Friday, January 29, 2010

Carbon Offset - A Great Way To Save The Planet

By Melody Carter

As the planet tries to deal with the grave threats posed by air-borne pollutants and greenhouse gases, carbon offset is providing an incentive to motivate governments and organizations to maintain carbon emissions within prescribed limits.

The unregulated emission of hazardous greenhouse gases is controlled by the carbon offset idea, which does so by giving inducement for making use of alternative and renewable energy, reforestation projects etc.. The Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement signed by most countries in 2005 puts limits on emission by member countries on the basis of whether they are developing or developed, which in turn determines emissions by different sectors in each of these nations.

The Protocol makes it compulsory for commercial entities emitting above the allowed limit of carbon dioxide to bring down their emissions to prescribed levels, or they should purchase carbon credits certificates which can be traded in the market, or alternatively pay a penalty for the emissions, which is referred to as carbon tax. Carbon credits, which came much earlier than carbon offset, are the most popular and economical options for companies, with one credit permitting the owner to release one tonne of carbon dioxide into the environment. Both multinational and regional companies, to make their operations carbon neutral and improve their image in front of customers and investors, are increasingly buying carbon credits.

Another excellent method is using carbon offset, which aids in financing ambitious environmental schemes, especially in third world nations that are constantly striving to fund such projects to reduce the influence of the total greenhouse gas emissions. It therefore aids in promoting ecological programmes related to reforestation, conservation of resources, and clean energy choices like wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, etc.

Ordinary people are also using this method and are purchasing carbon offset to make the environment cleaner and to spread awareness about environment conservation. Carbon offset can be conveniently bought online through one of the many providers, but care must be taken to ensure that your money is channelled to the right projects.

Although carbon offset is a great option we should also not forget that we need to take more proactive steps by making small environment supportive decisions in our daily lives. We should stick to certain fundamental practices like switching off lights and other electronic equipments when not required, making use of low-energy bulbs and LED lighting, and going for cleaner fuels like biodiesel.

Carbon offset is still a new word for ordinary people. Imparting proper knowledge of the idea will go a long way in ensuring a green and clean planet.

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1 comments:

Eric said...

We agree wholeheartedly and that's why we do what we do. We retire carbon offsets from projects for our clients. We have found that many people prefer projects that have other humanitarian benefits beyond the offsets.