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Carbon Offsets

LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
edited October 2013 in Strut Central
I am ready to buy carbon offsets for my home and car.

Does any one have an opinion on which organizations/company/projects are doing good work and are legit.

  Comments

  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    IMO, they're kinda bogus. I mean yeah, you can and it's technically a good thing, but why not convert your house to solar or something? I know that's expensive, but money better spent for the environment.

    Here's this:

    http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/carbon-offset-guide
  • ppadilhappadilha 2,244 Posts
    The_Non said:
    IMO, they're kinda bogus. I mean yeah, you can and it's technically a good thing, but why not convert your house to solar or something? I know that's expensive, but money better spent for the environment.

    depending on where you live, it's really worth doing. My mother moved to Albuquerque a few years ago and she installed solar panels on her house. There was some sort of tax credit or other government incentive that reduced the cost significantly, and now she usually gets a little money from the power company every month for the energy her house puts into the grid. Way better than carbon offsets, which is such a shady market.
  • FlomotionFlomotion 2,391 Posts
    Yeah, what they said. Carbon offsetting is a great idea but, at least on a corporate level, the reality isn't nearly as noble.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Thanks folks.

    We have made many energy investments in our home.
    We have owned since 2004.
    Early on we upgraded to high efficiency windows and furnace.

    Our house is not a great candidate for solar, no good south facing roof surface.
    I would consider it if we could sell our excess energy back at consumer rates, and if we could sell more energy than we buy.
    Way I understand it is we can get credits at wholesale rate, but never for more than our monthly bill.

    We had an energy audit a few years ago, there were low interest, long term loans available for energy upgrades, plus some amount forgiven.
    They wanted us to replace our furnace. The standard when we installed 92% efficient, today it is 98%.
    The wanted us to replace our water heater, more than 20yo.
    Tried to say these appliances were no longer good, and should be replaced every 5-10 years.
    I believe that keeping things running saves energy costs/environmental impact, on manufacturing, shipping and disposal.

    It would be a good idea to re-weather strip, save up for an electric car and a new water heater when ours fails.

    I like the idea of off-sets, spend a tiny amount each month to preserve some rainforest, or fund an alt energy project.
    I have not heard any thing negative about any of the organizations doing these things, but... the potential is there.
  • ppadilhappadilha 2,244 Posts
    at least in Brazil these carbon credit projects have been very shady, here's one example:
    http://www.apublica.org/2012/03/land-belongs-indians-carbon/

    Irish company signed contracts with native tribes and other communities, apparently sold the carbon credits but no one ever saw any money.

    here's an opinion piece from The Guardian:
    http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/blog/why-are-carbon-markets-failing

    I know they have noble intentions, but it seems like these carbon markets don't do much as far as actually preserving forest or things of that nature. I'd do some serious research before putting money into something like this.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I'm sold.
    Keeping my money for direct upgrades to my home to reduce carbon.
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