How Renewable Energy Credits (REC's) Work:
Coal is the cheapest source of energy and over 54% of the electricity in the U.S. is produced from it. Currently, green energy is often more expensive than energy derived from dirty burning fossil fuels, such as coal. As you would expect, the power companies purchase electricity from the cheapest sources available to keep their costs as low as possible. However, if they can purchase green energy (such as wind, solar, biomass, etc.) for the same price as energy derived from fossil fuels, then they will and are required to do so by law.
Purchasing a Renewable Energy Credit (REC) is simply a donation to bridge the gap between the price of Traditional energy and green energy. By bridging this price gap, you are, thereby, forcing the electric companies to pump more green energy into the power grid and, consequently, less dirty energy produced from fossil fuels. For each Kilowatt-hour (kwh) of credit you purchase, you are eliminating the burning of approximately 1 pound of coal for energy.
How Carbon Offsets Work:
A carbon offset is similar to a carbon credit (or REC) in that the end result is a reduced amount of carbon in our atmosphere. The difference is that a carbon offset can be accomplished, not only by renewable energy, but also by making a donation toward various projects that promote green energy or absorb carbon that is already in the air. This includes the planting of trees (which absorb carbon from our air) through reforestation projects, preserving a section of rain forest (or other forest) that would otherwise be destroyed by logging & deforestation, the development of wind turbines for future green energy, and various other green carbon-reducing projects and technologies.
How to Offset Your Carbon Footprint Now: 4MyPlanet enables you to calculate the amount of carbon emissions you generate (through our carbon calculator), then purchase our Verified Carbon Offsets or REC's to offset all, or a portion of, your carbon emissions. This allows you to reduce or completely offset your carbon footprint. As you, and others, make the choice to support carbon offsets and renewable energy credits, your purchases add clean energy sources such as wind, solar, and biomass to the national power grid. As the demand for clean energy sources grows, less of our energy will come from high polluting, carbon-producing fossil fuels. This will also help relieve our dependency on foreign oil and lower the impact fossil fuels have on global warming.
Dirty Statistics:
Over 54% of the electricity produced in U.S. is generated from coal. In fact, more than 84% of the coal consumed each year in the U.S. is used to generate electricity. It takes about one pound of coal to generate one kilowatt hour (kwh) of electricity. To put this into perspective, it takes 1 pound of coal to power a 100 watt light bulb for just 10 hours. Powering this same light bulb just 4 hours per day requires 146 pounds of coal per year, and that's just ONE light bulb. The table below gives more examples of the enormous amounts of coal the average American burns just to run their daily household…
Electric Appliance |
Average Wattage |
Average Kilowatts |
Pounds of Coal Consumed Annually |
Dishwasher |
1,201 |
1.20 |
363 |
Microwave |
1,450 |
1.45 |
190 |
Stove |
12,200 |
12.20 |
730 |
Clothes Dryer |
4,856 |
4.86 |
993 |
Iron |
1,100 |
1.10 |
60 |
Washing Machine |
512 |
0.51 |
103 |
Refrigerators/Freezers |
2,250 |
2.25 |
1,500 |
Hair Dryer |
600 |
0.60 |
25 |
B/W Television |
45 |
0.05 |
100 |
Color Television |
145 |
0.14 |
320 |
Clock |
2 0 |
.01 |
320 |
Vacuum Cleaner |
630 |
0.63 |
46 |