Picking a good carbon offset provider can be very tricky and usually can take some work. There are some generally accepted key principles that you want to keep in mind while picking an offset provider. Most large offset providers have third party verification, which is when an outside company verifies that the offset provider says they are doing what they are actually doing. Another important principle is permanence; the carbon that is offset is truly permanently not created. The last principle is additionally; the offset can not be business as usual.
You also then have to think about what kind of project you want to be involved in since there are many projects out there. Tree planting is by far the most popular and the most controversial. The key issue is that trees can die from drought, fire, or disease before they offset the promised amount of carbon. When trees are burned in a fire they will release carbon into the air, the exact opposite of what you want them to do. If you follow the news closely, there is new research out almost every week saying trees absorb more carbon than originally thought and a week later the news is that trees absorb less carbon then originally thought. I suggest that you stay away from trees as an offset project.
There are many other great offset projects like; renewable energy certificates, methane capture, and energy reductions. Each renewable energy certificate (RECs, Green Tags) is the creation of 1 megawatt of power usually from a wind turbine. Wind turbine construction is EXTREMELY expensive and selling RECs is a way to pay for it.
Cow dung historically was collected into big pools and allowed to just biodegrade, a byproduct of the biodegradation is methane. Methane is 10 times more potent a green house gas as carbon. One common offset project is to cover the dung fields capture the methane and use it to generate power.
Energy reductions is another important and under rated project. Companies can do many things to reduce the carbon foot print of existing buildings and new construction. There can be such a large reduction in carbon production that you can sell them as an offset project.
There are a few things that I think are important when evaluating a carbon offset provider. I hate when the provider pools your money and can not specify the project. The provider offers more then just tree planting, because it is not the best offset project. Most people tell you third party verification is king, a small provider that is doing a really great project can’t necessary afford to pay for outside verification.
With all those criteria in mind NativeEnergy is the only large scale provider that meets all of them. Some other really great large providers are TerraPass, and Carbonfund.org
Matt Feldman – Carbon Neutral Digest
carbonneutraldigest.com
November 25th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Is it possible to ensure that the carbon that is offset is offset locally? Can this be done via the planning system? Should carbon culprets be responsible for the addition to the carbon footprint of the immediate area (particularly with the construction of new buildings?)
Thanks
Martin
September 7th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
It think it’s been generally accepted that planting trees as carbon offsets is naïve. It was originally a nice idea, but a little behind the times. http://www.agreenerfestival.com/pdfs/WWF-GP-FoE_on_offseting.pdf Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the World Wildlife Fund have all discounted it as a way off offsetting.
However, I really think that carbon offsetting can make a difference. I only offset using high quality CER-based carbon offsets from companies such as http://www.clear-offset.com/ essentially allow private individuals to invest in green technologies that wouldn’t necessarily make commercial sense otherwise.
If the powers that can’t build a biomass plant or hydro dam as it’s too expensive, then have a guess what they’re going to build instead – yup, yet more coal / oil / gas fired power stations. The other thing is that most CO2 calculations are based on the fact that a tree will offset some carbon over the next 100 years. Carbon Credit savings must have already happened to be sold.
Carbon Offsetting is not a bad thing, in fact it can be very positive – it’s just been done in the past by the wrong methods (planting trees and treadle pumps), by the wrong people (those looking to make a quick buck). Open your eyes and take another look….