Global warming is caused by the build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels to provide the energy and services we use every day. We burn fossil fuels for electricity (from coal and gas) in our homes and businesses, our cars, flights and to create the food, clothes and other things we buy and consume every day.

Carbon offsets enable individuals and businesses to reduce the CO2 emissions they are responsible for by offsetting, reducing or displacing the CO2 in another place, typically where it is more economical to do so.  Carbon offsets typically include renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation projects.

Carbon emission offsetting can be used to offset the inevitable CO2 pollution after you have done your best to try to avoid the pollution in the first place. The danger of carbon offsetting is to postpone real solutions to solve the problem of global warming and other pollution. To the big nay sayers we would like to say: do you manage to live completely pollution-free? (Even the production of PV solar panels requires energy, usually not clean energy!)   How to become climate neutral (Wikipedia)

Key points to look for when choosing an offsetting service: is there any other way this pollution can be prevented or reduced before offsetting, is the carbon offsetting service verified, do their projects offer 'additionality'?

Google is using carbon offsetting as a valid way to effectively help reduce greenhouse gases read more at Treehugger - "Google offsetting 45,000 homes". 

How much does Carbon Offsetting cost?  Price survey! Example: a mid-sized 30 mpg car driving 12,000 miles/year will create about 3.55 tons of CO2/year. Using the carbon calculator of one of the companies which are listed here, we figured this would cost only about $19.50 or $1.63/month to be offset! Please take into account that depending on the project, it may take from several to many years before the offset actually brings your CO2 balance to zero. This means that CO2 pollution will still increase and will need some years to get to zero. Also, do not forget that other pollution is also involved (noise, other chemicals) and may not be reduced to zero by offsetting. Offsetting is not a free ticket to business as usual! Read also: How can a gallon of gasoline produce 20 pounds of carbon dioxide? (fueleconomy.gov) It is up to each of us to clean our own mess, obviously the government can't and won't do it (alone). Signing up with any of these programs might effectively reduce your CO2 contributions to ZERO!   (All prices in US$ or British Pound where indicated) STUDY (3/25/2009): Flight Emissions Calculator Comparison This survey is strictly © of EcoBusinessLinks.com and may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without written permission Ecobusinesslinks.com Carbon Offset Survey (Prices are for individuals, businesses may be able to get volume discounts) Carbon Offset Provider Price (US$/Metric ton CO2) Non-profit Projects Types Project Choice Offset Types Product Certification/ Verification* (Links see below table) Verus Carbon Neutral USA $2.75 (varies with CCX price) No Various No Personal, Business Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) Carbonfund.org USA $10.00 Yes Renewables, Efficiency, Reforestation Yes Home, Car, Air, Events, Business Environmental Resources Trust, Climate Community and Biodiversity Standards, Chicago Climate Exchange, UNFCCC JI Carbon Footprint Offsetters Canada $10.00 (CER's) No Renewables No Personal, Business EcoLogo, CCX ClearSky Climate Solutions USA $12.00 No Forestry/reforestation, Methane, Rangeland Management Yes Personal, Car, Air, Custom packages for businesses, events, weddings and organizations Chicago Climate Exchange, Climate Community and Biodiversity Standard LiveNeutral.org USA $12.00 Yes Efficiency No Car Chicago Climate Exchange The CarbonNeutral Company UK $12.64 (USA) £7.50 (UK VAT incl.) No Renewables, Efficiency, Reforestation, Methane Yes Car, Air, Events, Business, Deliveries, + many others CDM Gold Standard, Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management, Independent Advisory Committee, UNFCCC JI, PricewaterhouseCoopers Terrapass USA $13.11 No Renewables, Methane No Car, Home, Air, Events, Business Chicago Climate Exchange, Center for Resource Solutions Native Energy USA $14.00 No Renewables, Methane Yes Home, Car, Air, Events, Business Voluntary Carbon Standard, Gold Standard, Climate Action Reserve, Clean Development Mechanism, or Joint Implementation under the Kyoto Protocol 3Degrees USA $15.00 No Methane, Renewables, Sustainable Forest Management No Home, Car, Air Gold Standard, Green-e, CDM, California Climate Action Registry, VCS, CCX Standard Carbon USA $15.00 No Methane, Efficiency, Renewables, Carbon Sequestration No Car, Air, Sea, Events, Political Campaigns Chicago Climate Exchange Cleaner Climate UK & Australia $15.00-18.00 No Renewables, Efficiency, Methane No Air, Car, Home, Business CDM, VCS (UNFCCC) Climate Friendly Australia $16.00-19.00 No Renewables No Home, Car, Air, Business Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator, NSW Government, Ernst & Young.  Sustainable travel International US, Switzerland $25.35 Yes Renewables No Air, Car, Home, Hotel See Myclimate Bonneville Environmental Foundation USA $29.00 Yes Renewables No Home, Air, Business, Event Green-e Climate Certified Myclimate Switzerland $33.00-99.00 Yes Renewables Yes Air, Events, Business Designated Operational Entity Services Accredited by or Products from CDM only Clear UK £12.99 No Various, depending on CDM offset projects No Car, Air, Motorbike Home, Commute, Business CDM Services for which we couldn't find accepted independent product certification or verification information for all products Carbon Offset Provider Price (US$/Metric ton CO2) Non-profit Projects Types Project Choice Offset Types Product Certification/ Verification Solar Electric Light Fund USA $10.00 Yes Renewables No External Calculators n/a Carbon Clear UK £7.34-? No Renewables, Efficiency, Reforestation No Home, Car, Air, Babies Depending on project: VCS, VER, Gold Standard or CER Bleu Ventures Carbon Offset UK $24.00-28.00 Yes Efficiency, Renewable energy stove programmes Yes Life, Air , Business, Travel, or on request Ticos for South Africa projects   a:  Atmos Clear - Low price for 25 Ton option at $135 1. Offset Types: There are hundreds of potential offset types. We have limited our survey to just the most common. 2. Verification: "n/a" means we were unable to determine a third-party verification body. The projects may, however, be verified. 3. Choice: refers to whether customers may choose between project types and/or specific projects. 4. Price: prices change and exchange rates fluctuate. The data listed was first gathered from the respective websites July 21, 2006  5. Other offset providers may exist. This survey provides a cross section of the industry, projects may be added or removed over time. 6. Some information may be incomplete or has changed. We welcome updates. * Please make sure that additionality is offered by the offsetting projects. CCX and certainly some others as well do not guarantee this.   Links to some important verification organisations: Chicago Climate Exchange http://www.chicagoclimatex.com Environmental Resources Trust http://www.ert.net Climate Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCBS) http://www.climate-standards.org Center for Resource Solutions http://www.resource-solutions.org Voluntary Carbon Standard http://www.v-c-s.org Gold Standard http://www.cdmgoldstandard.org UNFCCC CDM http://cdm.unfccc.int UNFCCC JI http://ji.unfccc.int Plan Vivo http://www.planvivo.org NGAC - GGAS - NSW Greenhouse Gas Reduction Scheme http://www.greenhousegas.nsw.gov.au/ Ticos  http://www.ticos.co.uk/ (Last update: 02 Jan 2012 )

Carbon Offsetting Services ClearSky Climate Solutions can help reduce your carbon footprint! For individuals, our website features an easy-to-use footprint calculator and carbon offset shopping cart. For businesses and organizations, we provide consulting services to assess and reduce your footprint and high-quality offsets to balance unavoidable emissions. ClearSky offsets have been certified through rigorous standards and provide additional benefits to local communities, native biodiversity, and green technology. Carbon Footprint Offsetters retails fully certified Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) or Certified Emmission Reductions (CER). Use our online carbon calculator to measure your carbon footprint today. We also conduct on site documented greenhouse gas emission evaluations to establish a baseline carbon footprint to start reducing from and we make recommendations to reduce that footprint. Carbon Offset - Combined Offsetting Carbonfund.org USA Carbonfund.org makes it easy and affordable for you to reduce your climate footprint. Carbonfund.org reduces the threat of climate change by supporting renewables, efficiency and reforestation projects that reduce carbon emissions. Best value: $5.50 per ton of CO2. NativeEnergy USA NativeEnergy is a small Vermont company launched to fight climate change and global warming by helping build more than 150 large, commercial-scale wind turbines, and keeping five million tons of carbon dioxide out of the air over the next five years. The CarbonNeutral Company UK On this site you can 'neutralize' the contribution you or your business makes to global warming. Buy products and gifts which soak up or compensate for unavoidable emissions - like tree planting and 'green' energy in developing countries.  Carbon Calculator    Flight Emissions Calculator Solar Carbon Offset Credits Solar Electric Light Fund USA By contributing to SELF’s work of helping villagers install solar PV, instead of burning kerosene or diesel, you can offset your personal emissions of CO2. Tree Planting - Reforestation Certificates Note: Carbon offsetting by planting trees/plants may have only a temporary effect since these products eventually will end up releasing some or all of the carbon. (A more skeptical resource concerning carbon sinking projects: www.sinkswatch.org ) Trees for Life UK To offset the effects of travel and transport, Trees for Life will plant trees to absorb the CO2 produced. Greenfleet Australia Greenfleet Australia is a not for profit organization, that plants native trees to offset carbon dioxide emissions and promotes the development of fuel-efficient technologies to reduce emissions in the future. Great multiple flight calculator Sustainable Travel International USA Sustainable Travel International supports and promotes responsible travel, eco-tourism, eco-tours, green travel and sustainable tourism through education and outreach. They also sell green credits to offset your travel pollution. Other Carbon Offset Projects Climate Friendly Australia Calculate and neutralise your carbon emissions (travel, home, car, packages available) Biodiesel India India Your contributions will be invested in oil baring seed plants to produce biodiesel. At the same time you will give employment to farmers in India! GreenSeat Netherlands GreenSeat is een duurzaam initiatief en biedt luchtreizigers de mogelijkheid om schadelijke uitstoot van gevlogen kilometers te compenseren door de aanplant van bomen. Carbon Offset Services BtoB EnviroTrade - Plan Vivo UK Plan Vivo is a system for planning, managing and monitoring the supply of carbon offsets from small farmers in ways that enhance rural livelihoods. The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management UK ECCM is widely recognized for its expertise managing carbon stock for sustainable development. We combine carbon offset delivery with commercial, social, biodiversity and hydrological considerations. Point Carbon Point Carbon provides carbon price forecasts and analysis of greenhouse gas emissions trading markets.

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