Your Guide To Green

Lately I have been hearing more and more about neutralizing carbon emissions, emissions trading and offsetting emissions. In essence, they are all about the same thing--giving back in direct relationship to what you are “taking.� Let me explain a little better...

Harmful greenhouse gases (GHG) are released in a variety of circumstances from burning fossil fuels in our vehicles, ships and aircraft to cows releasing gas as they graze. In order to mitigate the harmful environmental effects of the increased concentration of GHG, specifically methane and carbon dioxide, you can choose to neutralize your emissions by purchasing shares of renewable energy. By doing this, the conventional electricity supply is supplemented with renewable energy, thus decreasing the consumption of conventional electricity and replacing it with renewable.

This has a dual effect--it reduces the use of fossil fuels used to generate electricity -- coal-fired power plants-- and it adds the attributes of green energy – solar, hydro, wind, etc. Remember, it is not just sun, moving water and wind-energy that is renewable--dairy farms can install digesters that process nutrient-rich cow manure into a useable energy source.

So, every time renewable energy is generated it has two effects--the electric supplies go into the grid and the non-energy attributes are sold as a carbon neutralizer in the form of a certificate that is validated by The Green-e Program. In most cases (the smart cases!), this certificate represents what people have purchased to offset their emissions--they are offsetting the negative environmental repercussions of their actions by purchasing the positive effects of generating renewable energy. It grows from there.

Major industries trade emissions on the Chicago Climate Exchange (like the New York Stock Exchange, but for GHG emissions) where companies that have not "spent" all their allowable emissions can sell it to companies that have gone over their allotted amount.

All this being explained....offsetting your carbon emissions is much EASIER and CHEAPER than I thought. I expected to pay a substantial sum of money to offset my emissions from driving, flying and general household electric consumption. Keep in mind that I am rather thrifty with energy and very conscious of consumption, so I am below average for a household. But, when it is all totaled for a year, I could neutralize the TOTAL emissions from our-two-person household for about $300 per year! And, as an added bonus, many of the organizations involved in renewable energy have non-profit status, so your payment also can be an excellent tax write-off.

Once I realized that we are emitting TONS of CO2 into our atmosphere each year I absolutely had to begin offsetting in earnest. What a wonderful, easy solution to helping people go green!

If you want to explore offsetting your carbon footprint, take a look at The Green-e Program's website to find a provider nearest you: www.green-e.org .

Renewable Choice Energy http://www.renewablechoice.com/

Green-e
http://www.green-e.org/

Terra Pass
http://www.terrapass.com/

Native Energy
http://www.nativeenergy.com/

Carbon Fund
http://www.carbonfund.org/