http://www.thearticleplanet.com/ Articles at Free Article Directory - Free Content For Webmasters en-us http://www.thearticleplanet.com/business/ethics/carbon-credits-and-its-benefits.html http://www.thearticleplanet.com/business/ethics/carbon-credits-and-its-benefits.html Wed, 26 Aug 2009 05:18:13 -0500
National governments and industries are allotted fixed number of carbon credits to regulate their emission levels, and the credits permit the owner to release a limited amount of CO2 and other gases into the environment. One carbon credit amounts to one ton of carbon dioxide released in the environment. This essentially means that high-emission corporations can purchase carbon credits from low-emission industries, thereby keeping the net global emissions within the stipulated cap.

The best thing about this system is that businesses and industries causing pollution of the environment have to pay for their excesses by means of purchase of carbon credits from the trading market. However, this is a reciprocal trade where selling and buying of carbon credits are done simultaneously by low and high emission firms. Therefore the economy as a whole does not get affected at all, while organizations with eco- friendly processes make higher profits. This makes companies shift away from the carbon-intensive approach of manufacturing, and so the emission levels decrease.

By permitting the carbon credits to be traded freely on exchanges, it can be ensured that regardless of the size of the company, eco-friendly operational methods are always rewarded and can be easily monetized. This trading strategy makes sure immediate and great rewards for organizations with a low emission record. Moreover, with countries and their administration involved in the idea, national governments on their part would have to ask local industries to reduce emissions, and hence these governments would be pulled out of their traditional stance of indifference towards environmental matters.

However, there are some people who support other systems like carbon tax, which rather than incentivising the greener companies, will penalize those who have excessive emissions. There is much speculation over the efficacy of such systems.

In a short span since its inception, carbon trading has shown to be the best means to tackle the problem of carbon emissions. The efficacy of the system is evident from the unparalleled increase in the carbon trading market witnessed in the past few years. ]]> http://www.thearticleplanet.com/business/ethics/factors-to-take-into-account-before-buying-carbon-offset.html http://www.thearticleplanet.com/business/ethics/factors-to-take-into-account-before-buying-carbon-offset.html Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:30:55 -0500
If you want to offset the unfavourable influence of your actions on the environment, then you can purchase an amount of carbon offset, which is equal to your carbon footprint. The money you invest on a carbon offset will help finance green undertakings like wind farms that generate energy without resulting in harmful emissions.

Before going for carbon offset, you must first identify your daily activities that lead to emissions of greenhouse gases. Common activities that result in a substantial proportion of carbon emissions for most people are use of cars, air travel, and using home appliances.

After you have identified all these activities that result in emissions, you should seriously strive to decrease some of them and stop some altogether. This would let you lower some part of your carbon footprint through your own initiative. You can contribute towards a greener environment by insulating your residence when using artificial heating or cooling, driving only as much as essential and by using energy efficient lights in your house.

After you have thought about all the aspects where you can act successfully towards reducing emissions, you should calculate the influence of your remaining actions on the environment, i.e., estimate your balance carbon footprint. Most activities have their own specific method of emission calculation, but you can get many good calculators on the internet that will help you in this regard.

When you purchase an offset, the offset providers adjust the adverse effects of your carbon footprint by lowering emissions at any region in any country. There are different ways of reducing emissions and you can pick a scheme from the ones offered by the offset providers for your investment. But you must be careful before investing in a project. To make sure that your money will be used properly you must only select projects with sound credentials. Numerous accrediting bodies conduct rigorous checks on authenticity and efficacy to certify schemes, and it is always a sensible idea to put money in a certified and recognized project.

Finally, you should gather sufficient information on the topic from different sources. It will help you identify who the most reputed offset providers are, what kind of schemes are most appropriate for an investment, and how to track the performance of the scheme that you have invested in. ]]>