30% of Carbon Offset Projects Amount to Hot Air

by | Dec 17, 2009

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carbon emissions2Nearly a third of carbon offset projects don’t live up to their stated expectations, according to recent analysis from Point Carbon, reports Business Week.

The new report from Point Carbon shows that three out of 10 projects registered under the Clean Development Mechanism never actually get approval to be sell carbon credits, Business Week reports. Only about 45 percent of registered landfill and other waste projects, including those that capture methane, will actually create carbon credits, according to the analysis.

Another recent report, “Subprime Carbon,” by Friends of the Earth highlights the pitfalls of carbon offsetting. The report asserts that dubious carbon credits will lead to an economic boom-and-bust cycle.

Wall Street wants to forge ahead in carbon trading, but critics assert that Wall Street’s involvement will create problems, reports The Globe and Mail.

Michelle Chan of the Green Investments Project at Friends of the Earth said that regulations “can’t keep up” with investment bank schemes. Friends of the Earth is among groups pressuring Congress to put limits on how banks can be involved in carbon trading.

Goldman Sachs estimates the U.S. carbon trading market to be potentially worth $130 million  a year, reports Newsweek.

Yet the voluntary carbon trading market continues to move forward.

Just this week, San Francisco-based Wildlife Works Inc. launched a forest carbon offset project located in the Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary in Kenya.

To view an NPR video news report about carbon trading, click here.

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