Erasing your carbon conscience

                                                                                         

Each individual is producing a carbon footprint, which is contributing to climate change on this planet. Around 40% of the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions are produced through electricity consumption in the home. Carbon offsetting is way for individuals and companies to “pay back” their carbon emission debt.

It works by paying a company to invest in renewable energy schemes- projects that will reduce carbon emissions by an amount equal to those created by human activity.

In the fight against global warming, there is no better weapon than cutting emissions in the first place. However, offsetting is an intermediary measure which is a useful tool and can certainly be used to appease the damage done by unavoidable use of energy.

But which off-setting scheme to go for? Environmental watchdogs generally recommend supporting a program which invests in renewable energy or energy efficient projects, and, importantly, can prove what it says it is doing.

Many schemes advertise tree planting (or reforestation), bio-energy schemes and carbon capture, but these projects are not as effective since they do not invest in the types of infrastructure needed for a low carbon future.

Carbon offset companies are not currently subject to any tailored regulations, but there a number of accreditation bodies. These include:

DEFRA’s Code of Best Practice (launched in June 2008) which gives a Quality Mark to show that a company has met the Government United Nations standards for being a reliable offset scheme.

And, The Gold Standard, which identifies offset projects that meet good sustainability standards, deliver benefits to local communities and are based on energy efficiency or renewable energy and has been created by environmental groups.

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