Carbon Offset Providers
offer Verified Carbon Offsets, aka Verified Emissions Reductions (VERs), which are claimed
reductions in carbon emissions (balanced against carbon emissions) that are audited by an
independent third party and satisfy a particular criteria established for regulatory purposes or by a
voluntary offset certifier.
A Verified Emission Reduction (VER) is a reduction of one ton of greenhouse gas carbon equivalent.
A Verified Emission Reduction (VER) is a reduction of one ton of greenhouse gas carbon equivalent.
| Offset Provider: |
Non- Profit |
Offset Types | Project Types | Approx Price per ton CO2 | Project Certification/ Standards* |
| AtmosClear Massachusetts |
No | Auto, Home,Business | Methane in Illinois, Mini-Hydro | $15 per ton $475 for 100 |
ERT,VCS |
| Atmosfair Germany+ |
Yes | Air | Solar, Waste, Methane in Developing World | 23 Euros per ton | GS CDM |
| BeGreen Texas |
No | Auto, Home, Air | Wind,Solar,Biomass Reforestation in US | $14-20 per ton | EPA, Third Party Verification, CCAR, CCX |
| Bonneville
Environmental
Foundation Oregon |
Yes | Home, Travel, Event, Business | Solar on Schools and Watershed Restoration in US | $20, minimum 2 tons |
GeE |
| Carbon Clear UK |
No | Travel,Auto, Home,Babies |
Worldwide renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and community tree planting projects (up to 20%) | £8 per ton | CDM,VCS,VER, CER,GS |
| Carbonfund Maryland |
Yes | Auto, Air, Home, or go 100% ZeroCarbon, +Business | Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, Methane in US, Reforestation in Nicaragua, (you have choice) | Per year bulk prices start at $4.50 | GeE, ERT, CCBS,VCS, GS,EPA |
| CarbonCounter CarbonTrust Oregon |
Yes | Home,Auto,Air, +Business, Events, Employees, Large Emitters |
Truck Stop Electrification, Wind, Efficiency, Forest Management and Reforestation, Carpool Matching in NorthWest, US | $12 per ton | Third Party Verification |
| CarbonNeutral UK+ |
No | Businesses, Orgs,Individual | Renewable Energy,
Resource Conservation,
Waste Reduction, Forestry Worldwide |
Priced Per Event in Pounds | Third Party Verification,sell GS, VCS, VER and CER |
| Certified Clean
Car California |
No | Auto | Clean Power Generation through Green-e or CCX |
$13 | GeE, CCX |
| Clean Air Pass Canada |
No | Auto, Air,
Home, Zero
Carbon, + Businesses, Events |
Methane, Reforestation, Tire Recycling in Canada | $18 Canadian | Not Listed. |
| Climate Care UK |
No | Air, Auto, Home, +Business | Biomass, Wind, Hydro, Efficiency in Developing Countries | £9 per ton | GS CDM,VCS, GS VER |
| Climate Save Massachusetts |
Yes,
but not a charity |
Travel, Office, Events, Home, No Calculator. | New Wind and Solar (they do not state where) |
660 pound block of CO2 for $8.75 a month | GeE, Third Party Verification |
| co2balance UK+ |
No | Business, Travel, Home | Worldwide renewable energy and energy efficiency projects | From $10 per ton | GS VER |
| Conservation
Fund Go Zero Virginia |
Yes | Home, Auto, Air | Reforestation in US | $ 5 per ton | Conservation Fund Projects |
| e-BlueHorizons Massachusetts |
No, but give 50% to charity |
Individual and organizations | Methane Projects in New England | $ 5 per ton | ERT |
| Envirotrade UK |
Car,Home perAnnum,Air per flight | Biosequestration linked to land use change in Mozambique, Bhutan, Africa | £6.50 per ton | PlanVivo written by farmer |
|
| Less Canada |
No, 10% to charity |
Air or by the ton | 4.5MW Biomass-Based Renewable Power Plant in India | $40 per ton Canadian | GS CDM Third Party Verification, EcoLogo-certified |
| Live Neutral California |
Yes | Air, Auto, Home or by the ton | Energy Efficiency thru Chicago Climate Exchange |
$9 per ton | CCX Third Party Verification |
| Native Energy Vermont | No | Home, Car, Air, Events, Business | Wind, Methane,Hydro for Native Americans, farmers (you have choice) |
$12 | Third Party
Verification,CDM
GeE For Business;CDM GS,VERs, VCS |
| SELF (Solar
Electric Light
Fund) WashDC |
Yes | Per Ton | Solar electrification projects in more than fifteen developing nations | $10 per ton | Own Projects |
| Sustainable
Travel
International (MyClimate) Colorado, US+ |
Yes | Auto, Home, Travel,Gifts | Renewables, Energy Efficiency, Reforestation in Developing Countries | $12-$35 depending on project |
CDM GS, GeE, CCBS |
| TerraPass California |
No | Air, Auto, Home, Business | Methane and Wind in US | $11 per ton | CRS, CCX Third Party Verification |
| Tist Oklahoma |
Yes | per ton | CO2e offsets, created by subsistence farmers in East Africa and India, you chose the country | $8.50 | Clean Air Action Corporation (CAAC) |
Prices differ due to the company, quality and location of the offset credit.
| *Certifiers | ||
| CCAR | California Climate Action Registry www.climateregistry.org/ |
Climate Action Reserve is a program of the California Registry, a private non-profit, which tracks and registers voluntary projects that reduce emissions of GHGs. Has developed credible, accurate, and consistent GHG reporting standards and tools for organizations to measure, monitor, third-party verify and reduce their GHG emissions consistently across industry sectors and geographical borders. |
| CCBS | Climate, Community & Biodiversity
Standards www.climate-standards.org |
Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance has developed voluntary standards to help design and identify land management projects that simultaneously minimize climate change, support sustainable development and conserve biodiversity. |
| CCX | Chicago Climate Exchange www.chicagoclimatex.com/cont ent.jsf?id=23 |
Chicago Climate Exchange is currently North America’s largest voluntary “cap-and-trade” program. See CCX Rulebook. |
| CDM | CDM (CERs) Developing countries cdm.unfccc.int/index.html |
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Predominantly large scale projects that are UN backed. Projects undergo rigorous bureaucratic board procedures. |
| CER | Certified Emission Reductions | The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) market, a trading scheme set up during the Kyoto Protocol, allows companies from rich nations to invest in clean energy projects in developing countries and in exchange they receive Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), which they have the option of using toward their emissions targets or selling for a profit. |
| CR | Climate Registry www.theclimateregistry.org/ |
The Climate Registry is a nonprofit North American partnership developing an accurate, complete, consistent and transparent greenhouse gas emissions measurement protocol that is capable of supporting voluntary and mandatory greenhouse gas emission reporting policies for its Members and Reporters. It will provide a verified set of greenhouse gas emissions data from its Reporters supported by a robust accounting and verification infrastructure." |
| CRS | Center for Resource Solutions www.resource-solutions.org |
CRS, a nonprofit, designs policies, identifies best practices and creates implementation tools that promote renewable energy generation and ensures validity. |
| DOE | US Dept of Energy. www.pi.energy.gov/enhancingG HGregistry/generalguidelines.html | Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Policy and International Affairs. General Guidelines for the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases (1605(b)) Program first published in the Federal Register April 2006, corrected Jan 2007. |
| EPA | EPA's Climate Leaders program http://www.epa.gov/stateply/ |
Climate Leaders is an EPA industry-government partnership that works with companies to develop comprehensive climate change strategies. |
| ERT | Environmental Resources Trust www.ert.net |
ERT built the world's first private non-profit emissions registry in 1997. Rigorous but streamlined process to enable cost-effective registration of high quality GHG inventories and Verified Emission Reductions.'' |
| GeE | Green-e Energy www.green-e.org |
Green-e Renewable Energy Certification Program administered by the Center for Resource Solutions, a nonprofit, is a voluntary certification program that sets consumer-protection and environmental-integrity standards for greenhouse gas(GHG) emission reductions sold in the voluntary market. Green-e Energy is the nation's leading independent certification and verification program for renewable energy. |
| GS | Gold Standard*** www.cdmgoldstandard.org/ Used for both UN backed programs and voluntary credits |
The Gold Standard is a non-profit foundation initiated by WWF, SSN and Helio International, launched in 2003. Gold Standard offers a quality label (higher sustainable development credentials than required by the CDM rules) to CDM/JI and voluntary offset projects and is supported by a group of 51 NGOs/charitable organizations. Hosted by a UNEP Collaborating Centre. |
| GS CDM |
Gold Standard Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) cdm.unfccc.int/index.html |
Kyoto-UN Backed. Backed by 50+ NGOs/charities. Predominantly large scale projects like CDM but with strong focus on GHG at its source, sustainable development and community projects in developing countries. |
| GS VERs | Gold Standard Voluntary www.cdmgoldstandard.org/ Countries without a Kyoto target |
Backed by 50+ NGOs/charities. Rigorous high quality standards for the voluntary market. Based on CDM but without needing board authority. Marketplace for GS Offset Providers. |
| VERs | Verified Emission Reductions Also referred to as Voluntary Emission Reductions. |
A unit of emission reductions that has been verified by an independent auditor to a recognised standard. A one unit reduction is equivalent to one ton of CO2 greenhouse gas. |
| VCS | Voluntary Carbon Standard www.v-c-s.org |
Voluntary Carbon Standard was initiated by The Climate Group, the International Emissions Trading Association and the World Economic Forum in late 2005. Rigorous but appropriate voluntary market standard. |
Additionality
means that a project would 'not' have gone ahead without carbon credit funding. If a project is financially viable without carbon financing, it is not considered additional.
means that a project would 'not' have gone ahead without carbon credit funding. If a project is financially viable without carbon financing, it is not considered additional.
| Reports: (see also carbon mkts page) www.ieagreen.org.uk/glossies/Carbon%20Offs ets%20(web).pdf |
Pew Center. "Ensuring Offset Quality, Integrating High Quality Green House Gas Offsets into North American Cap and Trade Policy" Offset Quality Initiative offers policymakers practical recommendations for the integration of greenhouse gas offsets into emerging regulatory systems at the state, regional and federal levels. (July 2008) This report discusses the advantages and disadvantages of voluntary carbon offsets as a mechanism for reducing GHG emissions. It defines offsets and explains what makes a ‘quality offset’. It describes the various standards for offsets, explains how the market operates, and lists the main providers and purchasers. |
| www.pewclimate.org/docUploads/OQI-Ensuri ng-Offset-Quality-white-paper.pdf | Pew Center. "Ensuring Offset Quality, Integrating High Quality Green House Gas Offsets into North American Cap and Trade Policy" Offset Quality Initiative offers policymakers practical recommendations for the integration of greenhouse gas offsets into emerging regulatory systems at the state, regional and federal levels. (July 2008) |