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Before heading down this path an understating of Jevons Paradox is worthwhile [1]. Rather than trying to spend money offsetting your carbon footprint you would

• Robotbeat 8y ago
  Indeed. However, that's why I'm asking this question. If the carbon offset actually works, it should make the net climate impact zero. We're not talking about just improving the efficiency of some process (I think some offsets do this?), but actual permanent removal of CO2 from the air.
  • danieltillett 8y ago
    There is some research going on in this area, but it is still too expensive at this stage to be viable. We need to first stop pumping CO2 into the atmosphere while we work on finding viable ways of pulling it out. The best suggestion I have heard is slash and char of the tropical rainforests. The idea here is that instead of the current slash and burn agriculture is you instead pay the locals to produce biochar and bury the resulting char back in the soil. You can fix around 30t/C per hectare from the regrow and by turning the forest into biochar you prevent the carbon being released again into the atmosphere. There is just enough rainforest to balance the carbon being emitted, although it will soon be overwhelmed by the growth of emissions.