Carbon Offsetting By George & Michael
Definition • Carbon offsetting- a carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon or greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for an emission.
How do you carbon offset? • First you need to calculate the emissions you produce. You can do this using the ‘Calculate your carbon footprint’ link above. • You can then choose to offset some or all of your unavoidable emissions. For example, you could offset your car mileage for a year or a flight abroad. • Next, you buy an equivalent amount of ‘carbon credits’ from projects that have saved carbon dioxide. These projects rely on your offsetting money to fund them.
Types of carbon offsetting • Renewable energy - ‘Clean’ energy is generated from sources like water, wind and sun. This means dirty coal-based energy production is avoided • Trees/forestry projects - Trees suck up carbon from the atmosphere. So projects that avoid deforestation or plant new trees can result in a net reduction in atmospheric CO 2. • Energy efficiency projects - Perhaps the most effective way to reduce emissions is to use less energy, and use it more efficiently. For the purposes of offsets, a company might set up projects that increase energy efficiency. For example, by installing free energyefficient light bulbs in homes • Methane flaring - Landfill gas is burned to reduce emissions that enter the atmosphere. Capturing and burning this methane enables generation of energy, and prevents methane escaping into the atmosphere. • Waste diversion - Waste can be prevented from going to landfill, instead being used for other purposes and preventing the release of methane. For example, organic waste can be processed and used for compost.
Example of efficient carbon offsetting- Velvet Toilet Paper • • • ‘Luxury for you. Trees for the planet’ Scheme founded in 2010 For every tree they use they grow three more They plant millions of saplings every year Spent £ 20, 000 to transform a park in Birmingham with beautiful green trees.
Example of inefficient carbon offsetting- BA • BA haven't backed up their promises their carbon offsetting problems. • About 27 m tonnes of carbon has been fired into the air since BA announced their carbon offsetting plan in September 2005. • But only 3, 000 tonnes have been replenished, less than 0. 01% of its emissions.
Benefits of carbon offsetting • The biggest benefit of offsets for organisations wanting to reduce their impact on climate change is that offsets provide a way of compensating for emissions that cannot be avoided. • Many offset projects also have wider benefits to the host community, such as providing rural electrification to communities without electricity • The benefits for the communities hosting offsetting projects are more tangible. Businesses or projects receive additional financing, making marginal projects such as renewable energy more viable.
Problems with carbon offsetting forestry projects • Unethical carbon offset companies sell you trees or a stake in a renewable energy project. The problem is that the renewable energy projects already exist and that the trees in most cases would have been planted anyway by the carbon offset companies' planting partners. • All trees will eventually die, root and release the carbon dioxide stored in each tree back into the atmosphere. While planting trees is a good thing, it is therefore not a permanent solution. • In early 2006, Frank Keppler from the Max-Planck Institute in German discovered that trees produce 33% of the world's methane. So while the trees may absorb carbon dioxide, they also release methane which is a more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide
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