Atlanta Forest Defense

$150 carbon credit certificate retiring 0.07806 tons of CO2

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Offset by: Forest Defenders

Carbon Offset: 93034.88 Metric Tons

Remaining: 93034.752 Metric Tons

Vintage: 2023

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Stop Cop City or Defend Atlanta Forest is a decentralized social movement in Atlanta, Georgia. Its goal is to prevent the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center by the Atlanta Police Foundation and the City of Atlanta.

$$ CO_{2 \ tonnes \ sequestered} \times 100_{years} + CO_{2 \ tonnes \ avoided} $$

Methodology

In 2023, the Atlanta Police Department announced their plans to destroy the Weelaunee Forest to make room for a new training compound, widely known as “Cop City.” The project was met with resistance and activists’ efforts succeeded in shrinking the project’s scope and delaying its construction.

Step 1: Calculate the CO2 that was sequestered by the saved forest area

The original proposal for the facility had a footprint of 150 acres of land. As a result of strong public outcry, the city reduced the size of the facility by nearly half, shrinking it to a footprint of 85 acres1. To determine the carbon benefit of this, we calculate the amount of carbon sequestered from the 65 acres of forest that was saved by the project’s downsizing using an avoided deforestation methodology.

A 50-year-old oak forest sequesters 30,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per acre per year3, so the amount of carbon sequestered by 65 acres of forest annually is:

$$ \begin{aligned} tonnes_{sequestered} &= {pounds_{sequestered} \times acres \over pounds/tonne} \\[5pt] &= {30{,}000 \times 65\over 2205} \\[5pt] &= 885.35 \end{aligned} $$

885.35 metric tonnes of carbon sequestration per year has been preserved.

Step 2: Calculate the avoided emissions from the delaying the construction of Cop City

PART A: The original proposal for the project was approved in September 2021, with an intended completion deadline of September 20232. However, the efforts of the activists delayed construction considerably, and the facility was completed on April 29th, 202516. Therefore, activists delayed the construction and subsequent operational emissions by 592 days or 1.62 years.

We conservatively exclude the amount of CO2 released during construction and solely focus on the facility’s operational emissions. We calculate the electric usage of the facility by taking the average national police precinct electricity intensity, 157 kBtu/sq ft6 per year, and multiplying it by the total footprint of the facility’s building, 187,206 sq ft 2.

$$ \begin{aligned} kWh &= kBtu/sq ft \times sqft_{facility} \times kBtus/Kwhs \\[5pt] &= 157 \times 187{,}206 \times 0.29 \\[5pt] &= 8{,}523{,}489.2 \end{aligned} $$

PART B: To determine the amount of carbon emitted by this energy use, we consider the grid's energy composition and carbon intensity. In Georgia, as of 2021, natural gas accounted for 45% of the state’s total electricity generation, nuclear for 27%, renewable energy for 12%, and coal for 15%7. We assume the same mix for Atlanta as this statewide estimate.

If the power used at the facility is consistent with the average usage in the state, we can estimate the CO2 released per year.

Natural Gas: The CO2 generated from burning natural gas, what's known as its carbon intensity, is 0.367kg/kWh or 0.000367 tonnes8.

$$ \begin{aligned} tCO{2} &=percentageOfTotalGrid \times annualEnergyUse \times carbonIntensity \\[5pt] &=0.45 \times 8{,}523{,}489.2 \times 0.000367 \\[5pt] &=1{,}407.65 \end{aligned} $$

Nuclear: Nuclear power emits 0.012kg of CO2 per kWh produced 9.

$$ \begin{aligned} tCO_{2} &= 0.27 \times 8{,}523{,}489.2 \times 0.000012 \\[5pt] &= 27.6 \end{aligned} $$

Coal: Coal power emits 2.31 lbs of CO2 per kWh which converts to 1.05 kg or 0.00105 tonnes 11.

$$ \begin{aligned} tCO_{2} &= 0.15 \times 8{,}523{,}489.2 \times 0.00105 \\[5pt] &= 1{,}342.45 \end{aligned} $$

Renewable: Renewable energy sources emit little to no greenhouse gases or pollutants into the air, so we count this portion as 0 CO2 emissions.

Total: All together, the total CO2 that was avoided from 1.62 years of operation is:

$$ \begin{aligned} tCO_{2}Total &= (tCO_{2}Gas + tCO_{2}Nuclear + tCO_{2}Coal) \times duration \\[5pt] &= (1{,}407.65 + 27.6 + 1{,}342.45) \times 1.62 \\[5pt] &= 4{,}499.88 \end{aligned} $$

In total, delaying the facility avoided approximately 4,499.88 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere compared with the baseline scenario where the project proceeded without delay.

Step 3: Calculate the total CO2 benefit

To calculate the carbon benefit we sum the carbon tonnes sequestered by the saved forest for a 100 year period (as per an Avoided Deforestation methodology) with the emissions avoided from the construction delay.

$$ \begin{aligned} Offset &= tCO_{2}annualSequestration \times 100 years + tCO_{2}avoided \\[5pt] &= 885.35 \times 100 + 4{,}499.88 \\[5pt] &= 93{,}034.88 \end{aligned} $$

  1. https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/the-birds-stopped-singing-inside-the-battle-for-atlantas-south-river-forest/ ↩

  2. https://saportareport.com/officials-fed-up-with-training-center-secrecy-release-permit-application-plan-opposition-resolution/sections/reports/johnruch/ ↩↩

  3. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/science/how-many-pounds-of-carbon-dioxide-does-our-forest-absorb.html ↩

  4. https://twitter.com/defendATLforest/status/1523692155768041472 ↩

  5. https://scalawagmagazine.org/2023/05/cop-city-atlanta-history-timeline/ ↩

  6. ​​https://doee.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ddoe/publication/attachments/Pdf9-Police_Stations_Benchmark_Page.pdf ↩

  7. https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=GA ↩

  8. https://www.carbonindependent.org/15.html ↩

  9. https://impactful.ninja/the-carbon-footprint-of-nuclear-power/ ↩

  10. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/raising-ambition/renewable-energy ↩

  11. https://www.epa.gov/energy/frequent-questions-epas-greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator ↩

  12. https://defendtheatlantaforest.org/ ↩

  13. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwYUyOZIl93/ ↩

  14. https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/stop-cop-city-protest-atlanta-city-hall ↩

  15. https://www.rsandrews.com/a-closer-look-at-atlantas-electrical-infrastructure/ ↩

  16. https://www.gpb.org/news/2025/04/29/gov-kemp-speaks-at-opening-of-atlanta-public-safety-training-facility/ ↩