Think Brick Sustainability Blog

For people, groups and companies that are serious about reducing emissions or being carbon neutral, the question of off-sets can be polarising: some people see off-sets as ‘not genuine’ emissions reductions and that they should only be used after all other efforts are exhausted to reduce emissions first. On the other side, they are seen as a quick and easy way to atone for the “emission-sins” of the group.

The City of Sydney last night debated investing the $2 million a year it spent on GreenPower off-sets into renewable energy systems for its own buildings and operations. What makes this decision interesting is that the primary driver was probably that the $2 million for emissions was too expensive. Therefore, and like all expensive line items in a budget, the City of Sydney was forced to consider better ways to use the money. In this instance, I’m assuming they think investing in their own renewable energy systems will now be cheaper because they have (in parallel) reduced their emissions below are certain point.

Ultimately this is the intention of an emissions trading scheme, yet in the absence of one, my view is that off-sets make sense for a company that is serious about reducing its emissions: without this additional cost (and commitment), no drivers exist to go above and beyond the issue of energy/emissions efficiency.