Convert Carbon into Cash Or Exchange clean money for dirty air
Carbon credits, or Certified Tradable Offsets (CTOs), are recognised reductions or absorptions of carbon. Credits are given to those who have created the greenhouse gas saving. Over time, companies or individuals who create more certificates than they need can sell these to others wanting to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
A specific market for carbon dioxide reduction is a product of the 1998 Kyoto Accords on global warming, which call for reducing worldwide CO2 emissions to below 1990 levels.
If you are an Indian company and have voluntarily reduced green house gases you are eligible for carbon credits which can be traded. You not only save on energy, but also improve environment and earn pretty good money in the process. EID Parry, MD Rambabu on Friday announced that his company will be eligible for the credit.
The greenhouse effect
We are on Earth and continue to be on Earth because of Carbon di Oxide and other greenhouse gases. Discharged from the crust of the Earth, CO2 stabilised temperatures to levels suitable for organic life. Heat energy from the Sun passes without impediment through the atmosphere and warms up the earth. The Earth radiates this energy back to space. The greenhouse gases – water vapour (the main greenhouse gas), methane, ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and CO2 – absorb some of this energy and emit it in all directions, including back towards Earth. In modern times the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas – in which carbon has been stored for millions of years – combined with accelerated land clearance has led to unprecedented levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists say that as concentrations of these gases continue to rise, there will be a general and very rapid warming of the world’s climate which will cause widespread ecological damage, dramatic changes in agricultural production, and rising sea levels.
Under a UN Convention, Countries are permitted to use a trading system to help meet their emissions targets as per the Kyoto convention.. If a country is incapable of meeting its target, it could buy permits from countries that have met their targets. There can be trade within the country also.
What’s in it for India?
While the EID Parry MD is hopeful of getting credits, not many others seem to be following him. This is a great opportunity for Indian companies to earn good foreign money. In fact the trading options are wider than those in the stock market with future trading also in vogue. Recently Gujarat Flouro Carbons became the first Indian company to sell carbon credits and earned over three million dollars by selling credits to Netherlands and UK. The polluting countries have started paying for their misconduct. Should we not get a major share of the payments? If you can save the Earth and earn a little money in the process, there can’t be a better business proposition.