Comments on: Is Carbon Neutrality Actually Possible?

By: Schmiggly Reeves

Schmiggly Reeves — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:42:15 +0000

Tully, don’t get me wrong, I am very interested in reducing my own carbon footprint and have taken many steps to do so.
(i.e. geothermal heating in my home, photovoltaic cells, and battery storage systems etc.)
However as with energy, Carbon cannot be created or destroyed. You cannot introduce new carbon, the carbon never left; it may have been stored underground, just as trees store the carbon.
The issue is in introducing carbon to the atmosphere, and the burning of trees and oil products adds carbon to the atmosphere.
We may have to agree to disagree.
I do enjoy the discussion though.

By: Tully

Tully — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:00:07 +0000

Sorry Mr. Reeves, I have to disagree with you. Sure, it is carbon collected by organic material then buried for millions of years, however that specific amount of carbon was removed from the environment millions of years ago. By digging (drilling) it up, and burning it, we are releasing that carbon which was subtracted millions of years ago – if it wasn’t, you wouldn’t have oil to burn presently.

Tree collects carbon (-1) then tree is burned releasing carbon (1) = neutral. -1 + +1 = 0

Same equation (ongoing cycle) plus now we’re introducing carbon previously removed from this present cycle (+1) = increase in carbon. -1 + 1 + 1 = 1

By: Schmiggly Reeves

Schmiggly Reeves — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:31:48 +0000

The argument is flawed.
Trees collect carbon from their environment, and this is released when burned. The argument being that trees only return the carbon collected to the environment from which it came, making the burning of trees carbon neutral.
Oil is produced from the decomposition of organic material embedded in rock over millions of years. By the argument pertaining to trees (organic material).
Oil, when burned, only returns to the environment, the carbon collected by the organic material.
Therefore burning oil is carbon neutral.

Sorry, not buying it.

By: JT

JT — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:35:45 +0000

Measuring your carbon footprint is the first step in recognizing and accounting for the impact you leave on the environment. Yes, it is difficult to measure the exact amount of emissions of your activities, but there are many organizations out there that can give you a good estimate. Being carbon neutral is possible through purchasing carbon offsets, which act as an interim measure that deals with the emissions that are difficult to avoid.

Use an online calculator to measure your footprint: http://www.zerofootprint.net

More on offsetting: http://www.zerofootprint.net/offsets

By: Robert Hruzek

Robert Hruzek — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:06:00 +0000

When it comes to claims like this, the cynic in me can’t help but roll my eyes and utter a monosyllabic “phaugh!”

To me, ridiculous (and unprovable, mind you!) claims like this, just for the sake of “good press” are as empty as a politician’s promise. (It’s what we in Texas call a “pig in a poke”.)

But maybe that’s just me.

Robert Hruzek’s last blog post..What I Learned From… the Law

By: It’s About Making Babies! » Blog Archive » On ‘carbon positive’ Fiji Water

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 07:26:18 +0000

[...] writes about “Is Carbon Neutrality Actually Possible?” Although this is good, and don’t get me wrong, it is good, yet where do we draw the line [...]