By Akshay Makar, Founder & CEO, Tenza Climate Solutions

As we stand at the precipice of a climate revolution, the voluntary carbon market has grown from a $2 billion industry in 2021 to a projected $50 billion by 2030. Yet, despite this exponential growth, a critical gap remains: the inability of smaller projects to access these markets and maximize their carbon credit value. Today, I want to share how TenzaOne is revolutionizing this landscape, particularly for Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) and Energy Efficiency Credits (EECs).

In this series, I’ll explore how we’re addressing the fundamental challenges that have historically prevented meaningful climate action through financial innovation, focusing on three critical areas:

1. Strategic pricing approaches in voluntary markets
2. Maximizing credit value through certification and market positioning
3. The role of technology in transforming carbon credit accessibility

The Carbon Credit Value Gap

The voluntary carbon market faces a paradox. While demand for high-quality credits continues to surge, driven by corporate net-zero commitments, the supply side struggles with significant barriers. Projects generating between 1,000-10,000 tonnes of CO₂e annually – precisely the scale of many renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives – often find themselves priced out of the market due to certification costs ranging from €26,000-€50,000 initially, with annual recurring costs of €22,000-€25,000.

This creates what I call the “value gap” – where the potential environmental and financial value of these projects remains untapped, not because they lack merit, but because traditional market structures make certification economically unviable.

Reimagining Market Access Through Cooperative Structures

At TenzaOne, we’ve developed a cooperative approach that fundamentally changes this equation. By leveraging the Verified Carbon Standard’s (VCS) Programme of Activities (PoA) framework, we can aggregate similar projects under a single umbrella structure. This innovation reduces certification costs by up to 88%, making projects as small as 1,000 tonnes CO₂e annually economically viable.

Consider this: a 1,000-tonne project that would typically cost €4.20-€13.65 per credit to certify independently can now achieve certification at €0.95-€4.88 per credit through our cooperative model. This dramatic cost reduction opens up an estimated 20-30% of previously inaccessible carbon credit volume to the market.

The Foundation for Value Creation

The key to maximizing carbon credit value lies in understanding that not all credits are created equal. Projects that demonstrate clear additionality, robust verification processes, and meaningful co-benefits command premium prices in the voluntary market. In the next article, I’ll delve deeper into specific pricing strategies and how project developers can position their RECs and EECs for maximum market value.

Our journey at Tenza began with a simple question: How can we democratize access to carbon markets while ensuring the highest standards of environmental integrity? The answer lies in combining innovative cost structures with strategic market positioning – a combination that we’ll explore throughout this series.