Carbon Credits Credibility

“Carbon credits” discussed in this article, as demonstrated by the cartoon in yesterday’s posting, is something that we can buy to “offset” our personal carbon footprint.  This is the wiki link if you want to know more about personal carbon credits in the voluntary market.  So where do these carbon credits come from?  Well, that is a huge problem right now because the credibilities of these carbon credits vary a lot, and so is the price on them!  

Here is a really interesting example from a friend (Hi Chris!) that I’m sure you will enjoy:

If I decide not fart for an entire year, the amount of CO2-equivalent that I will have saved is 1-tonne (ok, i really don’t know how much I fart but let’s say it’s equal to 1 tonne CO2 equivalent). Now I can sell 1-tonne carbon credit to anyone who would be willing to pay for it. Sounds crazy?  Well, this is how credible some carbon credits are right now!  

So who are the credible carbon credit sources?  The good news is there are credible carbon offset accredidation standards in the voluntary market!  Who are they?  Well…  I’ll have to get back to you on that.  Do you have recommendations?