Carbon Offsetting

Title: Icons Photo by: Mika Hiironniemi Licence: CC Attribution License


The latest wrinkle in the global warming hysteria is "carbon offsetting". The idea is that when you pollute (add carbon to the atmosphere through fuel consumption) you pay someone else to do something that will negate or remove that carbon. It's a bit like rock stars trashing a hotel room and then paying to have it fixed.

But stop for a minute to consider how this actually works. If there was a good large scale way to remove carbon from the atmosphere, then global warming would not be the serious issue that is considered to be. There are three main strategies used by carbon offsetting companies (the people who get your carbon offsetting money).

First is planting trees. Plants like all living things are mainly water and carbon. When you grow a tree it absorbs carbon (remember that plants breath in CO2 during photosynthesis and exhale O2, keeping the C within them). A fully grown tree could have a couple of tons of carbon in it.

The second is to produce energy from renewable sources. The third is to help conservation such as providing low energy light bulbs.

The problem with trees is that trees die and when they die the carbon goes back into the eco system. A forest fire is the most rapid version of this reversal of the carbon collection process. Really all trees are going to do is sequester the carbon for 50 to 100 years and then it will be back in circulation. Nothing compared to the 100 to 200 million years that the oil spend under the ground.

The problem with both planting trees and building renewable energy sources is that carbon offsetting fees are not going to have a big impact on whether these projects are done or not. Currently banks are not willing to finance projects where carbon offsetting fees are a critical component (because it is unproven and not sufficiently secure). Therefore carbon offsetting fees are merely going to add to the profitability of such projects. So the carbon offsetting fees are more likely to end up in the pockets of the investors than actually increasing the number of acres planted or the number of wind turbines or hydro electric dams built etc. Perhaps in the very long run this may attract more investment to the energy sector, assuming carbon offsetting also stays around.

A problem with conservation measure such as providing low energy light bulbs is that carbon offsetting fees are simply one of the most inefficient ways to approach the problem. It would be far more efficient to make tungsten and halogen based lighting illegal or put the offset fee into the actual price of the inefficient products so that consumers will naturally choose the more efficient products because they are on the same price level. If we can get CFCs out of fridges and have laws governing efficiency on boilers and appliances it is not a great leap to do this in other areas too.

The problem with all carbon offsetting is that it allows people to continue producing large amounts of carbon dioxide and feel that they are not doing any harm by it. One is reminded of papal indulgences, "pay us some money and knock years off your stay in purgatory".

Most people think that carbon offsetting is offsetting the bad effects by adding good effects but it is quite the reverse. Really carbon offsetting is offsetting any good measures taken by allowing people to use up those carbon savings.

The same logic applies to carbon trading which is offsetting at a national level. The idea is that all nations on a per capita basis have an equal right to ruin the planet so a level of damage is agreed. Underdeveloped countries that are not capable of causing their share of the damage sell their rights to developed countries who are very capable of doing more than their fair share of the damage. Has anything improved? Well, it won't help the environment and it may transfer a tiny amount of cash to developing nations. So why not skip the carbon trading bullshit and simply improve foreign aid, remove trade barriers and start reducing your own carbon footprint and stop expecting other people to clean up your mess.