More About the Projects
AtmosClear Climate Club
The carbon offsets offered by AtmosClear come from a landfill gas capture project in Illinois. Landfill gas is generated by the decomposition of the solid waste that makes up the landfill. The gas includes methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, as well as other greenhouse gases, and is typically vented into the atmosphere to avoid dangerous build up of these potentially explosive gases underneath the landfill.
This project captures landfill gas and destroys the gases in a closed system, thereby avoiding dangerous emissions of significant amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The gases are destroyed through a combustion process called flaring and used to generate electricity. In addition, the project reduces odor and the potential for groundwater contamination.
Carbonfund.org
The carbon offsets offered by Carbonfund are generated in partnership with local dairy farms in Southern California. Dairy farms are often large operations that result in a significant amount of animal manure. It is common practice to collect and store manure in open-air corrals and lagoons, and as the manure decomposes, greenhouse gases and other emissions are released into the atmosphere. Storage of manure in corrals and lagoons also can result in polluted surface water runoff that leads to local groundwater contamination.
The main contribution of this project is to improve how manure is handled on select dairy farms. Dairy manure from 14 local dairy operations is collected daily and processed in the closed environment of an anaerobic digester. As a result, manure is processed in a way that prevents powerful greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere. The project is significant because it not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions, but also reduces ammonia emissions from local dairies, nitrous oxide releases from overburdened agricultural fields, and avoids nitrogen and phosphorous discharges into ground and surface waters. In addition, the gas recovered from these digesters is used to generate the electricity needed to operate a reverse osmosis groundwater clean-up system.
e-Blue HorizonsSM
The carbon offsets offered by e-Blue Horizons come from projects that capture and destroy the greenhouse gas emissions from landfills in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. As the solid waste that make up the landfills decomposes, methane and other greenhouse gases are generated and typically vented into the atmosphere to prevent the dangerous build up of these potentially explosive gases inside the landfill. The vented methane and other greenhouse gases are significant contributors to global warming.
These projects collect and channel the landfill gases into a closed system, where they are destroyed by combustion, thus avoiding the release of significant quantities of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. In addition to reducing emissions, the energy generated through the combustion process is used to treat wastewater runoff from the landfill.