Why Moonrise Crystals Chose This Project To Reduce Our Carbon Footprint
Reducing methane emissions from livestock
Moonrise Crystals has partnered with Native for our carbon credit investing. Most healing crystals are mined by artisanal and small-scale miners. Did you know that many of these artisanal miners are also subsistence-level farmers? Sometimes the crystals are found on their own agricultural lands. Other times, mining is a secondary activity that happens between harvests. These biofuel stoves are being distributed throughout Mexico to reduce methane emissions and improve the lives of small-scale and subsistence-level farmers. The project is starting in the south and central states and then moving north. Moonrise Crystals carries stones from the central Mexican states of Aguascalientes, Jalisco, and San Luis as well as from the northern state of Sonora. We don’t know if any of these biofuel cookstoves will directly impact the people who mine our stones, but it’s certainly possible.
This project meets 3 of the United Nations Sustainability Goals:
About this Project
The project is being implemented by sistema.bio to distributes biofuel stoves to small-scale and subsistence-level farmers in Mexico. The stoves transform organic waste from livestock into methane-rich biogas. This biogas replaces firewood and liquid petroleum gas as an energy source that can be used to cook food, heat homes, or run mechanical equipment. The transformation also produces a byproduct of organic material which can be used as a natural fertilizer to increase crop yield.
Verification
Verified using the Gold Standard for methane (CH4) avoidance. The Gold Standard is a non-profit, third-party certification that evaluates international emission reduction projects to ensure they have the highest levels of environmental integrity. They must also make a net positive contribution to the economic and social welfare of the local population by meeting at least 3 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Environmental Impact
The project reduces methane emissions from organic waste by capturing and burning the gas, thus preventing the emissions that would have been caused by decomposition. Livestock and agricultural practices are responsible for 37% of methane emissions from human activity, more than 300x the impact of coal. This project also replaces firewood and liquid petroleum gas as energy sources. The guaranteed and calculated carbon benefit will begin in 2023 and last until at least 2042.
Social Impact
Farming households across Mexico will participate, beginning in the southeast and central regions in 2023, and adding more farming household until 2027. The farmers will have education and technical support, including guaranteed maintenance on the stoves, until 2032. These stoves will also allow farmers to save money since they use the farmers’ own livestock waste, instead of purchasing fossil fuels or firewood. The bioproduct from the stoves will be used as organic fertilizer, reducing agrochemical pollution from chemical fertilizers.
