Terrapass

Want to do something good with a few bucks?

Find a couple who is saving money to adopt an orphan. Hand them cash and say.. "This is for you to use to help with your adoption expenses, have a good day". That will change the world... for parents, and for that orphan.

Find a Christian organization who specializes in feeding starving people. Send them a check. That will make a real difference for a hungry person.

A sticker on your bumper? I suppose someone is sitting in an office somewhere making $50 an hour waiting for your donation so they can address an envelope to you with your sticker in it. I'm not sure this changes the world.

 

That's a great idea. But it and the Terrapass don't have to be mutually exclusive.

Surely the starving people would also accept food from a Jewish or Muslim or Hindu or Buddhist or even a secular organization as well? Why would I need to give my money to a Christian organization?

Well, according to their website, "TerraPass funds clean energy projects that reduce industrial carbon dioxide emissions. Your TerraPass is third-party certified to reduce the equivalent of your car’s carbon dioxide pollution."

I'm not sure it changes the world, either, but it sounds like there's more than just a sticker involved. And I seriously doubt the someone mailing the stickers out is getting $50/hr for it. If buying one makes someone feel better about driving their car, good on 'em.

 

"Me and my car are doing something good for the planet."

Back to English 101 for the person who came up with THAT slogan. Ugh.

There's a reason I'm known elsewhere as The Grammar Bitch.

 

hahaha... for the fun of it, I put in H2 and get the emission report. Here's what terrapass said,

Your car emits 37,622 lbs of CO2 per year.
You should get 2 Utility TerraPasses.

Emissions report
Vehicle – 2005 Hummer H2 SUT automatic transmission
Mileage – 13 mpg (city), 13 mpg (highway)
Fuel use – 1,923 gallons per year
Emissions – 37,622 lbs CO2 per year

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prius:

Your car emits 8,804 lbs of CO2 per year.
You should get a Standard TerraPass.

Emissions report
Vehicle – 2005 Toyota Prius automatic transmission
Mileage – 60 mpg (city), 51 mpg (highway)
Fuel use – 450 gallons per year
Emissions – 8,804 lbs CO2 per year

 

they are basing CO2 emissions by how many gallons you use per year.

is this an accurate figure for the prius? i thought atkinson cycle engines produced less exhaust.

and why only CO2? Where's NOX, etc?

 

They are a little vague on their operating expenses. They say they are a for profit company with a 10% profit margin. How much of your $30.00 goes to the actual farmer and his cows? Syriana and Terrapass are partners in what way?

A quick search shows this was started in a college classroom.

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/conte...050715_6326.htm

Seems like you could do better buying directly at the Chicago Climate Exchange

http://www.env-econ.net/2005/06/psst_wanna_buy_.html

Chicago Climate Exchange

http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/

 

The mantra seems to go something like this:

A hungry infidel is a good infidel
A starving infidel is even better !

Food for brainwashing.

 

The CO2 emission is directly related to amount of fuel burned - it doesn't matter whether your engine is Otto, Atkinson, Diesel, Wankel, a gas turbine, or a gasoline-fired steam engine. Simplified chemistry: X amount of hydrocarbon + Y amount of oxygen yields Z amount of CO2 + W amount of H2O. The purity of fuel and thoroughness of burning may affect that somewhat, but probably by a smaller percentage than the variability of EPA estimates.

I'm guessing TerraPass isn't concerned with NOx because:
1. it's impossible to compute solely by amount of gas burned, and
b. there isn't already an infrastructure in place to trade offsets in NOX like there is for CO2 (thanks to Kyoto).

 

Their method is completely accurate. One gallon of gasoline makes about 21 pounds-mass (nearly 10 kg) of CO2 regardless of how it was oxidized or how efficiently the heat produced thereby was used. The MPG of the car burning the gas doesn't matter because MPG only measures how efficiently a system of car+driver makes use of the gas that was burned. (Note also that MPG is a figure of merit for the system of car+driver, not for an engine by itself.)

NOX etc don't persist very long in the atmosphere and so harm only things near the source. CO2 persists on average for hundreds of years and harms the entire planet.

 

Slight correction. Excess CO2 upsets the unique and wonderful balance of gases in our amazing planet's atmosphere. It's not harmful per se, but may make life a bit more uncomfortable for us.

 

... uncomfortable for us, and things we might want to eat and/or visit. ;-)

I bought some Terrapasses last year. I kind of skip around in my charities rather than doing the same every year. This year I joined the League of American Bicyclists, and the American Solar Energy Society. They are all small money really, and who knows, they might help.

http://www.bikeleague.org/
http://www.ases.org/

 

"NOX etc don't persist very long in the atmosphere and so harm only things near the source. CO2 persists on average for hundreds of years and harms the entire planet."

but doesn't NOx combine with other things to create smog? my point being: even though it may not be long term like CO2, it still hurts people/plants/animals so why should it be left out?

 

You and my wife are cousins then. 'Save up to 50% & more' is a pet peeve.

For the want of a punctuation mark. If you don't have it already, The Columbia Journalism Review has a great book about newspaper items, similar to what Jay Leno does. The title I believe is "Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim"

 

Hey Grammar Bitch, I saw a Lexus ad for the 400h:
"More Power, LESS Emissions". I groaned.

(It's FEWER when it's plural, LESS when it's singular).

As in:
"Uses LESS gasoline and produces FEWER emissions."

Don't even get me started on the "Breaks vs Brakes and Loose vs Lose" rant again.

Nate

 

Misery loves company. It's nice to know I don't suffer alone. :lol:

 

Guess they didn't like:
"More Power, LESS Emissionage"

 

in response to the comment about people should go to the CCX and buy the emissions themselves....and other general comments

1)you have to be a paying member of the CCX in order to buy credits from them.
2) it is also very difficult to find a credit supplier who is willing to do such a small transactions (1-10 tonnes of C02e)
3) note the e at the end of C02e. You arent buying tonnes of C02 when you buy from the CCX. they are trading C02e which is tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, which includes the global warming potential of other greenhouse gases being emitted.