Since each of our offsetting methods reduces atmospheric carbon in a unique way, it is difficult to tell where your carbon-offset purchase will have the biggest impact. Financing Renewable Energy projects and retiring Carbon Credits make a positive impact in the near future, where its needed to curb climate change, while reforestation improves wildlife habitats and makes a positive impact over the long term. Therefore, 4myPlanet takes a diversified approach and supports the following carbon reducing methods.
Renewable Energy
One of 4MyPlanet’s goals is to provide opportunities for small-scale renewable energy projects (such as family farm wind turbines) to receive the additional funding needed to complete the widespread development of these projects. With climate change and the rising cost of electricity, today’s farmers are beginning to harvest more than just crops. They’re now looking to harvest the wind. Farmers understand they must invest something in order to harvest something. They need equipment to harvest a crop, and in this case, they need a wind turbine to harvest the wind.
The substantial up-front costs that often deter farmers and other project developers from investing in renewable energy projects is a problem. Part of 4MyPlanet's mission is to connect with farms, and other projects, in need of additional up-front financing to get their wind turbines built, installed and provide them financing. 4MyPlanet will assess each project’s needs for funds. If sale of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are needed to complete the project, the company will then purchase the project’s total expected lifetime RECs output, thus providing the necessary support to complete the project. This will enable farms to harness clean energy in an independent, self sustaining way.
4MyPlanet’s project-specific focus is to assist the completion of renewable energy projects that would otherwise not be completed without additional financing. This is referred to as “additionally” and ensures that our efforts are making a notable difference in the amount of “new” clean energy being pumped into our power grid.
4MyPlanet has a strong commitment to investing in high-quality projects that, not only have a positive impact on our planet’s environment, but also incorporate considerable social values as well. Our primary goals are first, to build or contribute to as many high-quality renewable energy projects as possible, thereby helping our country to become more energy independent; and second, to lower carbon emissions output, which addresses pollution and its impact on climate change with real, effective solutions.
4MyPlanet leverages market demand for carbon offsets to bring more renewable energy projects online. 4MyPlanet offers third-party verified and certified renewable energy certificates and offsets from a variety of operating projects across America. By bringing up-front payment to developing renewable energy projects for estimated future carbon offsets, 4MyPlanet enables its clients to help directly finance the construction and completion of new wind farms and other renewable energy projects. 4MyPlanet continues to focus on real, “additional” carbon offsets that provide an environmental benefit for both people and our planet. Use our Carbon Calculator to estimate and offset your carbon emissions today.
Energy Efficiency through Carbon Credits
One of the most effective methods of reducing a particular pollutant is through a “cap and trade” program. This means that an authority, such as the government, states that only a limited amount of a specific pollutant will be permitted annually and that each company in the country or state is permitted to emit a limited amount of that pollutant, generally a bit less than their historical norm. If a company manages to reduce its emissions by a greater amount than they were legally bound to, they may sell their "right to pollute" to other companies who have been unable to meet their emissions target.
In 1990, the United States created a very effective cap and trade program to deal with Sulphur Dioxide and the EU has now begun using cap and trade as a way to reduce CO2 emissions through the Kyoto accord. However, the United States is not a member of the Kyoto accord, and therefore, companies operating within the United States are not bound by its carbon emissions controls. However, this didn’t stop Richard Sandor, a former chief economist at the Chicago Board of Trade. Through his persistence, and with the voluntary participation of multiple US corporations, the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) was born.
The CCX is monitored by the National Association of Securities Dealers and has more than 171 voluntary members, which include some very big players: Ford Motor Co., IBM, DuPont, Amtrak, Motorola, American Electric Power, the state of New Mexico, small landfill operators, foresters, universities, a few cities, and a Colorado ski resort. Members of the exchange pay a $50,000 entry fee and commit to reducing emissions of carbon dioxide or five other primary greenhouse gases. They have signed on to a legally binding contract to reduce their emissions and trade their right to pollute on a free market exchange based in Chicago.
So what would possess a major corporation to voluntarily reduce their emissions, much less legally bind themselves to do so? Here are a few reasons...
1 ) It's a proactive response to future government regulation.
Smart companies already realize that increased regulation of emissions by government is likely, if not inevitable. By taking the steps now to comply, sheltered by an association of like-minded companies, the likelihood of draconian government action is reduced.
2 ) Streamlines ease of doing business with Europe
Many US companies are already losing business in Europe as their cross Atlantic counterparts become leaner and more competitive in response to the Kyoto accord. Furthermore, they need to comply with stricter regulations overseas if they choose to sell products there.
3 ) It's profitable now
Reducing emissions means making your operations more efficient. More efficient operations, although requiring some up-front investment for retrofitting, saves money in the long run. Lower costs means higher profits. By selling their excess carbon reductions on the open market, they get a double bonus - direct income paid to them from less efficient companies that didn’t meet their emissions reductions requirements.
4 ) Believe it or not, some companies are starting to see the light.
Companies are made up of all kinds of people. Many of them are as interested in making the world a better place as they are in making a living (after all, without a planet, you won't have much of a living). These people are starting to move their companies in a greener direction.
How does the emissions cap get lowered?
In any cap and trade system, simply adding a cap does not actually lower emissions. The cap, and thus emissions, can only be lowered in two ways - One, if the governing authority lowers it by some percentage. In the case of CCX, there is a binding agreement when joining for each participating company to reduce their emissions cap by a certain percentage on an annual basis. Secondly, emissions credits can actually be permanently retired so they can't be used again, thereby permanently denying another company the ability to purchase the right to pollute. Since the average person doesn’t have $50,000 to join the CCX, carbon-offset companies, such 4myPlanet, purchase emissions rights on behalf of its customers, then retires those rights forever. Therefore, the overall emissions cap gets lowered with each carbon offset purchased by its customers. Use our Carbon Calculator to estimate and offset your carbon emissions today.
Carbon Sequestration through Reforestation
The World Bank estimates that 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by deforestation. Estimates are that as much as 50% of the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide during the past 50 years may be due to the effects of changing patterns in land use. In the USA alone, each year we lose more than two million acres of farmland, forests, and natural landscapes to development. In the Lower Mississippi River Valley, more than 20 million acres of native forestland have been cleared in the last century.
While preserving and restoring America’s forests alone will not stop global warming, a combined global effort to reduce atmospheric carbon will certainly make a difference. Given the scale of the effort required to tackle climate change, we need to pursue new technologies that help us reduce our carbon footprint, while also recognizing and using the tools we have at our fingertips. Use our Carbon Calculator to estimate and offset your carbon emissions today.