18. STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION PLAN

Options to Employees

On August 13, 2010, the Company granted 2,200,000 options to acquire the Company’s common stock at $3.05 per share to 36 managerial and non-managerial employees as new equity awards pursuant to the Corporation’s Amended and Restated 2007 plan. According to the vesting terms, the options granted were divided into three tranches, (i) 1/3 (one third) of the total number of shares subject to the options shall vest and become exercisable if the Company meets its minimum revenue and earnings goals in the Company’s guidance for 2010 as delivered in its earnings releases and/or conference calls in the first quarter of 2010, such vesting to occur immediately upon completion of the annual audit confirming the financial results for 2010; and (ii) an additional 1/3 (one third) of the total number of shares subject to the options shall vest and become exercisable if the Company meets certain financial goals of 2011 which will be set out and decided by the Compensation Committee, such vesting to occur immediately upon Compensation Committee’s determination that the Company has met such goals for 2011; and (iii) the remaining 1/3 (one third) of the total number of shares subject to the options shall vest and become exercisable if the Company meets certain financial goals of 2012 which is set out and decided by the Compensation Committee, such vesting is to occur immediately upon Compensation Committee’s determination that the Company has met such goals for 2012. The options may only be exercised to the extent that such options have become vested and exercisable. The options expired on August 12, 2015. The Company did not meet the financial goals of 2012 and 2011; accordingly, the second and third tranches (two thirds of the total number of 2,200,000 options) were forfeited.

The Company recorded no compensation expense for stock options to employees during each of the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015.

On June 19, 2015, the stockholders of the Company approved the China Recycling Energy Corporation Omnibus Equity Plan (the “Equity Plan”) at its annual meeting. The total aggregate shares of common stock authorized for issuance during the term of the Equity Plan is limited to 12,462,605 shares. The Equity Plan was effective immediately upon the adoption by our Board of Directors on April 24, 2015, subject to stockholder approval, and will terminate on the earliest to occur of (i) the 10th anniversary of the Equity Plan's effective date, or (ii) the date on which all shares available for issuance under the Equity Plan shall have been issued as fully-vested shares. No share or option grants have been made under the Equity Plan as of March 31, 2016.

Options to Independent Directors

On January 20, 2010, the Company granted stock options for 40,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, at $4.68 per share to an independent director. The options vested and became exercisable on the six-month anniversary of the grant date with a life of five years. The FV of the options was calculated using the following assumptions: estimated life of five years, volatility of 100%, risk free interest rate of 3.54%, and dividend yield of 0%. The grant date FV of options was $142,000. The options expired on January 19, 2015.

On October 7, 2010, the Board appointed Mr. Yilin Ma and Mr. Chungui Shi as new members of the Board to fill the director vacancies until their successors have been duly elected and qualified. In connection with their appointment, the Board authorized the Company to provide Mr. Shi with (i) compensation of $2,000 per month and (ii) the grant of an option to purchase 40,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, at an exercise price equal to the closing price per share of the Company’s common stock on October 7, 2010. The Director Stock Options vested and became exercisable upon shareholder approval; the options had a life of five years from the original grant date. The FV of these options was calculated using the following assumptions: estimated life of five years, volatility of 87%, risk free interest rate of 3.54%, and dividend yield of 0%. The grant date FV of the Director Stock Options was $83,000. On October 31, 2013, the Company was notified by NASDAQ that the grant of options to Mr. Chungui Shi were subject to our shareholders’ approval pursuant to NASDAQ rule 5635(c); accordingly, on November 11, 2013, the Company and Mr. Shi entered into that certain First Amendment to the Non-Statutory Stock Option Agreement. Per the First Amendment, the parties agreed that the underlying Nonstatutory Stock Option Agreement would be subject to stockholder approval at the Company's 2014 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and that if shareholder approval was not obtained, the initial grant would be deemed null and void and Mr. Shi would not have a right to these shares, the stock options granted to Mr. Shi were approved at the Company’s 2014 Annual Meeting. The options expired on October 6, 2015.

The Director Stock Options did not include a cashless exercise right clause. On August 20, 2013, the Board approved and provided the Director Recipients cashless exercise elections to the Director Stock Options. The holder of the stock options may elect to receive shares equal to the value (as determined below) of his/her option (or the portion thereof being canceled) according to the following formula:

X = Y (A-C)

Where	X =	the number of shares of common stock to be issued to the holder
	Y =	the number of shares of stock option or, if only a portion of the stock option is being exercised, the portion of the option being canceled
	A =	the Fair Market Value of one share of common stock as defined below
	C =	Stock Option Exercise Price

For purposes of the above calculation, the fair market value per share shall be the closing price quoted on the NASDAQ Capital Market for the five (5) trading days prior to the date on which a written notice of such holder’s election to exercise his/her option has been received by the Company. During 2013, one of the Company’s directors exercised 10,000 shares of stock options into 5,261 shares of the Company’s common stock. During the year ended December 31, 2014, two of the Company’s directors exercised 60,000 shares (50,000 and 10,000 shares respectively) of stock options into 36,124 shares (30,575 and 5,549 shares respectively) of the Company’s common stock.

On March 31, 2015, the Board appointed Mr. Cangsang Huang as a member of the board of directors to fill a vacancy on the Board and Mr. Huang will serve until his successor has been duly elected and qualified. In connection with the appointment, the Board of Directors of the Company authorized the Company to provide Mr. Huang with (i) compensation in the amount of $2,000 per month and (ii) the grant of an option to purchase 40,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock, par value $0.001, at an exercise price equal of $1.02 per share, which was equal to the closing price per share of the Company's Common Stock on March 31, 2015. Such options were only valid and exercisable upon shareholder approval. The options to Mr. Huang were not voted upon at the Company’s annual shareholder’s meeting on June 19, 2015 and were cancelled automatically. However, the Company’s Omnibus Equity Plan (“Plan”) adopted by the Board on April 24, 2015 for providing equity awards to employees, directors and consultants was approved at the annual shareholder’s meeting; accordingly, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors approved a grant of 40,000 options to Mr. Huang at an exercise price of $1.02 per share under the Plan which vested immediately on the date of grant, which was on October 10, 2015. The options may be exercised within five years of the date of the grant.

The following table summarizes option activity with respect to the independent directors:

	Number of Shares		Average Exercise Price per Share		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term in Years

Outstanding at January 1, 2015		80,000	$	3.83		0.31
Exercisable at January 1, 2015		80,000		3.83		0.31
Granted		40,000		1.02		4.77
Exercised		-		-		-
Forfeited		80,000		-		-
Outstanding at December 31, 2015		40,000		1.02		4.77
Exercisable at December 31, 2015		40,000		1.02		4.77
Granted		-		-		-
Exercised		-		-		-
Forfeited		-		-		-
Outstanding at March 31, 2016		40,000		1.02		4.52
Exercisable at March 31, 2016		40,000	$	1.02		4.52

Shares issued to a consulting firm

On October 16, 2013, the Company entered a one-year financing consulting service agreement with a consulting firm. The Company will pay 75,000 restricted Rule 144 shares for the service. The Board approved such share issuance on March 27, 2014. The fair value of the 75,000 shares was $187,500 at agreement date, and was amortized over the term of the service. The 75,000 shares were issued on January 15, 2015.