Green

Carbon Emissions Offsets √

What do we do when we are producing pollution through carbon emissions and we can't help but do so?  Maybe it's airline travel, reliance upon automobiles, or just home heating.  One innovative method to reduce your impact is to buy into programs which offset or "replace" an equivalent number of emissions.  Carbon offset programs (which actually offset all greenhouse gases--GHGs) help consumers calculate their impact and predict how much it would cost to make that impact "carbon neutral."  For instance, if your flight to Mexico produced x pounds of emissions, you might plant enough trees or invest in enough clean-energy projects to replace the environment that you damaged. 

Sure, the idea sounds interesting, but is it legitimate?  The answer is yes and no.  Here are some ways to think about it:

First:  Calculate

There are several online calculators which can do this:

• Travel or Electricity:  www.NativeEnergy.com/coop

• Air Travel only: https://benjerryus.myclimate.org/calculate_flight

Second:  Explore Options

Remember that there is no way to directly or immediately eliminate carbon emissions already made, and carbon offsets are not nearly the same in global impact as reducing our emissions in the first place.  However, here are a few general options:

• Green Tags from Current or Future Renewable Energy Creation.  You can purchase "green tags" or Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) which are essentially investments in environmentally sound energy infrastructure (solar power, wind turbines, etc.).  Essentially, putting more of these projects on the global electrical grid over time will reduce the need for other types such as coal plants. This is often done by a local power company.  They can be credits for current or future power creation. The Climate Trust (www.carboncounter.org) offers offsets for wind farms in Oregon, for instance.  In addition, Native Energy helps build wind turbines which are owned and operated by Native American tribes and small US farmers (www.NativeEnergy.com/coop).

• Sustainable Development Projects.  You can do the same thing by purchasing "clean development" projects in developing nations which reduces emissions and fights poverty. MyClimate (www.sustainabletravelinternational.org) has created a hydro plant in Indonesia and solar water heaters for schools in Eritrea. Also, see www.terrapass.com

• Farm and Landfill Methane Projects. You can also help invest in methane digesters, projects which capture methane gases (produced by livestock or landfills) and then use it to generate power.  ("Re-moo-able energy?") Native Energy does this, as well.

• Other Projects.  Look, too, for innovative programs like those which electrify truckstops (so trucks don't have to idle during refueling) or using alternative cement products which cause fewer emissions in highway construction projects.

Third:  Investigate Quality Offsets with a Checklist

Here's the danger.  Nearly anybody can sell you a product and tell you it's an offset.  How do you know that it will do what it claims?  Here are some approaches to consider.

• Reduce your own carbon emissions first. Here are some great readings on how from Co-op America:
     

  • Climate Solutions (pdf)

  • Sustainable Transportation (pdf)

  • Promise of a Solar Future (pdf)

• Look for offsets that will cause reductions which would not have happened otherwise. If the carbon emission offset merely takes credit for an existing reduction, it is not nearly as effective.  It might alleviate your traveler's guilt, but . . .

• Look for offsets which will happen on a clear time schedule.

• Look for offsets which ensure that your purchase cannot be resold. Consider it this way:  since this is essentially an invisible product (like a "green tag"), how do we know that this same "tag" can't be sold multiple times?  The company must take great pains to demonstrate that these offsets aren't double-sold.

• Look for offset provides which are independently verified.  This is a good idea for any product, but there are currently no common standards or certifications for offsets.  Look for independent auditors, publication of the audit, etc.  There may be news of a common standard in 2007 or 2008.  Two Dec. 2006 reports surveyed several companies:

  • Tufts Climate Initiative Study: www.tufts.edu/tie/tci/pdf/TCI_Carbon_Offsets_Paper_Jan19.pdf

  • Trexler Climate + Energy Services Study: www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/ConsumersGuidetoCarbonOffsets.pdf

• Avoid simple tree-planting projects.  How do we really calculate how much CO2 a forest will consume? And did the offset provider calculate the tree-planting by a yearly consumption or over the lifetime of the tree?  Planting trees is fun and valuable for other reasons, but other less glamorous ideas are more practical.

• Avoid offsets which purchase climate exchange "allowances."  Carbon emissions trading is an important and valuable method for global carbon reductions, but few if any offset providers will tell you exactly what your purchase will provide.  It will provide entrepreneurs options to make money, though!