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A new carbon offset company dedicated to tree planting and reforestation programmes in Central America has launched this month.
Carbonica.org is branded around the concept of a guaranteed high-quality carbon offset, in response to the perceived bad reputation of the industry. “We believe that it is important to provide the highest quality of carbon offsets and we need uniform regulation sooner rather than later in both the EU and the US to have internationally compatible standards” said Dr Mikel Susperregi, founder and Managing Director of Carbonica, and chief scientist at the Physics Commission, the London-based think tank on climate change.
“We have set ourselves the highest standards of verifiability and authenticity and have introduced a process of regular review in the progress of the offset with an absolute guarantee that the carbon will be captured throughout the term of the offset” said Susperregi. In order to achieve this, Carbonica carries out its carbon offsets through reforestation programmes in the rainforests of Central America, in partnership with local affiliates, and tree condition is assessed and reviewed on an annual basis. Damaged trees are replaced by Carbonica to ensure that the offset continues to completion.
“An important element in our concept is the idea of managed forestry” said Susperregi. “Trees, when left to their own, release the CO2 that they have captured during their growth back into the atmosphere when they die. That is why it is important to replace them upon maturity and use the timber commercially. The CO2 is then safely locked away in the wood. This way the forests are dynamic and more efficient sinks of carbon.”
Carbonica prides itself on being composed of a core of scientists rather than as a purely commercial venture. “We are passionate about the environment” said Stephen Williams, Carbonica’s Corporate Business Director, “and we understand the scientific issues of climate change and carbon capture”. Carbonica’s website also aims to raise awareness and provides a number of background materials for educational use.
The website contains a number of original articles on global warming and climate change, as well as specific proposals for a mitigation model based on managed forestry programmes.
“The mitigation model that we support makes good scientific sense” said Susperregi. “We fund tree planting in tropical latitudes where carbon capture is most efficient. Planting at any other latitude, such as in the UK, for the purpose of carbon offsets, is simply a waste of time”.
Carbonica offers guaranteed carbon offsets for £7.99 per metric tonne of CO2. “This is a very competitive price for a high-quality offset if we compare it with the traded prices on the carbon markets” said Perpetua Aitkinson, finance director of Carbonica.
Carbonica’s website contains a CO2 calculator that is entirely based on the UK government’s published figures for transport and utilities carbon emission factors (latest figures published by DEFRA in 2007). It is subdivided into a section for business and another one for individuals. It enables the customer to calculate the carbon footprint of household emissions, all forms of transport and holidays. The individual customer can also purchase gift offsets and offset their entire life’s footprint.
“We thought it was innovative to introduce the concept of offsetting one’s entire life’s carbon footprint” said Susperregi. “This is based on a number of parameters such as food consumption, use of goods and services, and transport. The figure calculated is correlated to monthly expenditure and it gives a very accurate estimate of the carbon footprint. We thought our customers would enjoy the idea of cancelling their life’s carbon footprint completely. There’s something exciting about being able to say that a person has a zero footprint.”
Business users can also offset their operations and their staff’s carbon footprint, to the extent of making the entire operation and their staff “zero footprint”.
Carbonica’s educational materials defend the idea of offsetting carbon emissions as a first step to combat climate change. Whilst acknowledging the importance of cutting non-necessary emissions, Carbonica makes the case in defence of offsetting: “even in a low carbon economy there will always be a residual carbon footprint, however small, and the only way to eradicate it is by offsetting it” said Williams.
Carbonica Limited is based in London with its 12-strong staff in offices in Central London and Highgate. The company address is: Empire House, 175 Piccadilly, London W1J 9TB. The telephone number for general enquiries and customer services is +44 20 3083 9586 or +44 20 7499 9192 (customer services email customer[.]carbonica.org and press contacts press[.]carbonica.org).
Carbonica is a carbon offset product launched by a group of physicists, climate scientists, ecologists and environmental scientists. Its reforestation programmes are carried out through partner companies in the United States and Central America, chiefly in association with Sustainable Harvest International, its affiliates and local groups in Belize, Honduras, Panama and other Central American countries.
The company contacts are: Mikel Susperregi (MD) (mikel[.]carbonica.org) ; Perpetua Aitkinson (Finance Director) (perpetua[.]carbonica.org) ; Stephen Williams (Corporate Business Director) (steve[.]carbonica.org) ; Peter Sullivan (Website Administration Director) (admin[.]carbonica.org).
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pr[.]carbonica.org 
