Can they really do that? (0)
Posted 3 August, 2008 in Carbon offsetting, Carbon trading, Footprint reduction
This is a neat twist in the world of carbon offsets. There’s a straightforward emissions calculator that you can use to tot up your CO2 output from household, car and air flight sources. Once you know how many tonnes of CO2 you need to offset (having remembered the golden rule: to reduce your emissions first) you pay the appropriate amount.
The clever bit is that the amount charged per tonne (plus the admin charges and hedge fees by which the company makes its money and protects itself from market swings) is the current trading rate on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme — the same scheme that big business uses to buy and sell the “right to pollute”.
Say you wanted to offset ten tonnes of CO2. Right now (3 August 2008) that would set you back 229 quid. Carbon Retirement — the name of the company that does exactly what it says on the tin — will buy that amount of carbon trading tokens on the market… and retire them. In other words, the EU loses that amount of CO2 emissions rights. Oooh, the devastating simplicity of it all!
We should gasp in awe that it’s allowed. If the company takes off, others will inevitably jump on the bandwagon. If they start having a noticeable impact on EU emissions (and let’s face it, that is the idea) the price of carbon will rocket, making it more expensive to offset each tonne. Not only that, but the energy producing companies and other businesses involved in the trading market for production reasons will no doubt pass those additional costs on to their customers.
And what if, say, a rogue state were to start buying up emissions certificates en masse? What would the economic and political fallout be?
For the time being, though, full marks must be awarded for creative thinking. We wish Carbon Retirement every success and are keeping our fingers crossed that no one notices what they’re up to…
An experiment… (0)
Posted 21 March, 2008 in Carbon offsetting, Carbon trading, Footprint reduction
Most of the ads at the side of this page seem to be selling various carbon offsetting projects. No surprise there then. So for a while I’m going to check each one with a standard set of criteria, in an attempt to draw up a picture of how this newfangled industry is shaping up. It’s just a wild guess, but it seems likely we’ll find a wide range of the kinds of services offered, how much they cost, and how genuine they are. Check back here on a regular basis and I’ll bring you running updates of how it’s going.OK, so it’s not really an experiment. More of a survey. But hopefully some good will come from it…
Not a car in the world (0)
Posted 17 March, 2008 in Carbon offsetting, Footprint reduction
Traditional carbon offsetting schemes not hard enough for you? OK, give your car keys to www.carlesscarbon.com. The non-profit internet start-up will drive your old, polluting banger to the scrapyard, pick it over for recyclable parts, then throw the rusting carcass in the crusher. Voila. One less car on the road. And if you pledge to remain car free, they’ll even give you a year’s public transport travel pass. (more…)
Just bag it (1)
Posted 14 March, 2008 in Alternative power, Biofuel technology, Carbon offsetting, Carbon trading, Climate change, Footprint reduction, Political issues
One of the documents released with this year’s UK budget – intriguingly entitled “An environmentally sustainable world” [they forgot to add the bit about being in a human timescale] — gives thirteen announcements on how the Government intends to tackle climate change. Number twelve is “to eliminate single-use carrier bags” and warns that the “Government will legislate and impose a charge if retailers do not take voluntary action.” (more…)
It’s not all bad news (0)
Posted 11 March, 2008 in Carbon offsetting, Footprint reduction
Can it be true? Can there be such as thing as a truly carbon neutral… beer? Treehugger.com thinks so, as this story tells us. Seems the Aussies have combined their legendary love of the “amber nectar” with their concern for the environment. In short, they’ve seen the future. According to their website, the makers of Cascade Green beer have taken steps to reduce their Tasmanian carbon emissions, offsetting whatever remains.
The brewery, owned by the giant Fosters group, has “reduced our energy usage by 16% and water usage by 30% per unit of production over the last six years.” That’s per unit of production. They don’t say what their absolute water and energy usages look like: they easily could have grown if, say, the saving were made through economies of scale made through increased production.
Reductions have been made through energy efficiency measures, switching to hydro-power and recycling water. Ingredients are locally sourced, and the remaining emissions have been offset against a Tasmanian power generation scheme, the Hobart Landfill Flare Facility. This uses methane extracted from landfill sites – as this report points out, it’s a shame the same potent greenhouse gas generated by drinking beer can’t be put to good use…
