Many will wonder what carbon offset really means. Most of us would be stunned by this technical term, but in a nutshell, carbon offsetting is reducing greenhouse emissions to offset emissions made from another source or location.
Everyone wants to reduce the harmful production of carbon gases that have a negative effect on the health of our environment. But in this less-than-perfect world we live in, a company's direct reduction in greenhouse emissions is not that simple. This is why carbon offset companies have been contracted to reduce emissions elsewhere to compensate industries that are currently responsible for producing high levels of carbon emissions.
The logic is simple: reduce or eliminate greenhouse emissions from one source to balance or offset its production elsewhere. A large company, for example, may engage the services of carbon offset companies to reduce its overall carbon footprint, not by directly eliminating its creation during its manufacturing process, but by enlisting the company to plant trees or finance alternative energy sources.
Reducing the individual carbon footprint can be difficult and the problem is magnified when taken in the context of multinational organizations or companies. Although many of these large organizations have recognized the need for a change in their use of fossil-based energy sources, switching to alternative energy sources would take time and a great waste of resources before this is finally accomplished.
Carbon offsetting programs in Australia aim to provide long-term and short-term solutions in an effort to reduce levels of harmful carbon emissions. This is especially true in the Australia, where government efforts to halt increased greenhouse gas production have led to policies that require companies and organizations to monitor their emissions and install programs aimed at reducing this. These efforts can also be largely attributed to the growing awareness among its citizens of the need to institutionalize greener practices to ensure a greener and more sustainable economy.
It remains to be seen whether carbon offsetting will work in the long term, as generally what is required is a large reduction in energy use. Anyone who selects a carbon offset service should thoroughly verify the company's credentials to make sure the money spent really goes to the right sources. In recent times, some have proven to be less ethical in this area, with fake companies placing themselves in a market with high demand.
