4 ms·
Carbon offsetting becomes effective when it causes less carbon to be emitted. It has to be so expensive that it makes the consumer of the carbon to think twice.
by tinco 4y ago
Carbon offsetting becomes effective when it causes less carbon to be emitted. It has to be so expensive that it makes the consumer of the carbon to think twice. This can only happen if the offsetting is mandatory. The further up the chain it is the more effective it is as well.
We might be able to death by a thousand cuts the CO2 problem. The more sectors we inconvenience with "green washing" type extra costs, the more attractive greener alternatives become, and the more funding potential solutions get.
The article suggests investing in a strategic fund instead, but it's really the same thing and has the same problem as the CO2 offsetting which is that the calculation of the amount of offset CO2 is not realistically calculated. The charities might have unrealistic long term CO2 offset estimates, but making the amount dependent on how much your budget allows for doesn't really make things better.
If you fly economy from LAX->AMS and back, you emit ~2500kg of CO2. Easiest way to capture that CO2 is by planting trees. Say you want to capture it within 5 years. That's about 50kg per tree, and about a third dies so you'll need to plant 150 trees to cover your flight, which is $150 on teamtrees.org. Provided of course they actually plant it within the next year (do they?).
That's already $50 more than that GCC site suggested you spend if you've got plenty money. Trees grow somewhat superlinearly so if you give your tree 10 years you need maybe $50 worth of trees.
Anyway, it still won't save the planet, that only happens when all of this is mandatory and not just for flights but for everything.
- RosanaAnaDana 4y agoI'd like to add to that, how much more soil carbon becomes present because of the litter being dropped by those trees? How much more water is being stored in the ground because of an increase in soil carbon? How much longer is the growing season extended by with additional water availability? How does extending the growing season impact mineralization and root exudate formation? How do these processes impact site specific net primary productivity? How does growing trees in a space impact our ability to grow trees in a space? These questions are all individually difficult to answer empirically, but are compounded by the massive amount of geologic and climatic variation we see across the planet.
- just-ok 4y agoAbsolutely, and it can also easily lead to direct, personal benefits: How much less air conditioning do you need because your house has more shade?
- quickthrower2 4y agoWe also need to plant trees for trees that have burned or died. So there is an ongoing cost. Maybe should be also a $1/month (?) subscription service forever, based on that one flight.
- 1986 4y agohttps://www.wren.co/ https://www.wren.co/
- aembleton 4y agoDo you also pay to store those trees in a salt mine or turned to charcoal and buried? If not, what happens when they die? They will release carbon.
- tinco 4y agoThey could be used for forestry, replacing concrete by using them for LVL beams. You could just leave them where they are and let nature do the process of incorporating the carbon into the soil.
- pnt12 4y agoThe opposite can also happen: people who can afford it not changing their habits because they are paying for the offset. If something is carbon neutral, many will pay to do it and not feel guilty about it. This also increases inequality: those with less money need to degrade their lifestyle, but those with more can choose to keep it.