Glossary

Alternating current (AC) - An electric current that reverses its direction at regularly recurring intervals

Accredited Independent Entities (AIEs) are independent auditors that assess whether a potential project meets all the eligibility requirements of the JI (determination) and whether the project has achieved greenhouse gas emission reductions (verification).

Acid Rain - Also called acid precipitation or acid deposition, acid rain is precipitation containing harmful amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids formed primarily by sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned. It can be wet precipitation (rain, snow, or fog) or dry precipitation (absorbed gaseous and particulate matter, aerosol particles or dust). Acid rain has a pH below 5.6. Normal rain has a pH of about 5.6, which is slightly acidic. The term pH is a measure of acidity or alkalinity and ranges from 0 to 14. A pH measurement of 7 is regarded as neutral. Measurements below 7 indicate increased acidity, while those above indicate increased alkalinity.

Adaptation Fund - Fund established in January 2002 (COP7, Marrakech) to help developing countries meet the cost of adaptation to climate change. The Fund is financed mainly with a share of proceeds (SOP) from clean development mechanism (CDM) project activities, see Adaptation Levy. At COP-14 in Poznan, the Parties agreed that the GEF (Global Environment Facility) acts as AF Secretariat and the World Bank as ”interim” trustee in charge of CER sales. The Poznan decision gives the Adaptation Fund Board permanent legal basis as an independent legal body, enabling it to enter into contracts and directly take project proposals, without having to go through implementing agencies, and to start disbursing the funds. The decision means that adaptation money can begin to flow at some point in 2009. The Fund is financed with 2% of the Certified Emission Reduction (CERs) issued for projects of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and with funds from other sources. (Source: www.adaptation-fund.org)

Additionality A project activity is additional if anthropogenic GHG emissions are lower than those that would have occurred in the absence of the project activity.

Adjustment Bid - A bid auction conducted by the independent system operator or power exchange to redirect supply or demand of electricity when congestion is anticipated

Afforestation - Planting of new forests on lands that have not been recently forested.

Aggregator - Any marketer, broker, public agency, city, county, or special district that combines the loads of multiple end-use customers in negotiating the purchase of electricity, the transmission of electricity, and other related services for these customers

Alternative Fuels - The term “alternative fuel” does not include alcohol or other blended portions of primarily petroleum-based fuels used as oxygenates or extenders, i.e. MTBE, ETBE, other ethers, and the 10-percent ethanol portion of gasohol. Alternative Fuels for transportation applications, include the following:
- methanol
- denatured ethanol, and other alcohols
- fuel mixtures containing 85 percent or more by volume of methanol, denatured ethanol, and other alcohols with gasoline or other fuels—natural gas
- liquefied petroleum gas (propane)
- hydrogen
- coal-derived liquid fuels
- fuels (other than alcohol) derived from biological materials (biofuels such as soy diesel fuel)
- electricity (including electricity from solar energy.)
“... any other fuel the Secretary determines, by rule, is substantially not petroleum and would yield substantial energy security benefits and substantial environmental benefits.”

AMI - Advanced Metering Infrastructure is a term denoting electricity meters that measure and record usage data at a minimum, in hourly intervals, and provide usage data to both consumers and energy companies at least once daily.