Carbon Offsets: Radio, television, newspapers, magazines, podcasts, blogs, actually any media you can think of, has awoken to the issue of global warming and climate change. Moreover, more than thousands of eminent scientists sign a document concurring that there was 90 percent certainty that the Earth has a temperature and it is a human induced fever. To decrease the patient’s prognosis of increased convulsions; such as droughts, floods, hurricanes, heat waves, and many more; experimental treatments are underway.
One of these is carbon offsets. CO2 or carbon dioxide, a significant greenhouse gas, is the result of human intensive use of fossil fuels like coal and oil. In simplistic terms this is ‘not good’ for human life. One means of doing ‘good’ is by giving attention to offset the equation, by funding projects that lessen our carbon emissions and other greenhouse effect. And carbon offsets is one of the solutions for our living now.
Carbon Offsets: The Definition
A carbon offset is a financial instrument expected to reduce carbon emissions and greenhouse gases. Measured of the carbon offsets are in metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2e). One carbon offset denotes the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide or equivalent in other greenhouse gases.
Carbon offsets have two markets. In the larger, companies, governments, compliance, or other entities purchase carbon offsets in order to comply with caps on the total amount of carbon dioxide they are allowed to emit. In 2006 the compliance market were purchased about $5.5 billion of carbon offsets – representing about 1.6 billion metric tons of CO2e reductions.
Individuals, voluntary market, companies, or governments buy carbon offsets to diminish their own greenhouse gases from electricity use, transportation, and other sources are the smaller market. For instance, many companies offer carbon offsets as an up-sell during the sales process so that consumers can diminish the carbon emissions related with their service purchase or product – such as offsetting emissions related to a car rental, hotel stay, vacation flight, etc. As individual, purchase carbon offsets to give back for the greenhouse gases caused by personal air travel. In 2008, voluntary markets were purchased more than $705 million of carbon offsets – equivalent with 123.4 million metric tons of CO2e reductions.
Renewable energy, such as biomass energy, wind farms, and hydroelectric dams are the most common project of carbon offsets to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in the short or long term. Other projects are energy efficiency projects, agricultural byproducts, forestry projects, destruction of landfill methane, etc. Wind turbine projects and energy efficiency are another most popular carbon offset projects.
Western countries’ people, who have become aware and concerned about the negative potential of carbon emissions in human lifestyles and economies, give more attention about carbon offsetting. The Kyoto Protocol – agreement ratified by over than 160 countries – has sanctioned offsets as a way for private companies or governments to invest in carbon offsets which can be traded on a marketplace. Kyoto Protocol also established the Clean Development Mechanism or CDM as its part, which measures and validates projects to ensure the produce authentic benefits. In addition, if the organizations that are unable to meet their emissions quota can purchasing Certified Emissions Reductions to offset their emissions.
Carbon Offsets’ Video
For further information: Kyoto Protocol.
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