RECs or VERs? That’s the question.
Posted By admin on April 10, 2009
If you are toying with the idea of carbon credits, it’s a crazy world. Hopefully what I’ve learned so far will help those of you who are embarking on the journey.
What’s the difference between RECs and VERs?
I won’t get into too much detail, but here are the basics. RECs are renewable energy credits and represent the purchase of renewable power. They are in units of KWh and are an option if the direct purchase of green power is not available in your area. One of the important factors here is to make sure you purchase these from an organization that is green-e certified. Green-e.org is the primary certifying body recommended by the EPA. What they certify through an annual audit process is that each of the REC selling organizations is actually using your money to purchase renewable power.
VERs are verified emission reductions. These types of reduction offsets are purchased to offset the number of units of CO2 produced. The programs supported by these purchases are projects which reduce your overall carbon production whereas the purchase of RECs is a purchase of renewable energy.
The EPA has a conversion from kWh to tons of carbon produced so it is possible to use either type of credit. It really depends on which is more directly applicable to your goal.
Either way, it is important to do your research before making a purchase. Be sure to find out who the certifying body is for the offset certificates. It is also beneficial to find out what programs the purchase will support so that you can align these as best as possible to your company’s image or brand. An RFP (request for proposal) for this purchase is highly recommended as it affords you the opportunity to gather more information, to weigh the multiple factors in choosing a provider and to make the purchase more competitive. It is of further importance to do some background research with such services as Hoovers and D&B to guarantee that your list of possible offset certificate providers are of sufficient size to support your organization. I have also found the EPA site of great use to see which Fortune 500 companies are using which offset providers.
