008 trading,  and is expected to grow. However,  pricing for carbon credits has remained volatile and uncertain, due, in part, to an incomplete understanding of the carbon cycle at local, regional and global scales. US trading markets, such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the US forest industry -- as well as developing countries with vast forest potential for carbon sequestration -- face similar uncertainties in quantifying carbon dynamics for trading purposes.

While monitoring of CO₂ concentrations is critical to quantifying carbon fluxes, concentration data alone does not fully resolve source and sink terms (e.g., fossil fuel emissions). Thus, partial resolution of the carbon milieu creates intrinsic uncertainty in budgets and  pricing of traded carbon credits. Deployment of PEM's GMP^TM system will allow spatially resolved (e.g., local, state, region, country/nation and global levels), real-time and high-precision isotopic data to complement existing concentration data for CO₂.

PEM is seeking collaborators, sales for beta site placement, and relationships with CO₂ concentration networks in the US, UK and CDM/JI projects worldwide. Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for pricing and delivery schedule in 2010.