Compensating carbon emissions

#1

Post by bramv » Sat, Oct 21, 2017, 9:08 AM UTC

Compensating carbon emissions
carbonaltdelete.eu

Re: Compensating carbon emissions

#2

Post by vogon_laureate » Sat, Oct 21, 2017, 10:01 AM UTC

This sounds like a naive response to a fundamentally flawed system. The EU ETS has been a failure from the beginning. Commoditising pollution just leads to more abstractions and opportunities for fraud, laundering and lack of accountability. It takes the onus away from government regulation and puts it in the hands of the market whereby those most responsible for pollution already have enormous agency to influence market outcomes in their favour.

Re: Compensating carbon emissions

#3

Post by Heliosmaster » Sat, Oct 21, 2017, 10:06 AM UTC

I would like instead to fund reforestation projects, which can have a positive impact also on the wildlife and the economy of certain regions, while capturing CO2

Re: Compensating carbon emissions

#4

Post by a_imho » Sat, Oct 21, 2017, 10:19 AM UTC

What do I pay for?
As a non-profit organization, we don’t make profit on our operations. All the payments we receive go directly to deleting emission allowances. The price we charge you for deleting one emission allowance consists of 3 parts:

1. The price of the emission allowance. We buy emission allowances upfront and uses the price that was paid for it. Therefore, the price of an emission allowance might be different than the spot price at the time that you buy it. 2. A transaction fee of 15%. We use the transaction fee to cover operational costs (such as web hosting and payment systems). 3. VAT of 21%, imposed by the Belgian government.

Re: Compensating carbon emissions

#5

Post by wz1000 » Sat, Oct 21, 2017, 10:22 AM UTC

If companies can't pollute in the EU, that just means the pollution happens elsewhere.

Re: Compensating carbon emissions

#6

Post by hannob » Sat, Oct 21, 2017, 10:23 AM UTC

This seems to be based upon the idea that the EU ETS system works. Which it doesn't. Since many years.

Far too many emission certificates have been given out for free to industries. And there are plenty of loopholes in the system.

Re: Compensating carbon emissions

#7

Post by ohthehugemanate » Sat, Oct 21, 2017, 10:33 AM UTC

vogon_laureate wrote: post #2

This sounds like a naive response to a fundamentally flawed system. The EU ETS has been a failure from the beginning. Commoditising pollution just leads to more abstractions and opportunities for fraud, laundering and lack of accountability. It takes the onus away from government regulation and puts it in the hands of the market whereby those most responsible for pollution already have enormous agency to influence ma…

Are you implying that massive industrial interests DON'T have the capability to buy special political influence?

Re: Compensating carbon emissions

#8

Post by marvin » Sat, Oct 21, 2017, 10:48 AM UTC

I really like this service; if CO2 emissions can actually be reduced simply by paying this extra amount, it is fantastic.

But is it really this simple? I arrived at ~120€ per year to offset all my CO2 emissions. (I live in a small apartment, don't use a car but fly quite a lot). If this extra cost is all it takes, we should increase taxes accordingly, at once. I would think that the price of producing all my goods and services with only sustainable energy (all the way to the raw materials of the plane I fly) is a significant multiple of this number. Has anyone done the calculation to arrive at a more specific number?

Re: Compensating carbon emissions

#9

Post by tom_mellior » Sat, Oct 21, 2017, 10:49 AM UTC

hannob wrote: post #6

This seems to be based upon the idea that the EU ETS system works. Which it doesn't. Since many years. Far too many emission certificates have been given out for free to industries. And there are plenty of loopholes in the system.

> Far too many emission certificates have been given out for free to industries.

My understanding was that that was only in the beginning, when the system was introduced. Businesses that previously polluted for free could continue to pollute for free for a transitional period. I may be wrong.

> And there are plenty of loopholes in the system.

Do you have a good source to read up on this?

Re: Compensating carbon emissions

#10

Post by marvin » Sat, Oct 21, 2017, 10:50 AM UTC

a_imho wrote: post #4

What do I pay for? As a non-profit organization, we don’t make profit on our operations. All the payments we receive go directly to deleting emission allowances. The price we charge you for deleting one emission allowance consists of 3 parts: 1. The price of the emission allowance. We buy emission allowances upfront and uses the price that was paid for it. Therefore, the price of an emission allowance might be differ…

The VAT is the big problem here; initiatives such as this one should not pay taxes as long as they are non-profit.