Carbon Offsets + ClimeWorks

Starting this year, I have made a line item on estimates and invoices that adds in the cost of carbon offsetting commercial flights and travel. I am not charging clients for the carbon capture, but want them to see that I am offsetting the carbon output from location shoots.  NatGeo has a good article outlining the pros and cons of offsetting via airline ticket purchase surcharges.

A year ago, I subscribed to ClimeWorks, a Swiss company that is capturing carbon in an Icelandic facility called Orca. The process involves carbon capture that is pumped into caverns and the captured carbon that eventually turns into rock.

There is a calculator on the ClimeWorks website that will help you you find the level of carbon you would like to offset.

Many airlines now offer the option to offset the carbon output when you purchase your ticket.  If you use Google to search for flights you will see how much carbon output there is for a flight or set of connections.

I like that ClimeWorks is using direct carbon capture and that they plan to expand worldwide.

Additional Carbon Offset Options

The other option is to support groups that invest in alternative energy.

I use Cool Effect in addition to ClimeWorks. They have a hands-on model that works for small communities. Anything from methane reduction to solar to grasslands restoration.

Terrapass has been around for quite a while and I used to offset my carbon output with a yearly subscription. I switched to Climeworks and Cool Effect last year.

Is it Worth It

I believe so. My wife and I have solar on our house, added extra insulation, changed all of our bulbs to LED’s, plan our driving trips so that we do several errands at a time. However, I am driving a 4WD SUV that I am lucky if I get 21 mpg. So, I offset that output along with all of our other energy uses.

For my aerial work in turbine and gas helicopters, I offset each flight via Cool Effect.

Hopefully, you found this post informative and if you are interested, will check out the groups that are offsetting carbon.