Carbon Neutral
Climate Change is Happing Now
How Offsetting Helps with Climate Change
You might be wondering, why carbon offsets? Well, they’re an effective way to fight against climate change. Between 1950 and 2008, carbon dioxide levels doubled. Carbon offsets support projects around the world that ensure those levels don’t continue to rise. Because our day-to-day habits and the products we use all emit greenhouse gases, we can opt for carbon neutral products to help support projects that reduce the impact of those emissions by reducing or sequestering carbon.
There are different types of carbon offset projects that we are working on to offset our carbon emissions.
Reforestation: this conserves and plants tree- the act of photosynthesis naturally sequesters carbon from the atmosphere.
Renewable energy: these projects convert energy sources away from fossil fuels, reducing emissions and creating clean power grids for the future; and community initiatives, where support is given to transition to more efficient day-to-day technologies.
Developers partner with communities to ensure that they have the resources to get these projects off the ground. And, selling carbon offset credits through initiatives like Green Story’s carbon offset tool provides crucial funding for these projects to continue to thrive. Below are the projects we are supporting.
Renewable Energy Project
source: Photo by Antonio Garcia on Unsplash
About the Project:
A solar energy project in Rajasthan, India that generates clean and renewable electricity. It is composed of 3 power plants, with a total installed capacity of 400MW.
At a glance:
Replaces coal fired thermal energy sources to reduce an average of 694,471 tons of C02 per year. The project developer supports supplemental initiatives that uplift community members and protect the environment.
Social benefits of the Project:
Supports rural electrification projects covering almost 3000 villages in the region and currently funds 12 local schools providing them with upgraded infrastructure and basic amenities.
Environment benefits of the Project:
Reduces greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating the need for coal fired thermal energy sources and generates 732,874 MWh/year of clean renewable energy.
How it works:
Project developer funds and installs solar panels, a renewable energy source that generates electricity. The electricity is sold to the state energy grid, displacing the need for energy generated by coal fired thermal power sources. Greenhouse gases are reduced, the grid becomes cleaner, and offsets are sold to continue developing the project and supporting the community.
Click HERE for more information.
Reforestation Project
Source : Photo by Rohit Tandon on Unsplash
About the project:
This project takes degraded land owned by small scale and underprivileged farmers and supports soil restoration by replanting degraded land with trees to increase forest cover, resulting in carbon sequestration.
At a glance:
The project currently supports 12,002 farmers covering 14,969 hectares of land across three different states in India. Besides increasing the forest cover, the project is a source of livelihood and income in local communities.
Social benefits of the Project:
Supports local job creation to maintain and run projects and silviculture and carbon revenues generated through the project will be shared with participating farmers.
Environmental benefits of the Project:
Increases forest cover which is a key method of sequestering carbon, reduces topsoil degradation from wind and water erosion and conserves biodiversity by promoting soil health.
How it works:
Farmers and communities that own small plots of degraded land are given financial support and technical guidance to begin replanting on their land. Community members are hired to help with the task of replanting and maintaining the degraded lands. Once replanted and matured, carbon will be sequestered promoting biodiversity- playing a role in supporting soil health. Land that would have laid bare is now a source of livelihood, and any carbon revenue generated goes back to the participating farmers thus stimulating the local economy.
Click HERE for more information.