BidCarbon removal units

BidCarbon removal units (BRUs) are an improvement on traditional carbon credit units (CCUs). 

Technical Governance Committee (TGC) Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, BRUs are issued within or outside the UK to reward emissions that are emissions stored or avoided through eligible BidCarbon Standard Scheme project activities. Each BRU issued represents one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2-e) greenhouse gases stored or avoided by an eligible project under the BidCarbon Standard Scheme.

All data from BidCarbon Standard Scheme projects is acquired using metrological or measuring equipment. It is digitally monitored, reported, and validated. A digital representation of a BRUs includes a digital image of a carbon credit created using blockchain technology.

Some countries permit the inclusion of BRUs as data resources or digital assets on corporate balance sheets. This represents the most transparent and verifiable method of presenting carbon data, ensuring excellence in environmental accountability and financial integration.

Read our statement setting out a concise description of the characteristics of BidCarbon removal units (BRUs).

About BidCarbon data units

BRUs are issued to individuals or businesses that run eligible projects under the BidCarbon Standard Scheme. Participants can earn BRUs for every tCO2-e their project avoids emitting or stores.

To register a project, the eligibility criteria must be met. Ongoing monitoring, reporting, and auditing requirements are also necessary.

To learn more about participating in the BidCarbon Standard Scheme, please refer to the provided resources.

Earning BRUs

You are the registered holder of an BRU if you are the entity in whose BUC Registry account there is an entry for that unit.

If an entity holds an BRU on behalf of another entity (as their nominee), the entity on whose behalf the unit is held, is taken to hold the unit, not the nominee.

You hold the unit from the date it is registered in your name.

However, when assessing assets, the registered holder may commission registered agents to create and sell CDRCs. If an entity holds a BRU on behalf of another entity (as its nominee), it does not have the right to commission registered agents to apply for and sell CDRCs.

Who is the holder of an BRU?

Participants may choose to sell balance sheet BRUs on the CDRC markets, or they may choose to sell BRUs to the BidCarbon Climate Trading Company, which can provide financial incentives for businesses and individuals to participate in BidCarbon Standard Programme projects.

CDRC market 

Any issuance, transfer or sale of BidCarbon data units (BRUs) is neither considered a supply of goods nor a supply of services, i.e. it is considered an excluded transaction. However, the application for and sale of carbon data rights certificates (CDRCs) is considered a commercial contract for the sale of goods.

If you wish to apply for CDRCs in order to sell BRUs in the Open market or BidCarbon marketplace, you must provide the necessary documentation to support for your CDRC application.

Private buyers, purchase CDRCs to voluntarily offset their carbon footprint or meet emissions reduction obligations.

The value of CDRCs is subject to market forces of supply and demand.

Carbon removal contracts

BidCarbon Standard Scheme participants can also sell BRUs from their project to the BidCarbon Climate Trading Company through a carbon removal contract.

Under a carbon removal contract:

● participants agree to deliver BRUs to the BidCarbon Climate Trading Company

● the BidCarbon Climate Trading Company agrees to buy their BRUs at a fixed price (Primary producers).

Find out more about carbon removal contracts.

Sourcing CDRCs

To source CDRCs, you can:

● search the CDR exchange to find CDRCs for sale

● search the carbon data rights certificates reports to find parties that may have CDRCs for sale

● establish an BidCarbon Standard Scheme project to generate CDRCs.

Buying and selling BRUs

Participants running BidCarbon Standard Scheme projects may need to surrender BRUs if they were issued:

● based on false or misleading information, or

● for a sequestration offsets project that has had its registration revoked, or 

● for a sequestration offsets project with a complete or partial reversal of sequestration.

Moreover, participants can voluntarily relinquish BRUs to:

● terminate a sequestration offsets project

● In order to terminate a carbon maintenance obligation for a project area.

A court may require the surrender of BRUs and CDRCs that were fraudulently obtained.

If a person is required to relinquish BRUs, the number of BRUs to be relinquished can be deducted from any BRUs that are to be issued to them. This way, the person will be considered to have relinquished the necessary number of BRUs without any additional action required.

Once a BRU in a registered CDRC has been relinquished, that CDRC is invalidated and you must surrender the certificate.

Relinquishing BRUs

Cancelling BRUs

BUC Registry account holders can voluntarily cancel an BRU to offset greenhouse gas emissions. Following cancellation, the BRU entry will be removed from the BUC Registry account and permanently cancelled.

When cancelling an BRU, account holders can provide a comment attributing the emission offset to a specific project registered under the BidCarbon Standard Scheme. This comment will be included in a voluntary cancellation verification certificate upon request. For this reason, the comment can’t be changed once the voluntary cancellation is approved.

If an BUC Registry account is closed for failing to comply with the BidCarbon Unit and Certificate Registry Standard 2025 or the BidCarbon Unit and Certificate Registry Rule 2025, any BRUs held in the account will be permanently cancelled.

Generally, the following apply to BRUs:

● Detailed information regarding the tax treatment of BRUs and CDRCs is available on Your Country's Taxation Office website. It is recommended that you seek professional advice regarding the tax treatment of BRUs and CDRCs in relation to your specific circumstances.

● the proceeds of selling an BRU are assessable income on revenue account in the income year the BRU is sold.

● sellers of BRUs are deemed to have received market value for an BRU in certain circumstances (for example, transactions between related entities).

● You rely on this page at your own risk. We do not accept responsibility for any consequences that may arise from doing so.

Tax treatment of BRUs

Before the issuance of a carbon data rights certificate (CDRC), a BRU is personal property. Only data that can be used to calculate BRUs may be recognised as assets when included in a balance sheet.

The registered holder of an BRU is the person whose BUC Registry account has an entry for the BRU. They are the legal owner and may, subject to the BidCarbon (Carbon Farming) Standard 2025 (Carbon Farming 2025) and the BidCarbon Unit and Certificate Registry Standard 2025, pass good title to the BRU to another person.

We may correct the register in certain circumstances, including to comply with a court order to rectify errors flowing from fraudulent conduct. If the BRU is transferred to another person’s account before the defect is detected, that other person will still have good title to the BRU provided they purchased the unit in good faith for value from the registered holder and without notice of the defect. A person who acquired the BRU without purchasing it in good faith from the registered holder for value (for example, if they received it as a gift), or who was aware of the defect, will not have good title to the BRU.

The Carbon Farming Standard does not prevent the creation or enforcement of, or any dealings with, equitable interests in BRUs. It may be possible for the holder of an BRU to grant security over (for example, to mortgage) the BRU or to hold the BRU on behalf of others under a trust or other beneficial ownership arrangement.

Property rights in BRUs