Nearly 600 colleges and universities have committed to becoming climate neutral by 2050 via the ACUPCC. In the long term, that requires making significant changes to the way that campuses are built, operated, and maintained. In the short term, however, a number of schools are looking towards carbon offsets as a quick path towards creating a “carbon neutral campus.”
What is a carbon offset? According to the ACUPCC:
“A carbon offset is a reduction or removal of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that is used to counterbalance or compensate for (“offset”) emissions from other activities; offset projects reducing GHG emissions outside of an entity’s boundary generate credits that can be purchased by that entity to meet its own targets for reducing GHG emissions within its boundary. Generally, offsets fall into two categories: 1) emissions reductions or avoidance, such as replacing a diesel generator with solar panels, and 2) sequestration, or removing GHGs from the atmosphere, such as planting trees that will absorb CO2 as they grow. There are many different types of projects that generate offsets in both categories, however different offset markets and offset standards only recognize certain project types as acceptable.”
While there are a plethora of carbon offset opportunities available on the market today, they remain largely unregulated. Thus there is still much debate about the value and actual impact of carbon offsets. To help universities understand the challenges and opportunities in purchasing carbon offsets, the ACUPCC has published a protocol document. You can read it all online at: http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/offsetprotocol.php
Perhaps more interesting to us here in the Triangle is a report recently published by Duke University. With 13 schools in North Carolina having signed the ACUPCC, there is a shared interest in attaining carbon neutrality AND investing in local (i.e. North Carolina) offset production. The report suggests that state universities partner to drive these programs. It’s an interesting read and can be found online at:
http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/dukeoffsets.pdf
So what do you think? Are carbon offsets a valuable short term solution to bring down net greenhouse gas emissions?
