Choosing a Provider

What constitutes a good credit is now less a matter of opinion than ever before. Still, it's important to ask your provider some questions. We'll start by answering a few from Trexler's Clean Air-Cool Planet "A Consumer's Guide to Retail Carbon Offsets" report. Also, if you are interested in our Renewable Energy Certificates, please click here.

Do your offset credits result from specific projects?

Absolutely yes. Moreover, Enpalo's offset credits are offset credits. This means, we don't convert RECs to offsets or offsets to more offsets using strange methodologies.

Do you use an objective standard to ensure the offset's additionality and quality?

Absolutely yes. Since our inception, we have been Gold Standard partners and thus required by the Gold Standard to source the majority of our carbon credits from certified Gold Standard projects. Gold Standard credits are the highest-quality credits available on the market and indisputably additional.

The Enpalo GS60 portfolio exceeds the Gold Standard's portfolio composition requirement by guaranteeing at least 60% of its credits achieve Gold Standard certification. The rest of its credits come from premium clean energy and energy efficient projects registered under CDM and VCS. These project are generally Gold Standard-compatible barring demonstrable stakeholder involvement in the projects.

We also provide RECs, which we don't consider to be carbon offsets. As an official Green-e Energy broker, we favor RECs that are Green-e certified and come from projects that promote clean energy.

How do you demonstrate that the projects in your portfolio would not have happened without the GHG offset market?

The UNFCCC's additionality tool, the most rigorous test for additionality, is used to evaluate all our carbon projects. Projects registered under the new VCS are also checked against this additionality tool.

Have your offsets been validated against a third-party standard by a credible source?

Absolutely yes. Gold Standard and CDM projects have their offsets verified by UN certified DOEs (Designated Operating Entities). These DOEs have no financial stake in the projects they verify or organizational affiliation with projects' developers and marketers. Projects registered under VCS are validated similarly.

Do you sell offsets that will actually accrue in the future? If so, how long into the future, and can you explain why you need to “forward sell” the offsets?

Yes, and for good reason. Offset dollars that pay for past reductions don't ensure those reductions‐ they only serve to reward reductions that have already happened. On the other hand, offset dollars that are directed at future reductions, ensure those specific reductions because they provide the necessary capital for those reductions to occur. That is, the purchase of future reductions incentivizes action. Enpalo GS60 and Enpalo USCleanGen are future credit portfolios. Moreover, we guarantee certain things about the credits we sell this way, namely the certification level, quality and delivery date. For buyers, insured forward crediting confers the benefits of financing futures projects without the risk of non-delivery.

Can you demonstrate your offsets are not sold to multiple buyers?

Absolutely yes. Every year, we have our sales records checked against our retirement logs by an independent auditor.

What are you doing to educate your buyers about climate change and the need for climate change policy?

Because Enpalo buyers represent a self-selecting group who are already very educated about climate change and the voluntary carbon market, we don't see it as our purpose to educate them exclusively. We see it is as our purpose to educate everyone grappling with energy and environmental issues. Accordingly, we provide a collection of resources and information appropriate for a wide range of readers. For people new to the issues, we provide introductory material about the carbon cycle and the greenhouse effect. And for those looking for a challenge, we delve into some of the intricacies of the UN's methodologies for calculating emission reductions. We even maintain Enpalo Notes, a news portal, featuring the latests stories about clean energy technology, policy and research to keep people engaged with energy and environmental issues.

But where Enpalo really differentiates itself from other carbon companies is in its commitment to research. Enpalo's Stanford-based team, the team responsible for Enpalo's innovative flight emissions calculator, is working on new ways to inventory emissions and transform clean technologies into practical, everyday solutions to combat climate change. For us, selling carbon credits is just the tip of the iceberg.