CARBON NEUTRALITY

 It’s the PR goal of many companies to become “carbon neutral” or “climate neutral” in order to gain and retain environmentally conscious customers. In fact an organization with the name Climate Neutral has certified about 280 such companies, claiming, “The world needs to reach zero net carbon emissions by 2050.” Looking at their list of 150 companies, I didn’t recognize any.

Their three steps to neutrality are 1] Measure carbon emissions; 2] Purchase carbon credits to offset the emissions; 3] Reduce future emissions. The theory is that carbon credits will balance carbon emissions. But will they? How is this even possible? 

There are 16 companies listed on GOOGLE that offer to offset Carbon by selling “Carbon Offsets” and using the proceeds to do something to reduce carbon emissions.

The lead paragraph on the search says, “Carbon offsets are schemes or initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas or carbon dioxide emissions by compensating for or neutralizing the emissions made.” The word schemes is a good description of their business models. 

How is carbon balanced by these companies? There are several methods listed. The most common is to plant trees, an obvious choice since God created vegetation to release oxygen into the air after photosynthesis. Not a bad idea, but an acre of grass releases more oxygen than an acre of trees. The best of these involves the planting of fruit trees in poor countries to provide food. 

Other schemes, I mean methods, are methane emission reductions at landfills and family farms. Cow produced methane is captured both by gas bags placed on cows and by processing the manure and extracting the methane. It seems like carbon dioxide and methane are two big concerns for the carbon credit companies. 

Some projects include renewable energy such as wind turbines and solar panels. Others simply include workshops, seminars, and training programs, or water conservation, forest management, and waste heat capture. A few descriptions are rather vague, like “finding impressive projects around the world” that offset carbon usage. They use profits to find projects, but then what? 

In conclusion, a company or individual pays for carbon credits and these organizations take the money and work on projects to reduce carbon emissions. It’s a lofty effort for an inconclusive result to an unconfirmed problem of questionable science. But it has been very profitable for some in this market. 

God created the perfect atmospheric oxygen/carbon dioxide balance, and it’s still unknown how beneficial an increase in global temperatures can be.

 COPYRIGHT 2021 BY CARL E GUSTAFSON