Q: What are carbon offsets or credits?
Carbon offsetting programs quantify carbon emissions and create an opportunity where emissions can be exchanged for offsets. Climate-harming carbon emissions are exchanged for climate-friendly carbon offsets, which are often represented by clean energy production in solar or wind, or in activities like tree planting that negate the output of carbon into the atmosphere. These exchanges occur through a type of currency called carbon credits where one credit is equal to one ton of carbon dioxide or the equivalent amount of a different greenhouse gas. These credits can then be exchanged into dollars or other currencies in the marketplace. The exchange rate between a carbon credit and another currency, for example the dollar, can fluctuate based on market conditions and other financial or economic factors like supply and demand mechanics. To gain access to these carbon credit markets, businesses can enlist the services of brokers or banks who specialize in this sector and who can help businesses monitor, analyze, report, and verify the activities that result in either carbon emissions or offsets later exchanged in the carbon offset marketplace.
Carbon offset markets are developing all over the world. To learn more about carbon credits and how they pertain to EV charging, please refer to AmpUp’s article on carbon credits.
References:
https://ampup.io/news/electric-vehicl-charging-carbon-credits/