On June 1rst 2022, the price for a tCO2eq in our forest plantations will go from 28$/t to 35$/t

The tons of CO₂ eq. of Carbone boréal, a research infrastructure of the UQAC, are parts of the voluntary carbon market where the promotors set the price per ton of CO2eq captured. Money received by the UQAC is a contribution to research that delivers tax credits to the Canadian benefactors and is used in its entirety to cover Carbone boréal’s research activity costs. The price for a tCO₂eq in our forestry projets was fixed to 28$ in 2008 and had not changed since. The value was ascertained by the researchers involved at the beginning and stems from an attributed value of 4$/tree. As it was demonstrated (1) that 7 black spruces planted in the boreal forest (in open woodland) were necessary to capture 1 ton of CO₂ for 100 years, the price became 28$/tCO₂eq. This assessment for the number of trees was later confirmed and deemed conservative by the independent auditors from the Bureau de normalisation du Québec. Evidently, the costs to study our plantations are submitted to the worldwide inflation, justifying a raise of 7$/tCO₂eq for our boreal forest plantations. The price for the tCO₂eq on agricultural land remains the same at 35$/tCO₂eq. with a commission of 7$/tCO₂eq. given back to the participating farmers. These plantations sequester similar carbon quantities (2) and are much closer to the University, lessening the travelling costs to study them. This price (now the same for both forest and agricultural projects) is in the middle of the price bracket for a ton of CO2eq on the voluntary market with, as an added bonus, the socio-financing of University scientific research on trees contribution to the fight against climate change.