High Street Headache

January 27, 2010

Things To Keep In Mind When Buying Carbon Offset

Filed under: Business — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Joy Bennett @ 9:01 am

As people are realizing the devastating effects of global warming on the planet, methods like carbon offset and carbon credits are gaining wide acceptance throughout the world as effective tools for environment protection.

If you want to compensate for the degrading effects your actions have had on nature, you can buy a certain quantity of carbon offset in order to cancel out the harm caused by you. The amount you spend on a carbon offset will help fund green projects like wind farms that generate energy without resulting in harmful emissions.

Before venturing into carbon offset, you must first look at your everyday activities that lead to release of greenhouse gases. When people drive their cars, fly in airplanes, use home appliances like room heaters or air conditioners, they are causing carbon emissions.

After you have identified all these activities that result in emissions, you should seriously attempt to decrease some of them and stop some altogether. This would let you lower some part of your carbon footprint through your own efforts. For example, you can reduce emissions by driving less, using fluorescent lights, and installing better insulation to lower energy consumption on heating or cooling.

After you have thought about all the areas where you can act effectively towards reducing emissions, you must calculate the impact of your remaining activities on the environment, i.e., calculate your balance carbon footprint. The method of calculating this footprint changes from one activity to another, but there are a lot of online calculators which can help you in the matter.

The offset bought by you is used by offset providers to compensate for the carbon emissions from your activities by lowering emissions in any part of the earth. Projects provided by offset providers for lowering emissions are plenty, and you can put your money in any one that seems appropriate to you. But you need to be careful while making your selection. You should only put your money in recognised and authentic projects to avoid the possibility of the funds being misused. Projects that have passed quality tests conducted by authentic accrediting organizations are the most suitable ones to put money in, as they bear the stamp of genuineness and can be trusted.

Finally, you should arm yourself with adequate knowledge on the topic. Your research will yield names of the best offset providers in the market and also the kinds of projects that are investment-friendly and you can also track where the scheme you have invested in is heading.

Discover more about carbon credits and carbon trading and get a deeper understanding on how you can help in saving the environment.

categories: carbon trading,carbon emission,carbon credits,environment,business,marketing,carbon information,business management consulting,carbon management

The Booming Carbon Trading Market

Filed under: Business — Tags: , , , , , , , — Edmon Lee @ 8:56 am

Carbon trading is a method adopted to decrease the carbon footprints of industrialized nations, and the method has gained wide acceptance throughout the world in recent times. Carbon trading is essentially a trade in carbon credits in which every unit of credit allows the buyer to release one tonne of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and it is the fundamental trading principle governing the cap-and-trade system as formulated in the Kyoto Protocol.

As per the Kyoto protocol, a cap has been set on global emission levels, which are then apportioned into carbon credits, a particular number of which are granted to each member. Organizations that think they may go beyond the emission limits can purchase these credits from low-emission companies that have credits left with them because of adopting eco-friendly methods of doing business. As high-emission organizations are forced to pay for their act, they are driven to look for greener technologies.

So far carbon trading has been an effective system, with market responses suggesting that most large industries across the globe are supporting this emission-lowering solution. This is because such reciprocal trade makes their near future and medium-term planning more accommodating.

If the statistics of the World Bank’s Carbon Finance Unit are to be believed, then carbon trading is increasing very rapidly with each passing year. The years 2003 and 2004 saw a trading growth of 41% in the market, while the growth in the following cycle has been an unprecedented 240%. Growth in the London centred carbon finance market has also been very remarkable, establishing the fact that carbon trading is turning out to be a profitable business strategy for many organizations. Despite being outside the Kyoto Protocol list of countries, several states and industries in the US have approved of the carbon credits scheme and have incorporated it in their business. Further, the EU, which has its own carbon trading system, has also been very active in this global trading market.

However, there are certain groups who have criticised this system. Carbon trading is in fact targeted at making high-emission companies invest in more eco-friendly technologies and thereby promoting development of low emission energy substitutes, which is not happening because defaulting companies seem to be keener on buying carbon credits instead of opting for eco-friendly technologies. Hence certain groups are apprehensive of the long-term benefits of carbon trading, and some experts have suggested the imposition of carbon tax to be paid by errant companies as a better solution to greenhouse gas emissions.

Learn more about carbon credits and carbon offset and get a deeper understanding on how you can help in saving the environment.

Carbon Offset – A Great Way To Save The Planet

Filed under: Business — Tags: , , , , , , , — Grace Carter @ 8:55 am

As the planet struggles to deal with the grave threats posed by air-borne pollutants and greenhouse gases, carbon offset provides an incentive to motivate governments and companies to keep carbon emissions within reasonable limits.

The uncontrolled emission of hazardous greenhouse gases is checked by the carbon offset idea, which does so by providing inducement for making use of alternative and green energy, reforestation schemes etc.. The carbon credits plan of the 2005 Kyoto Protocol, an international environmental treaty ratified by 170 nations in 2005 fixes the emission limits for countries, which further determines allowable emissions by industrial entities.

According to the Protocol, companies releasing thousands of kilos of carbon dioxide have to either reduce on their emissions to the permitted levels, purchase carbon credits certificates, which can be transacted on the bourses, or otherwise end up paying a carbon tax for being compliant with the prescribed reduction. Carbon credits, which were introduced before carbon offset, are the most convenient and inexpensive option for manufacturing businesses emitting more than the allowed limit of greenhouse gases, with one credit equal to one tonne of carbon dioxide released into the air. Large organisations are catching up with the global carbon-neutral movement and buying carbon credits to make an impact on customers, investors and corporate partners.

Ambitious environmental projects around the globe that are working towards the overall decrease of CO2′s harmful effects on the environment are now also being helped by the carbon offset system, which finances a lot of these projects. It therefore aids in promoting environmental projects concerned with to reforestation, conservation of resources, and clean energy options like wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, etc.

Apart from the companies, even individuals are helping the environment by buying carbon offset and motivating others to do the same. Buying carbon offset is straightforward and can be easily executed online through one of the various carbon offset provider websites; however, it should be ensured that your money is making real influence through good projects.

Carbon offset is a very effective way to save out planet but we must also not forget that making minor changes in our daily lives can be of immense help in reducing environmental degradation. What we can do additionally on our part to protect the environment is to adopt small measures like making use of cleaner fuels such as biodiesel, and installing LED lights instead of high-energy bulbs, and use only as much energy as is necessary.

Carbon offset is still not a popular word for a layman. Mass awareness on the subject through extensive education is needed to bring us some steps closer to a pollution free and green environment.

Discover more about carbon credits and carbon offset and get a deeper understanding on how you can help in saving the environment.

The Basics Of Carbon Credits And Its Benefits

Filed under: Business — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Christine Morgan @ 8:24 am

The words carbon credits and carbon trading usually come up in conferences and events on the perils of global warming, but these terms are still alien to a lot of people. In the system of carbon trading, regulations are put on greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, and the prescribed emission limits are then allocated across nations, which have to regulate the greenhouse gas emissions from the different industries and business units operating within them.

Governments and industrial units in several countries are allowed a particular number of carbon credits, giving them the right to emit a limited amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. One carbon credit is equivalent to the emission of one ton of carbon dioxide. This basically means that high-emission corporations can purchase carbon credits from low-emission entities, thereby maintaining the net global emissions within the prescribed cap.

The key benefit of carbon trading is that it leads to a scenario where companies tending to go beyond their emission allowances have to pay a significant sum to do so, as they have to purchase carbon credits from the market. However, this is a quid pro quo trade where selling and purchasing of carbon credits are done simultaneously by low and high emission companies. Therefore the balance in world economy is maintained, while entities with low emission records make profits. This encourages organizations to invest in green processes as well and gradually the net greenhouse gases emissions begin decreasing.

Free trade of carbon credits on world exchanges enables greener energy and process choices of a company to be incentivised and capitalized, whether the company is a small one or a large one. Trade in carbon credits gets instant and substantial advantages for organizations with low emissions. Moreover, with countries and their administration involved in the idea, national governments on their part would have to ask local industries to reduce emissions, and hence these governments would be pulled out of their conventional stance of indifference towards environmental issues.

However, there are a few people who advocate alternative systems like carbon tax, which rather than incentivising the greener organizations, will penalize those who have extra emissions. There is much speculation over the efficacy of such systems.

In a short span since its adoption, carbon trading has shown to be the most appropriate means to tackle the problem of carbon emissions. The carbon trading business has seen remarkable growth in the past few years, and this proves beyond doubt that the system is impactful.

Discover more about carbon credits and carbon trading and get a deeper understanding on how you can help in saving the environment.

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