Many If Not Most Carbon Offsets Are Junk, Based On Renewable Buildouts That Would Happen Anyway
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A Bloomberg Green analysis of more than 215,000 offset transactions in public datasets over the past decade reveals for the first time that dozens of global brands have followed in the footsteps of Credit Suisse. Airlines, online retailers, industrial firms and energy producers now rely heavily on the cheapest and most suspect type of offset — those tied to renewable-energy projects. Most of these renewable-energy offset purchases are not credible, according to Julio Friedmann, chief scientist at consultancy Carbon Direct and one of six researchers who reviewed the data. “I would consider these to be low-quality credits that did not avoid or reduce greenhouse-gas emissions,” he said.
Purchasing credits tied to support of solar or wind projects sounds good for the climate. But experts consider these offsets largely bogus. The issue is timing: many renewable offsets came into being just as solar and wind power established themselves as the cheapest source of energy in most countries. Selling offsets for small sums as a way to support the economics of renewables doesn’t provide any real benefit if it’s already cheaper than building new coal or gas power plants.
That’s the basis on which these offsets are generated: additional support for something clean is assumed to displace a dirtier alternative. Offsets built on firmer footing — and costing far more money — now exist from a nascent industry that directly removes carbon dioxide from the air. Credit Suisse itself, an early purchaser of renewable offsets, now says it’s among the companies shifting towards buying more rigorous removals. “We are increasingly making use of carbon removals in our carbon offsetting selection strategy,” a spokesperson for Credit Suisse said in response to questions about its current offset purchases.
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“Our customers shouldn’t have to choose between seeing the world and saving the world,” said Delta’s managing director for sustainability Amelia DeLuca in a statement. “We’re balancing our emissions with investments to remove carbon across our global operations.” A closer look shows otherwise. The more stringent category of removal offsets comprised just 6% of its 27 million tons of Delta’s carbon credit purchases last year. Half the offsets Delta used to make that claim came from renewables, mostly wind and solar projects in India. An expert review of Delta’s largest single source of renewable offsets, the Los Cocos II wind farm in the Dominican Republic, determined that it almost certainly didn’t need additional support. There’s almost no transparency on what specific buyers pay for an offset or what each project charges for them. The average price of a renewable-energy offset was about $2 per ton last year, making Delta’s preferred sources cheaper even than the $6 per ton it costs to buy the average offset from protecting forests, according to data from Ecosystem Marketplace.
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https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-carbon-offsets-renewable-energy/?leadSource=uverify%20wall