Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Offsets

But at a recent "greening of the hospitality industry conference", I took a second look at my situation. Given all the care I take I was surprised at how much carbon dioxide (CO2), the biggest culprit behind global warming, my husband and I are responsible for in the atmosphere. And I realized there's lots I can't control, like the energy efficiency of the jet in which I'm flying when I travel, the energy efficiency of the trucks that deliver my food to the store, or even how energy efficient the green hotels are I choose to frequent. I started thinking about what I could do to compensate for our impact.

Regarding my various green websites, I had avoided this topic thinking it was too avant garde, too extreme for my audience. But at the green conference I was intrigued to see how many business people, people in big corporate hotels, who were paying attention to this very topic. These people were acting on their environmental convictions in various ways, including offsetting their hotels' carbon emissions. I decided if upscale hoteliers were paying attention to this, perhaps my audience would too.

What is the CO2 pollution problem?

CO2, which is what most people are talking about when they refer to "greenhouse gas", is a major byproduct of converting fuel to energy. It's produced by animals (including humans), vehicles, power plants, and more. CO2 emissions can't be avoided, but modern lifestyles are creating so much CO2 that an imbalance is building up.

Furthermore, since CO2 mixes freely with the atmosphere, the pollution you create is sooner or later found in other parts of the world. And the pollution created in other parts of the world finds its way to your neighborhood. Taking measures to clean emissions around the world will ultimately help everyone.

There are things you can do to reduce your CO2 emissions, but you can't stop them. However, there are ways you can further reduce, if not outright neutralize, your CO2 contributions. The plans, generically called Carbon Offsets, are available by several companies for a wide range of prices. How? Several organizations offer "Carbon Offsets".

What is Carbon Offsetting?

It is an idea, an action, for balancing the effects of CO2 in the atmosphere. It's a way to reduce its impact on the environment. It is a redistribution system designed to either reduce emissions by funding new green energy power plants (like wind farms, small hydro plants, geothermal installations, and solar panels) and/or increase their absorption, by planting trees (plants being the natural CO2 balancing mechanism on this planet). When one person or organization creates CO2, the effects of that can be offset by buying credits, sometimes called Green Tags, that support such projects.

This is a controversial concept because, according to many environmentalists, it discourages people from taking an active role in reducing their emissions, the ones they can control. Others compare it to a shell game where nothing really changes -- credits are just moved around to make CO2 emissions look more balanced. Some people feel that Carbon Offsetting programs are designed to avoid or delay government regulation that would force CO2 emission reduction.

The two main focal points for Carbon Offsetting are green-energy power plants and reforestation. A concern about buying into green-energy power plants is that the offset effect isn't valid unless the project is building a plant that wouldn't have been built without the purchased offsets, and is built instead of a polluting plant, such as a coal-fired generating station.

My feeling is we should all do what we can to reduce our CO2 emissions, and then participate in Carbon Offsetting programs to balance the CO2 we can't control or impact. And the Carbon Offsetting programs should be for building new green power plants. In some ways this approach not only benefits the environment, but these programs can also be beneficial to developing countries in raising their populations' standards of living. This idea doesn't cure climate change, but it's a start at fixing a global issue.

How can I participate?

First you need to measure what your emissions are. There are calculators for doing that; I'm partial to the one at Sustainable Travel Inc. You have to know how much CO2 you create before you can know how much you need to balance.

Second, reduce your CO2 emissions by conserving fuel: turn the heat down or the AC up, drive less, buy locally made and grown products as much as you can, replace old appliances with new ones that are energy efficient, buy the renewable energy option from your electric company, and exchange your incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent lights (CFLs).

Then buy carbon offset credits, or Green Tags, that have the Gold Standard label. There are several programs out there, each with their particular project to be involved with. Read the 44 page report "Consumer's Guide to Retail Carbon Offset Providers" (PDF file, 1.1MB) to help you make your decision about your program participation. Some programs plant trees, even forests. Reforestation is a good start, but it's not enough. Since power generating plants are some of the biggest offenders, replacing them with clean, green power is a better solution than just trying to fight the pollution they create. In that line of thinking are the credits that fund alternative power plants. These projects are especially important in developing countries, but they are also important in developed countries.

Verified Offsets.

The Gold Standard is an international standard for carbon offset programs to help consumers recognize a high quality offset for purchase. It ensures key environmental criteria have been met by the offset projects. An important note here is only renewable energy projects energy with a high degree of energy efficiency qualify for the Gold Standard label. There are no approved tree planting projects that have this label.

It's time for you to balance your polluting lifestyle with a non-polluting investment. Reduce your CO2 emissions, buy green energy, and invest in Green Tags to balance the CO2 emissions you can't avoid with a more careful approach to living. Visit the energy calculator at Sustainable Travel Inc to learn just how much you contribute to the problem. Then you can know how much to contribute to a solution.