Carbon, carbon everywhere, are we waiting for the day when there will be no clean air?
The global effort to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and mitigate warming and climate change includes measures to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Even if reducing emissions of other greenhouse gases like methane is vital, reducing carbon dioxide emissions is the essential thing that can be done to address climate change.
Myplan8 is working hard to develop the infrastructure needed to make it easy for individuals to offset their carbon emissions transparent and verifiable. Nonetheless, how efficient are these carbon offsets? In this article, we’ll go into greater detail about carbon offsetting, explaining what it is and how it can help reduce your carbon footprint.
What is carbon offsetting?
Carbon offsetting involves compensating a third party for your own greenhouse gas emissions by paying them to remove an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide and other gases from the atmosphere. This is reported in terms of carbon dioxide (CO2e) equivalents because CO2 is the most prevalent greenhouse gas.
Carbon offsetting can be done for a single action, like taking a flight, or for an organization’s entire set of actions. Carbon credits, which are generated when carbon capture technologies successfully remove CO2 from the air, are the primary tool for offsetting. People and organisations can become carbon neutral if they purchase emission offsets to make up for their own emissions. A carbon credit’s associated carbon must be retired after it is purchased. Retirement of credits implies that the offsets linked with them cannot be counted again, which eliminates the possibility of double counting credits and ensures that emissions reductions are more accurately reflected.
Compliance carbon market participants must use verified emission reductions (VERs), while voluntary carbon market participants use certified emission reductions (CERs) (CERs). Cap-and-trade systems, which feature their own compliance market, primarily target larger, carbon-intensive businesses and sectors. To avoid exceeding a government-mandated cap on emissions, businesses in this market must purchase carbon offsets.
It is the companies in the voluntary market that have chosen to offset their carbon emissions in an entirely voluntary manner. The meteoric growth of this industry over the past few years can be directly attributed to investor demand to only invest in companies with strong emissions reductions plans and other favourable ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria in place.
The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that has been kept out of the air is commonly quantified in terms of kilogrammes or metric tonnes when discussing carbon offsets.
Can carbon offsetting help us meet our emission reduction goals?
Carbon offsetting works if it leads to a net decrease in atmospheric carbon, as would occur if polluting activities in one region were to reduce their carbon emissions. To counteract the emissions, you designate in your purchase, you must use carbon offsets that capture a verifiable amount of carbon.
Although this is a commendable strategy, it shouldn’t make up all your climate change mitigation efforts. Source reductions are necessary to achieve net-zero emissions, which is preferable to carbon neutrality from an environmental perspective.
Where Can I Find Some Good Cases of Carbon Offsets?
Tree planting is a standard method of creating carbon offsets because trees can absorb and store carbon dioxide. Although this is not the only way to counteract carbon output, it is the most popular and effective approach at the moment.
The most well-known approaches to carbon offsetting involve tree planting and other forms of restorative forestry, but there are other possibilities. Methods currently in use for capturing carbon include direct capture from CO2 emitted by fossil fuels, capture and storage of CO2 and other GHGs that seep out of landfills, and renewable energy projects (or clean energy projects) that create carbon credits. Rather than destroying forests and the carbon they store, a new method of offsetting allows them to remain uncut. The local communities that rely on the forest for their livelihoods benefit from this, and the forest’s biodiversity is preserved.
How can you tell if offsetting is effectively reducing your carbon footprint?
If you want to make a severe dent in the amount of carbon pollution you are personally responsible for, offsetting your emissions with a reputable organisation is a must. Most offset programmes can be relied upon, including Terrapass’ offsetting based on personal carbon offset calculations. It will help if you determine which option best suits your needs. High-quality Offsets are more likely to come from programmes that third-party auditors have verified according to the Gold Standard or Verra VCS standards.
Is It Possible to Neutralize My Carbon Footprint?
Depending on your lifestyle, where you live, and your level of self-awareness, you may be able to offset your carbon footprint. Because your existence contributes to worldwide indirect (and probably direct) emissions, reaching carbon neutrality without offsetting your footprint is exceedingly tricky. CO2 is produced and released whenever an elevator is used in a high-rise building, or a meal is cooked on the street. Knowing how much carbon your lifestyle generates and how much you can offset is essential for reaching net-zero emissions.
The less pollution you produce, the less effort will be needed to counteract it. The larger your carbon footprint, the more offsets you’ll need to compensate for your increased emissions.
Myplan8’s new app will be able to provide some of the best and easy offsetting projects for you neutralise your impact on the planet.
Think about this:
If we plant enough trees, We can offset our carbon dioxide emissions.
There are many variables that affect how many trees are needed to offset the effects of a ton of carbon footprint, such as the type of tree planted, the conditions in which it grows, the age of the tree, and so on. Myplan8’s data shows that you can offset 1 ton (i.e, 1,000 kgs) of your annual carbon emission by planting approximately 73 trees (i.e palm tree, 1361 kg, offset in 100 years, as we said the number will vary with the type of native tree). With the new Myplan8 app, you’ll be able to figure out exactly how much carbon you’re emitting and find an offsetting project to help you nuetralise it out.
