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. |
| |
More Carbon Offsetting Links...
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