What are carbon offsets and renewable energy credits, and how are they distinguished from each other? More importantly, how are they beneficial to you?

Carbon offsets are defined as balancing your carbon dioxide emissions with a product that saves, stores, or produces in equivalent amounts to CO2. In other words, they offset your carbon footprint with something beneficial.

Renewable energy credits are defined as the “environmental and economic value of electricity produced from clean, renewable, emission-free energy resources that are safe for our environment and will never be depleted.” To summarize the difference between the two, “RECs are primarily concerned with promoting the generation of clean energy, while carbon offsets are primarily concerned with preventing the emissions that enter the atmosphere.”

So how does this translate to something you can actually incorporate into your daily life?

You can purchase RECs or carbon offsets to cover what you use in your home or office. There are companies such as The Green Office that will help you find these to purchase. They direct you to RECs to replace electricity used, and carbon offsets for all other wastes. These certificates can be sold or traded and the money is used to produce more green energy, which is fed into the electrical grid by mandate.

Each state varies in the programs it offers to support this concept. You can research your individual state to discover how you can do your part. You can offset your carbon footprint by making other eco-friendly decisions throughout your home and office as well. Consider installing solar power or more energy efficient appliances, for example.

Posted on July 18th in Going Solar by Anna.