Finance
Carbon markets could finance green wastewater infrastructure for a huge win-win-win
Green wastewater-treatment infrastructure could save billions of dollars and avert millions of tons of carbon emissions in the United States in the coming decades, according to a new study.
To facilitate this, wastewater treatment could be folded into carbon markets, moving water quality from a local to a globally traded resource, the study suggests.
Conventional wastewater-treatment facilities such as sewage plants that remove nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater are known as “gray” infrastructure. Such facilities currently account for 2% of U.S. energy use and 45 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually.
Wastewater-treatment standards are likely to become more stringent in the future, which will increase the power needed for water treatment, and the corresponding carbon emissions—especially because gray-infrastructure technologies able to meet these standards are energy-intensive and not terribly efficient.
In the new study, researchers investigated the potential for different forms of green wastewater-treatment infrastructure to contribute to water quality standards. Green approaches range from reducing the amount of fertilizer spread on farmland to creating human-made wetlands to filter water before it enters a river.
As well as reducing the need to beef up wastewater treatment plants, such approaches could address non-point source pollution from fertilizer runoff, urban development, and wildfires.
The researchers gathered data on nutrients coming into more than 22,000 wastewater treatment facilities throughout the contiguous United States. Then they calculated the emissions, costs, and treatment capabilities of standard wastewater treatment plants compared to green infrastructure of various sorts.
Utilities in the United States are already allowed to trade point-source for non-point source water quality improvements. But these mechanisms haven’t been used very widely. So the researchers investigated the potential for carbon markets to provide a source of capital to finance green wastewater infrastructure.
Essentially this approach would trade on the carbon-reducing potential of green infrastructure, with the water quality benefits coming along for the ride.
Green wastewater-treatment infrastructure could save $15.6 billion and 30 million metric tons of carbon emissions over four decades, the researchers report in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment.
Green wastewater infrastructure designed to achieve the most stringent water quality standards could sequester more than 4.2 million metric tons of carbon emissions per year and generate revenue of $679 million per year via carbon markets.
The main limitation on green treatment methods’ ability to remove nutrients is a lack of agricultural land in some areas, and the fact that not all green technologies can be used in all areas. “While green treatment methods can only treat less than 40% of nitrogen and 25% of phosphorus needed in the United States, this would still represent a large decrease in infrastructure compared to the scenario where green treatment methods are not used,” the researchers write.
Green wastewater-treatment infrastructure has lower carbon emissions than gray infrastructure in every water basin across the country—although it is not carbon-negative everywhere.
Nor are green treatment technologies cheaper than gray ones everywhere. But when potential carbon financing revenues are accounted for, basins where green technologies are cheaper account for 94.6% of nitrogen and 91.9% of phosphorus treated in the contiguous United States. Much of the cost of green infrastructure comes from the need to pay farmers to implement the technologies, in some cases yearly.
“As the grid evolves with less environmental impact, carbon credits generated by offsetting gray infrastructure with green infrastructure will be reduced,” the researchers write, “which mean that the window of opportunity for leveraging carbon markets to incentivize a shift from gray to green infrastructure may be limited.” They are now conducting additional studies to develop the carbon-credit methodology.
Source: Limb B.J. et al. “The potential of carbon markets to accelerate green infrastructure based water quality trading.” Communications Earth & Environment 2024.
Image: ©Anthropocene Magazine
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Written by Jitendra Parashar at The Motley Fool Canada
Dividend investing can be one of the simplest ways to build long-term wealth while creating a steady stream of passive income. But in my opinion, a good dividend stock is about much more than just a high yield. Beyond dividend yield, investors should also look for companies with durable businesses, reliable cash flows, and a history of rewarding shareholders consistently over time.
That’s exactly why many investors turn to financial stocks. Banks and asset managers often generate recurring earnings through lending, investing, and wealth management activities, allowing them to support stable dividend payments even during uncertain market conditions.
Two Canadian financial stocks that stand out right now are AGF Management (TSX:AGF.B) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD). Both companies offer attractive dividends backed by solid financial performance and long-term growth strategies. In this article, I’ll explain why these two financial stocks could be worth considering for income-focused investors right now.
AGF Management stock continues to reward shareholders
AGF Management is a Toronto-based asset manager with businesses across investments, private markets, and wealth management. Through these divisions, the company offers equity, fixed income, alternative, and multi-asset investment strategies to retail, institutional, and private wealth clients.
Following a 59% rally over the last 12 months, AGF stock currently trades at $16.67 per share with a market cap of roughly $1.1 billion. At current levels, the stock offers a quarterly dividend yield of 3.3%.
One reason behind AGF’s strong recent performance is its increasingly diversified business model. The company has expanded its investment capabilities and broadened its geographic reach, helping it perform well across varying market environments.
In the first quarter of its fiscal 2026 (ended in February), AGF posted free cash flow of $36 million, up 14% year over year (YoY), driven mainly by higher management, advisory, and administration fees. These fees climbed to $92.5 million as demand for the company’s investment offerings strengthened.
AGF has also been focusing on expanding its alternative investment business and introducing new investment products. With strong cash generation and growing demand for alternative investments, AGF Management looks well-positioned to continue rewarding investors over the long term.
TD Bank stock remains a dependable dividend giant
Toronto-Dominion Bank, or TD Bank, is one of North America’s largest banks, serving millions of customers through its Canadian banking, U.S. retail banking, wealth management and insurance, and wholesale banking operations.
Finance
Martha Aguirre, former El Paso ISD interim superintendent, resigns as CFO as district finds ‘key financial challenges’
El Paso Independent School District Chief Financial Officer Martha Aguirre, who served as interim superintendent last year, resigned this week as the district said it had discovered “key financial challenges.”
The district issued a news release late Thursday afternoon that lacked details but indicated that a recent review had raised questions about the district’s fund balances, a key indicator of financial health.
“Through this process, key financial challenges were identified that must be addressed prior to closing out the 2025-26 school year including a current budget shortfall that is being actively addressed ahead of the district’s final financial presentation to the Board of Trustees in June,” the news release said.
A CFO is charged with developing a school district’s budget and overseeing its finance department. The EPISD Board of Trustees must adopt a budget for the 2026-27 school year by the end of the fiscal year June 30. The operating budget for the current school year is $547 million.
EPISD Deputy Superintendent David Bates will oversee the budget while the district searches for an interim and permanent CFO, district officials said in a statement.
EPISD Board President Leah Hanany said trustees were notified about Aguirre’s resignation this week. She said the district plans to give the public more information on the current year’s budget during a board meeting later this month.
“The board was also notified of a potential budget shortfall for the 2025 budget, but we don’t have final numbers yet. My understanding is that we are still primed to pass a balanced budget for fiscal year 2026-27 in June,” Hanany said in a statement.
Aguirre could not be reached for comment. EPISD’s CFO makes $148,200 to $209,900 a year, according to the district’s administrative pay plan.
She served as EPISD’s interim superintendent from June to December 2025 after the district’s former superintendent, Diana Sayavedra, resigned under pressure from the board. She returned to her position as CFO when Brian Lusk was hired as EPISD’s new permanent superintendent.
Aguirre’s resignation comes amid an uncertain budget season after a state funding calculation error tied to school property tax breaks caused EPISD to lose out on $17 million in projected revenue. In late April, EPISD officials estimated it would cause the district’s spending to exceed its revenue next year by $10 million.
The district is also considering calling for a bond election in November to upgrade its aging campuses as part of the larger 2024 Destination District Redesign initiative to close schools and improve the ones that remain open.
El Paso Teachers’ Association President Norma De La Rosa said Aguirre’s departure was unexpected.
“We’re right in the middle of the committee meetings for a possible bond and getting ready to get that budget to the June board meeting for next school year. So, to say that I’m highly surprised is an understatement,” De La Rosa told El Paso Matters.
Aguirre started working with the district in 1996 as a general clerk, according to a video published by the district.
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