To give you an idea of what a credit is and where your money goes, we'll use an example of a wind farm.
For every unit (MWh) of electricity a wind farm generates and sells into the power grid, a credit is created and made available for sale. One credit equals one MegaWatt hour (MWh), a MWh of power that hasn’t created any carbon emissions. The more credits, the more clean energy. Simple. One credit is one MWh of clean energy.
We sell this credit (and many just like it) to you.
In this example, your credit has emitted no CO2 into the atmosphere for the MWh of power. In comparison, coal-fired power stations, depending on the type of coal they use, emit roughly 1 tonne of CO2 for every MWh of power they generate. Dirty!
The credit system is governed and certified by a number of recognized, government accredited groups that focus solely on making sure the methods used are certifiable. If a wind farm is not certified, it can't sell credits and can't grow.
COzero is taking a responsible long-term approach to carbon offsetting. When you buy renewable energy credits (REC’s) and verified emission reduction credits (VER’s) from COzero your money supports renewable energy projects all over the world. Funding these projects results in a lower proportion of dirty fossil fuel energy on the power grid.
Real renewable energy is more expensive then fossil fuel energy largely due to a lack of infrastructure. As the infrastructure of renewable energy grows from funding several positives outcomes occur:
- More MWh (Mega-Watt-Hour) of clean energy are produced.
- Cost of renewable energy subsequently decreases as a result of greater supply.
- Dirty fossil fuels share a lesser proportion of the energy market as a result of growth in renewable energy.
So in this example the busy little carbon credit has produced clean energy and provided the avenue for an exponentially greater amount of credits just like it. The more credits we buy, the more wind farms (and other clean energy sources) we grow, the more likely a future powered by green energy. Clean!
We only used certified credits and we do not run our own programs. We take the credits we sell very seriously and will not tolerate any providers who abandon proper certification.
If you hear or read the claims "we run our own program" or "we plant trees for every donation you offer", then we encourage you to investigate the authenticity of the program thoroughly.
Here are some of the credits we endorse and provide to our members:
For more information, please go to www.cdmgoldstandard.org.
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