A recent New York Times editorial makes the case for allowing nations to offset a portion of their CO2 omissions by paying to reduce deforestation around the world. Forest preservation is vital from both a climate change and biodiversity standpoint, the Times explains: Deforestation accounts for one-fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — about the [...]
Archive for the ‘Environmental News’ Category
12 May
Fast Growth in the Superior Nut Carbon-Offset Forest No. 5
The two photos shown below, depicting the Superior Nut Company Carbon-Offest Forest No. 5, were taken exactly 1 ½ years apart: the first was taken October 2007; the second was taken on May 2009. Lining the road are super-fast growing RTT Deglupta hybrids, planted to facilitate early harvest by felling into the road. Farther to [...]
12 May
Food Production for RTT Workers
One goal in designing RTT forests is the production of food for workers. During working hours, workers manage the young plantings, weeding and caring for the young forest trees until they can fend for themselves. After normal hours, they are allowed to plant and harvest crops between the rows of trees. The crops include corn [...]
5 Apr
Forestry: “Old-School” Carbon Capture and Storage
Carbon Capture and Storage, or “CCS,” is a developing technology that allows one to: (1) “capture” the carbon dioxide emissions associated with fossil fuel burning; and (2) sequester, or “store,” the captured carbon dioxide somewhere other than the atmosphere, such as in coal beds or saline formations. The main benefit of CCS is that it [...]
12 Mar
New Data on Projected Sea Level Increase
As reported in the Economist, new data shows that Earth’s sea levels are rising twice as fast as had been previously estimated. Scientists now estimate that, by 2100, sea levels may rise between about 50cm and 100cm. The reason behind the new estimate, it appears, are measurements indicating that increased temperatures at the Earth’s poles [...]
11 Mar
Going Green by Going Standby
Reforest the Tropics encourages our participants to reduce their carbon footprints prior to offsetting residual CO2 emissions. Reducing your carbon footprint can be accomplished in a variety of ways—from commuting via public transit, to installing more energy efficient lighting, to adding heat-saving home insulation. Indeed, one simple tool for reducing fossil fuel consumption is right [...]
16 Feb
Virgin Offers In-Flight Carbon Credits
Virgin America recently started offering its passengers the ability to offset the carbon emissions of their flight through the in-flight purchase of carbon credits. According to a recent press release, VA is the first domestic airline to allow its passengers to go green mid-flight—passengers opt in by swiping their credit card on the touch-screen seatback [...]
11 Feb
NatureAir Blog Features RTT
NatureAir, a passenger airline in Costa Rica, is the world’s first certified carbon neutral airline. Since 2004, NatureAir has helped protect and conserve over 500 acres of tropical forests in the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica. They also have the distinction of being Costa Rica’s first biodiesel aviation fueling company. NatureAir’s strong environmental credentials have [...]
7 Feb
McKinsey Provides New Estimates for Forestry Sector
McKinsey & Company has just published a new study estimating the costs of various measures for curbing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The report provides an updated “Global Greenhouse Gas Abatement Cost Curve,” an estimate of which measures would be most effective for slowing climate change, and how much they would cost. Cathy Vaughan summarizes certain [...]
