|
As investments go, it does not look like a money-spinner
- invest $58,000 to line the roof of your suburban home with
solar panels and pick up a $17.20 cheque in exchange for the
reduction in your household carbon emissions.
However, the Pennsylvania couple who have earned the world's
first carbon credit for reducing personal emissions think
it has been worth it.
Randy and Tami Wilson, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, earned
the single credit through a transaction brokered by the My
Emissions Exchange website.
It aims to certify emissions reductions by home owners or
tenants and then sell those credits to companies looking to
up their green quotient.
The website's existence suggests that, while the US Congress
may have given up on creating a national scheme for trading
carbon emissions, there are ordinary Americans willing to
play the voluntary market. The company says it has signed
up 1,800 households since going into business last autumn.
A company in Middlefield, Ohio - Molten Metal Equipment -
bought the Wilsons' carbon credit - representing a tonne of
carbon dioxide - for $21.50. The website earned $4.30 in commission
and the Wilsons took home $17.20.
However, this modest cash reward was not the only reason
for the Wilsons's solar conversion. Outraged by a threatened
30% price hike by their local electricity provider, they hired
a contractor to install 36 solar panels on their roof.
"When my husband and I heard six or eight months ago from
PPL Electric Utilities that our energy costs were going up
30 to 40%, we said to ourselves - 'what can we do?'"
said Tami Wilson.
In addition to the solar panels, the Wilsons also switched
to energy-savings light bulbs, replaced their windows and
made a habit of turning off computers, DVDs and other appliances
not in use. They adopted a 'hybrid' system for doing
laundry, putting wet clothes in a dryer for 10 minutes before
hanging them on a line. They got rid of their son's heated
waterbed.
The couple told reporters they were counting on federal and
state tax credits to recoup $36,000 of their investment, but
it will still take six years to get back the rest of their
investment through energy savings and the sale of carbon credits.
At that point, though, the solar panels will be turning a
profit. "Then, we basically have no electric bill for life,"
Tami said.
Prospective domestic carbon traders begin by handing over
a year's worth of electricity and heating bills. American
households - with the stereotypical television in every teenagers'
bedroom - are notorious energy hogs. The average family produces
about 30 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
If the family then goes on to reduce emissions, the website
will calculate how much carbon they have saved. The savings
then translate into credits for every tonne of carbon avoided.
The company certifies the credits and then arranges the sale.
The company says customers gain twice - in carbon credits
and in lower electricity bills - although it will obviously
take time before major investments, like the Wilsons' solar
panels, pay for themselves.
However, it says that even replacing a few old lightbulbs
with compact fluorescent bulbs or putting in a programmable
thermostat would be enough for most homes to offset about
a tonne of carbon a year - or about $17.20 after commission.
|
