ACR at Winrock International

What ACR at Winrock International does

ACR (American Carbon Registry), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International founded in 1996, operates a global carbon crediting program for the voluntary and compliance markets. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas with 11–50 employees, ACR has issued 379M+ tons of CO2e credits across 891 registered projects covering 13.6M acres of restored, conserved, or sustainably managed land. The organization develops rigorous, scientifically validated quantification approaches for greenhouse gas emission reductions and removals across forestry, agriculture, industrial gases, landfill gas, mining, and orphaned oil and gas well remediation, and is the world's first private greenhouse gas registry.

ACR's core technology is a transparent online registry for carbon project registration, credit issuance, transfer, retirement, and cancellation — transitioned in 2026 to the ICE GreenTrace™ platform operated by Intercontinental Exchange. The product portfolio spans the ACR Carbon Registry, 15+ approved methodologies (Improved Forest Management on Non-Federal U.S. Forestlands, Afforestation/Reforestation of Degraded Lands, Ozone Depleting Substances Destruction, Certified Reclaimed HFC Refrigerants, Advanced Refrigeration Systems, Landfill Gas Destruction, Mine Methane Capture, Plugging Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells, Active Conservation of U.S. Forestlands, Grazing Land and Livestock Management, Rice Management Systems, Avoided Conversion of Grasslands, Wetland Restoration), proprietary tools (ACR Risk Tool, Tool for Dynamic Evaluation of Baselines, Tool for Comparable Properties Analysis, Tier-I Emissions Estimation tool, DNDC Model for rice), a ~20% Buffer Pool for reversal risk mitigation, Co-Benefits Certification, and independent third-party validation/verification services.

ACR generates revenue from carbon credit issuance and registration fees (transaction-based), registry profile and credit-tracking services (recurring), and methodology licensing and development. The program is eligibility-approved for California Cap-and-Trade, ICAO CORSIA (2027–2029), Washington State Cap-and-Invest, Singapore Carbon Pricing Act, Colorado Recovered Methane, and holds ICVCM Core Carbon Principles program-level approval (April 2024) plus CCP methodology approvals for IFM v1.3, v2.0, v2.1, and ARR. Customer segments include private forest landowners, tribal land managers, NGO land trusts, rice growers, refrigerant destroyers, landfill operators, coal and trona mine operators, government orphan well plugging programs, grassland landowners, and Delta Conservancy partners — accessed via direct project registration, the registry platform, and a network of ACR-Linked intermediary platforms.

Name

ACR at Winrock International

Legal name

American Carbon Registry (ACR)

Website

https://acrcarbon.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ACR is a nonprofit carbon crediting program (founded 1996, enterprise of Winrock International) that develops science-based methodologies and operates a transparent registry for issuing and verifying carbon offsets across forestry, industrial, and methane-capture sectors for voluntary and compliance buyers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Little Rock

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Carbon Credit Issuance Fees: ACR generates revenue through fees associated with the issuance and registration of carbon credits on its transparent registry system. Project developers pay for validation, verification, and credit issuance services.
2. Registry Services: Revenue from operating the transparent online greenhouse gas registry system including profile maintenance, credit tracking, transfer, retirement, and cancellation services.
3. Methodology Licensing and Development: Revenue from developing and publishing rigorous standards and methodologies for greenhouse gas accounting that projects must follow to generate credits.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ACR (American Carbon Registry) operates a transparent greenhouse gas registry that records carbon project listings, serializes and issues carbon credits after third-party verification, and tracks credit transfers, retirements, and cancellations. The program develops rigorous science-based methodologies for quantifying, monitoring, reporting, and verifying greenhouse gas emission reductions and removals across forestry, industrial, and waste management sectors, and serves both compliance and voluntary carbon markets.

Product overview

ACR (American Carbon Registry) is a nonprofit carbon crediting enterprise of Winrock International offering a comprehensive carbon market infrastructure consisting of the ACR Carbon Registry (a transparent online system for tracking carbon projects and serialized credits, now operating on ICE GreenTrace™ platform), science-based methodologies for quantifying emission reductions and removals across forestry, industrial, and waste sectors, risk mitigation mechanisms including the ACR Buffer Pool and Risk Tool, and validation/verification services. The product portfolio includes approved methodologies for Improved Forest Management, Afforestation/Reforestation, ODS Destruction, HFC Reclaim, Landfill Gas, Mine Methane Capture, and Orphaned Well Plugging, along with tools for dynamic baseline evaluation and comparable properties analysis. Co-Benefits Certification provides additional recognition for projects with environmental and social co-benefits. The program operates across regulated markets (California Cap-and-Trade, ICAO CORSIA, Washington Cap-and-Invest, Singapore) and voluntary carbon markets, with multiple ICVCM Core Carbon Principle approvals for its methodologies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ACR Carbon Registry Transparent online system for recording carbon project listings, serializing and issuing carbon credits after independent third-party verification, and tracking credit transfers, retirements, and cancellations. Used by project developers and compliance market participants globally.
• ACR Standard and Methodologies Science-based standards and tools for greenhouse gas accounting that define how project-based carbon credits must be quantified, monitored, reported, and verified across forestry, industrial, and waste management sectors. Used by project developers to generate credits.
• Improved Forest Management (IFM) Methodology Methodology for crediting carbon sequestration from improved forest management on non-federal U.S. forestlands, including dynamic baseline tools and harvest intensity constraints. Used by private forest landowners, tribal land managers, and NGO land trusts.
• Landfill Gas Destruction and Beneficial Use Methodology Methodology for crediting emission reductions from collection and combustion of landfill methane, including automated collection systems. Used by landfill operators.
• Mine Methane Capture Methodology Methodology for crediting emission reductions from capturing and destroying methane from coal and trona mines. Used by coal and trona mine operators.
• Plugging Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells Methodology Methodology for crediting emission reductions from plugging orphaned wells to prevent methane leakage. Used by state/provincial governments and energy sector operators.
• Advanced Refrigeration Systems Methodology Methodology for crediting emission reductions from transitioning to low-GWP refrigerants in HVAC and refrigeration systems. Used by HVAC deployers and refrigerant destroyers.
• Ozone Depleting Substances Destruction Methodology Methodology for crediting emission reductions from destruction of CFCs, HCFCs, and high-GWP foam. Used by refrigerant destroyers.
• Afforestation and Reforestation of Degraded Lands Methodology Methodology for crediting carbon sequestration from tree planting and forest restoration on degraded lands. Used by project developers in afforestation/reforestation activities.
• Co-Benefits Certification Certification that recognizes additional environmental and social co-benefits (e.g., biodiversity, community benefits) from carbon offset projects beyond greenhouse gas reductions. Used by project developers seeking enhanced credit value.
• Validation and Verification Services Independent third-party validation and verification of all GHG projects following the ACR Validation and Verification Standard, required as a prerequisite for carbon credit issuance.

Quantifiable outcome

• 379M+ tons of CO2e credits issued
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ICE (Intercontinental Exchange)coreTechnology or IntegrationACR partnered with ICE to launch a next-generation environmental registry technology service using ICE GreenTrace™ platform. The partnership brings best-in-class infrastructure to support carbon market growth and adoption. Registry transition to ICE platform occurred in early 2026.
• Environmental Resources TrustcoreTechnology or IntegrationAnnounced as a launch partner by ICE for the next-generation registry platform, working alongside ACR to bring advanced registry technology to carbon markets.
• Loci Controls, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACR developed Version 2.0 of the Landfill Gas Destruction and Beneficial Use Projects methodology in cooperation with Loci Controls, Inc., adding automated collection system project activities to increase methane collection efficiency.
• Dr. Mary Kang (McGill University)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOriginal methodology for Plugging Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells developed in partnership with Dr. Mary Kang of McGill University. The methodology addresses methane emissions from orphaned wells based on research including Environmental Defense Fund collaboration on mapping 120,000 documented OOG wells.
• Therm Solutions, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACR is co-developing the Advanced Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Systems methodology with Therm Solutions, Inc. to incentivize GHG emissions reductions through deployment of low-GWP refrigerants in residential and commercial HVAC applications.
• Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ConservancycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACR partnered with the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy, HydroFocus, University of California Berkeley, and Tierra Resources to develop the Restoration of California Deltaic and Coastal Wetlands methodology, with funding from SMUD, California Coastal Conservancy, Metropolitan Water District, and California Department of Water Resources.
• Ducks UnlimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOriginal Avoided Conversion of Grasslands and Shrublands to Crop Production methodology (v1.0) developed by Ducks Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, The Climate Trust, Environmental Defense Fund, and Terra Global Capital LLC. USDA NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant funded v2.0 updates.
• U.S. EPA Landfill Methane Outreach ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOriginal Landfill Gas Destruction and Beneficial Use Projects methodology developed by ACR with technical support from the U.S. EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Verra: Operator of the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), the world's largest voluntary carbon registry. Verra is ACR's primary direct competitor across voluntary and compliance-eligible carbon credit issuance, with overlapping methodology categories and buyer base.
• Climate Action Reserve: U.S.-focused carbon offset registry issuing credits under the Reserve's own protocols, with overlapping methodologies in forestry, livestock, and ODS. CAR is a direct competitor, especially in California compliance markets and North American project pipelines.
• Gold Standard: International carbon standard organization issuing certified emission reductions for both voluntary and compliance markets, with a focus on sustainable development co-benefits. Competes directly with ACR for high-integrity voluntary and Article 6 corporate buyers.
• Puro.earth: Carbon removal registry focused on engineered removals (biochar, BECCS, DAC, mineralization). Puro is a direct peer in carbon registry infrastructure and methodology development, though its removal focus differs from ACR's forestry and industrial gas mix.
• Plan Vivo: Carbon standard focused on community-led land-based projects in developing countries. Plan Vivo is a direct peer in methodology-driven voluntary carbon crediting with community and biodiversity co-benefit certification similar to ACR's approach.

Emerging players

• Isometric: New science-based carbon registry launched by former Stripe climate team members with digital MRV and rigorous accounting. Emerging competitor in the high-integrity voluntary registry segment, especially targeting tech and Fortune-100 corporate buyers.
• Global Carbon Council: MENA-region-based carbon crediting program with CORSIA eligibility. GCC is an emerging peer in compliance-grade voluntary credits, with geographic and methodological overlap in industrial emissions projects.
• Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART): Registry for high-integrity REDD+ jurisdictional credits with TREES standard. ART is an emerging peer competing for tropical forestry carbon credits in voluntary and compliance markets where ARR and IFM methodologies overlap.
• BioCarbon Registry: Emerging carbon registry focused on nature-based solutions and land-use projects. BioCarbon is an emerging peer in the voluntary forestry and land-based carbon crediting segment where ACR has established methodology leadership.

Broad incumbents

• International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA): Industry alliance that accredits carbon credit providers and standards, including ACR. ICROA is a broad incumbent that shapes buyer-side accreditation criteria, sitting adjacent to but interacting directly with ACR's go-to-market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/americancarbonregistry

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ACR at Winrock International