CarbonRun has generated the world’s first river alkalinity enhancement (RAE) carbon credits, marking a major milestone for this novel CO2 removal pathway.
The credits were issued under Isometric’s industry-first River Alkalinity Enhancement Protocol, which uses a scientifically rigorous approach to monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV).
This achievement was unlocked through CarbonRun’s Kvina River Project in southern Norway, where the initial batch of 76 credits was generated.
The pioneering RAE credits will go towards the company’s $25.4 million offtake agreement with Frontier buyers, including Stripe, Shopify, and McKinsey Sustainability. Under this agreement, CarbonRun is expected to remove 55,442 tonnes of carbon dioxide between 2025 and 2029.
Hannah Bebbington Valori, Head of Deployment at Frontier, stated
“River liming for carbon removal is low‑cost, scalable, and relatively straightforward to measure—a rare combination that makes it a particularly promising carbon removal pathway. The first verified credits mark an important step for an approach that remains underexplored and underfunded relative to its potential.”
Rivers are the main vessels that carry CO2 on its journey from land into ocean waters, and as such carriers, they release up to2.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year.
Building on the conventional process of river liming that is known to aid water quality by addressing the effects of acid rain, river alkalinity enhancement tackles carbon dioxide emissions by accelerating the Earth’s natural weathering process.
In its essence, RAE involves dissolving finely crushed limestone into river water, where the crushed material will react with acidic CO2 to create stable carbonate and bicarbonate ions, trapping in the carbon dioxide and preventing it from reaching the atmosphere.
Through the river water, the stable ions then get carried downstream to the ocean, where the carbon is safely stored for tens of thousands of years.
Relevant: CREW Carbon Delivers Pioneering Wastewater Alkalinity Enhancement Credits Verified By Isometric
Commenting on the breakthrough credit issuance, Shannon Sterling, PhD, Founder, Chief Operations Officer, and Chief Scientific Officer of CarbonRun, shared:
“This first issuance of RAE credits demonstrates what rigorous science, careful monitoring, and responsible deployment can achieve. Rivers are already responding to climate pressures—warming, acidification, ecological stress—and River Alkalinity Enhancement gives us a way to strengthen these systems while delivering durable carbon removal.”
On behalf of Isometric, Chief Science Officer Stacy Kauk added, “This is a major step forward for river-based carbon removal, demonstrating for the first time that River Alkalinity Enhancement can be accurately quantified.”
Read more: New Study Finds Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Has Minor Effect On Zooplankton
