Beta Analytic - World Leader in ASTM D6866

ASTM D6866 is able to determine the renewable carbon content of any type of material, whether it is in solid, liquid or gas form.

Process: Carbon dating (ASTM / CEN) is a method which solid, liquid, or gas samples are taken and sent to a certified carbon-14 dating laboratory with results given in about 1 week.

In response to Kyoto treaty obligations, governments throughout the world, including several states in the United States, have set up mechanisms to trade monetary carbon credits for human derived greenhouse gases. Of particular importance are CO₂ and CH₄ (methane) emissions. Monetary instruments such as the Emission Reduction Units (ERU) in the European Union allow industries to offset their CO₂ and CH₄ emissions by buying and selling carbon credit certificates.

ASTM D6866 can be used to attest the percentage of renewable CO₂ being emitted into the atmosphere or the amount of methane being combusted. This is of particular importance for industries such as the electricity producers that use biomass material or landfill gas and monetary agencies needing verification of fossil CO₂ emissions. Beta Analytic, a private C14 dating laboratory, have led the initative of using radiocarbon dating in the field of climate change.

ASTM D6866 is an accurate and precise monitoring and verification tool for carbon credit and carbon offsetting strategies. Using ASTM D6866 is straightforward. Simply submit a solid, liquid or gas sample (see shipping instructions) and you will receive in as little as 48 hours (rush service) a precise percent determination of biogenic vs fossil CO₂ emitted. This is particularly useful for industries where the amount of renewable content is in doubt. One of the industries that benefits from the use of ASTM D6866 is the Waste-to-Energy (Energy-from-Waste) industry. For more information on Waste to Energy please refer to Energy recovery from New York City solid wastes. This method also applies to industries such as electrical plants, coal co-firing plants, as well as steel and cement manufactures.

The graph shows relative results from 458 biomass materials measured and reported per ASTM D6866 by Beta Analytic Inc. since 2004. Materials analyzed include RFW, CEMS/stack CO₂ effluent from WTE plants, and manufactured products consisting of solids, liquids, foams, pastes, plastics and greases.

Although actual measurement uncertainty was 1% or less (relative standard deviation), results are graphed with the absolute uncertainty of 3% as cited in ASTM D6866. This uncertainty is designed to include indeterminate error associated with local variations and utilization of materials of some age (respiring carbon to 1996, one decade past).