CARBON OFFSETTING: WHY AND HOW
The build-up of greenhouse gases (GHGs) due to use of fossil fuels stands at a level of 419 parts per million (ppm) and rising daily! We must REDUCE carbon emissions by 15% A YEAR to start returning to the ‘safe’ level of 350 ppm’s. Optimally, we need to CUT use of fossil fuels to ZERO as soon as possible.
Fossil fuel usage comes mainly from:
- Housing – heating, cooling and cooking, plus use of household appliances
- Transport – cars and flying (accounting for 28% of individual UK transport emissions)
- Consumption – emissions from manufacturing and transporting goods, including food.
Your personal Carbon emissions:
You can make a calculation of your personal use of fossil fuels and convert that into an amount of Green House Gases. These are usually expressed as Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), to standardise the effect of the different gases (Methane and Nitrous Oxide being the two others most likely to be in your equation), and this is referred to as your Carbon Footprint. (You will find a calculator at the bottom of this page. *)
Once you have calculated your own carbon emissions and made a plan to reduce them, then you need to offset the remaining emissions by something like planting trees.
There are many offsetting web sites, some more reliable than others, indeed some with inappropriate actions, but when you support Rainforest Saver you are doing more than just planting more trees. You are enabling farmers to grow food organically with no inputs besides the Inga trees and a machete, and strong motivation to look after the Inga trees. Our cost for planting trees consists largely of a budget for teaching the system to new farmers. It involves an intensive training process to embed correct practice, so please be generous!
The current cost of carbon on European exchanges is £13.50 per tonne.
We estimate that on average an Inga tree growing in the system will capture 739Kg of carbon over 20 years, just under ¾ of a tonne, so an appropriate value per tree is £9.98 (let’s call that £10). Suppose your household produces 9 tonnes of emissions a year, you would need 12 trees, or £120 a year.
Read more here on the basis of our calculations.
*This is the most complete calculator for personal CO2 we have found
https://www.carbonindependent.org/23.html
or another good site