How Carbon Offsets Work

Carbon Offsets Can Neutralize Emissions from Individual Sources

Nov 16, 2009

Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere causes climate change, just how much or how little is a topic for much discussion among environmentalists.

What is known is that burning fossil fuels like oil, coal, and gas, releases CO2 and other gases into the air. CO2 is one of the major components of the resultant effluent, along with methane, hydro fluorocarbons, and nitrous oxide.

Carbon Neutral

One of the concepts that has gained much attention from environmentalists like David Suzuki, among others, is ‘going carbon neutral.’ This approach provides a way in which individuals can take responsibility for their own greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions occur when driving a car, taking an airplane, or even turning on a computer.

Going carbon neutral is based on the principle that, since climate change is a global problem, emission reductions made anywhere can have a global impact.

This is how carbon neutral works: if and when polluting emissions are added to the atmosphere, they can also be subtracted form the atmosphere by purchasing carbon offsets. Carbon offsets are credits for emission reductions achieved by alternative energy projects such as wind farms, solar installations, or energy efficiency retrofits. These credits can be purchased and applied to an individual’s own emissions to reduce the net climate impact.

One of the recommended solutions to solving the problem of climate change, is that personal carbon emissions need to be minimized. Although it is impossible to reduce personal carbon emissions to zero, going carbon neutral by purchasing carbon offsets provides a practical and affordable way to minimize the effect of individual carbon emissions.

By voluntarily calculating and assigning a cost to individual carbon emissions, those who participate in this program an opportunity to prepare for the possibility that there will eventually be regulations and taxes on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. For both businesses and individuals, this is an important step towards managing carbon emissions efficiently and identifying potential for reductions and savings.

Sustainable Energy Economy

Purchasing high quality carbon offsets from projects such as wind farms or other alternative energy sources may help support the transition to a sustainable energy economy by providing an additional source of revenue to developers of renewable energy.

Carbon offsets also offer flexibility, since individuals can choose to offset just one - or all - of their major emission sources. For example, carbon offsets can be purchased to mitigate emissions from air travel, automobile use, or home heating.

The copyright of the article How Carbon Offsets Work in Green Business Practices is owned by Duane Sharp. Permission to republish How Carbon Offsets Work in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.