Claiming Carbon Neutrality

Though recent years have brought significant improvements to the practice of carbon accounting, every carbon neutral claim is still based on estimations. Estimations are used to calculate the carbon dioxide emissions spewed from cars' tailpipes and estimations are used to calculate the carbon dioxide reductions achieved by methane cogeneration projects.

With that said, Enpalo takes its estimations very seriously. All our web calculators are rigorously tested. And the reductions generated by our premium-quality projects are always double-checked for accuracy. Moreover, we try to document and disclose as much as possible our estimation techniques so others can double-checked us.

Okay, now hold your breath–here is how to responsibly claim carbon neutrality:

Determine the scope of your emissions
Carbon emissions from fossil fuel-based transportation and electricity generation really impact a carbon footprint. However, good footprints consider other sources of emissions as well.

When Google calculated its carbon footprint, it took into account emissions from purchased electricity, employee commuting, business travel, construction, and server manufacturing.

Calculate your baseline emissions
Enpalo's family of calculators provide good estimations for the carbon emissions associated with common activities. And for more exotic activities, titanium dioxide production anyone? the EPA provides some neat calculators too. For most everybody, these tool sets are sufficient.

However, large businesses with complex inventorying needs might consider Enpalo's comprehensive carbon consulting services. (We do not recommend that large businesses shoehorn complex data sets into our carbon footprint calculators–we have other tools for you.) Contact us for details.

Reduce your emissions
There are an infinite number of ways and reasons to reduce. The good news is reducing is considerably easier to do after establishing a baseline. After that, it is just a matter of targeting carbon-intensive activities and diligently reducing the emissions associated with those activities.

Maximizing efficiency and avoiding emissions are the two main classes of reductions. Other classes include carbon sequestration (storing emitted carbon) and conversion–flaring gases such as methane.

Calculate your reduced emissions
Once emissions have been calculated and reduced, it is time to calculate them again. If all goes according to plan, they should be much lower than the baseline estimation. It is important to record energy and emissions savings and update the reduction plan.

Oh, and brag. Reducing emissions is something to be proud of, so tell friends, family and customers.

Balance your emissions
There are a few important things to keep in mind when balancing emissions with credits (aka reductions from elsewhere). The first is vintage. For emissions to be successfully balanced, purchased credits should trigger reductions in the near future–typically within a year. Also, these reductions should be high-quality. Tufts University's report on Carbon Offsetting recommends to "look for the Gold Standard" as it is "strictest standard available." Finally, it is important how credits are applied. Harvard University's Green Campus Initiative site puts forward this advice:

Offsetting...energy sources–such as natural gas, gasoline, or fuel oil–should not be accomplished using RECs, because it is not easy to equate electricity with other fuel types. True carbon offsets should be used to offset these types of greenhouse gas emissions. A true carbon offset is sold by ton of carbon dioxide reduced.

Still, RECs are appropriate for balancing electricity usage. Whole Foods Market balances its electricity use in all of its stores, facilities, bake houses, distribution centers, regional offices and national headquarters with RECs.

Responsibly claiming carbon neutrality
Well, here is the thing. A flat-out carbon neutral claim is not all that responsible. Rather, Enpalo encourages its clients to communicate their actions unequivocally. That is, if your company reduces its emissions by 23% and balances its electricity with Enpalo Green-e RECs and carbon emissions with Gold Standard carbon credits, have your spokesperson say that. Carbon neutral sounds cool, but in the voluntary carbon market, for now at least, it lacks definition. Some companies have declared themselves carbon neutral after buying trees and non-additional, two-buck CFIs off the CCX. Others have even declared carbon neutrality after doing nothing at all.

Put simply, let your company's actions speak for themselves. Aspen Skiing Company's environmental director, Auden Schendler, says he made a mistake last year when he urged the resort to claim it had offset 100% of its energy. "We should have said, 'We buy wind energy certificates equal to our electricity usage' and left it at that."

Carbon neutral is a direction–an on-going commitment to decarbonization. Enpalo empowers you to move in that direction with the clearly additional, high-quality credits and expert services. To see what we mean, click here.