Traveling by Air – Consider Buying Carbon Offsets

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Air travel is one of the top ten causes of excessive greenhouse gas emissions. The emissions generated by air travel account for about five percent of the total warming effect.[1] Twelve thousand thirteen cubic miles of polluted air is created by the airline industry each year, which is equivalent to a 4-inch thick layer of unbreathable air covering the entire Earth’s surface.[2] The warming effect and environmental impact of one round-trip flight from San Francisco to New York is equivalent to 2 or 3 tons of carbon dioxide per person.[3] To put this in perspective, the average American generates about 19 tons of carbon dioxide per year.[4] So, if you travel by air then consider buying a carbon offset to offset the carbon emissions produced by your travel.

What are carbon offset?

Carbon offsets are voluntarily purchased by individuals and companies that want to reduce their carbon footprint. A carbon offset (or carbon credit) is equal to one metric ton of carbon dioxide emission reduction.[5] Carbon offset transactions use serial numbers to avoid double counting and trading occurs in a regulated carbon market.[6]

Types of carbon offset project

Agricultural methane capture – This type of project takes animal manure, breaks it down into usable organic fertilizer and methane gas. The methane gas is used for energy or destroyed preventing the gas from entering the atmosphere.[7]

Forestry projects – These specifics of forestry projects varies yet the concepts remain consistent. Forestry projects protect forests from degradation or destruction or develop new forests.[8]

Landfill gas capture – In this type of project, methane gas produced by a landfill is captured by a gas recovery machine and either used for energy or burned to prevent its release into the atmosphere.

Quality project or Scam

Before you buy a carbon offset, it is important to research and verify the authenticity of the seller.[10]

1.      Make sure the project is real
2.      Make sure the project is verified through a third party
3.      Make sure the project is enforceable – are there penalties in place if the landowner does not comply
4.      Make sure the project is permanent – for instance, you do not want to support a grove of trees if the landowner plans on cutting them down in six months
5.      Make sure the project is additional – verify that the project would not have existed without offset purchases. If for instance, a landowner had no intention of clear cutting his forest then receiving offset funds to do so is pointless and essentially becomes a gift with no impact on reducing carbon.
6.      Guard against leakage – leakage is when the desired conservation efforts are shifted to a different area rather than being prevented outright. For example, if offset money prevented a landowner from selling his trees to a logging company and the logging company purchases the adjacent tree grove then the deforestation shifted rather than being prevented – this is leakage.

Where do I purchase a carbon offset?

Green-e.org provides a list of certified carbon offset projects.

The American Carbon Registry is recognized for its strong science-based standards and methodologies.

Most airline companies offer carbon offsets and some, like Delta, offer carbon emissions calculator. Delta touts the success of its carbon offset programs announcing on April 19, 2018 that it will buy 45,000 carbon offsets on that day alone.[11]

When it is time to fly – then it is time to buy (a carbon offset)!


[1] Rosenthal, Elisabeth. 2013. “Your biggest carbon sin may be air travel.” Sunday Review. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/sunday-review/the-biggest-carbon-sin-air-travel.html?_r=0
[2] Buildreps, Mario. 2015. “How much carbon dioxicde is produced by airplanes?” HubPages. https://hubpages.com/politics/How-Much-Air-Uses-One-Airplane
[3] Rosenthal, Elisabeth. 2013.
[4] Rosenthal, Elisabeth. 2013.
[5] Cowan, Rori. 2017. “New pathways for carbon offsets.” Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-04/documents/lmop_2017_special_session_cowan.pdf
[6] Cowan, Rori. 2017.
[7] Google White Paper. 2011. “Google’s carbon offsets: collaboration and due diligence.”
[8] Google White Paper. 2011.
[9] Google White Paper. 2011.
[10] Palmer, Brian. 2016. “Should you buy carbon offsets?” National Resource Defense Council. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/should-you-buy-carbon-offsets
[11] Modolo, Kate. 2018. “Delta offsets carbon emissions for 170,000+ customers Thursday.” Delta News Hub. https://news.delta.com/delta-offsets-carbon-emissions-170000-customers-thursday
Photo credit: NASA

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