CoolDrivePass
CoolDrivePass is a Canadian offsetting company that provides an opportunity for climate neutral driving.
History
CoolDrivePass was founded by two professors at the University of British Columbia and their mandate is "Cool Your Drive". CoolDrivePass is a socially driven team and their main goal has always been to provide cost effective and high quality greenhouse gas management solutions. Their social objective is to Contribute the most to fight global warming and to help sustainable development in the local communities surrounding the projects. Offsetting car emissions is a cost effective and simple way to reduce the negative impacts of driving on the environment.
Operations
1. First, the team finds and initiates projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These projects are high quality carbon offset projects (see below). The projects provide social as well as environmental benefits and they are reasonably priced.
2. Second, the amount of greenhouse gases that a vehicle emits over the course of a year is calculated. An online calculator at www.cooldrivepass.ca is available for anyone to calculate their car's emissions.
3. Third, the owner of the car has the option to purchase an amount of carbon offsets from these high quality carbon offset projects that is equivalent to what their car emits. By investing in these sources of clean energy, the owner of the car effectively neutralizes the greenhouse gas emissions from their vehicle. This is known as being carbon neutral.
Examples of fuel economy and total carbon dioxide emissions from for 20,000 km driving per year for 2006 Honda vehicles.
Type of Vehicle |
Est. Fuel Economy (1/100km) |
Tonne CO2 |
|---|---|---|
CIVIC HYBRID 1.3 |
4.7 |
3 |
CIVIC AUTO 1.8 |
6.6 |
4 |
ACCORD AUTO 2.4 |
8 |
5 |
CR-V MAN 2.4 Lit |
9.9 |
6 |
ODYSSEY AUTO 3.5 |
10.5 |
6.5 |
Buying a CoolDrivePass is a simple, affordable and effective method to reduce the negative impacts of driving on the climate. Every purchase of a CoolDrivePass fights global warming by preventing and removing greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to local sustainable development in the project's surrounding area.
Until recently not many voluntary options, if any, existed to take effective action. Now CoolDrivePass is part of The New generation of initiatives that provides a way to be climate friendly through supporting projects with strong sustainability benefits such as reduction of air pollution, creating employment, and economical gains for low income families.
High Quality Carbon Offset Projects
CoolDrivePass defines high quality carbon offset projects by 5 principles:
- Projects that reduce total greenhouse gas emissions in the world: Only supporting projects that lead to real reductions in total greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
- Projects that meet or exceed standards in Canada: Projects that exceed environmental and social standards in Canada are highly credible. Some offset projects (e.g., pig farms in Latin America) would fail Canadian standards in animal care and water pollution prevention.
- Projects that are easily verified by a third party: Offsetters is primarily a voluntary program and their clients can feel confident that their money is well spent with measurable benefits.
- Projects that provide lasting environmental benefit: This means that energy efficiency technologies and renewable energy are favoured over tree planting. Greenhouse gas savings can be measured and created in energy efficiency and renewable projects.
- Projects that are socially beneficial: Projects that bring social benefits as well as environmental gains help make sure that there will be a social desire to sustain them in the long run.
CoolDrivePass Projects
Clean Heating for 2,500 Affordable Housing Units
The city of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada will use climate-friendly heating technology for a 2,500 unit affordable housing project.
Heating for the 2,500 homes will be generated by capturing the "waste"- heat from a new speed skating oval and a ground source heat pump system. The use of these two alternative energy sources will reduce annually the equivalent of the carbon dioxide emitted from more than a thousand small-sized automobiles. In addition to the environmental benefits of this project, the residents of the new housing development will be able to buy their "clean" heat at a below-market rate.
Energy Efficient Lighting in South Africa
In South Africa, most electricity is generated from coal; this leads to the country having one of the highest carbon dioxide emissions per unit of electricity in the world. Reducing the country's energy demands, therefore, goes a long way to reducing the emissions of harmful greenhouse gases.
CoolDrivePass is investing in a project in South Africa that is Providing low income households with efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs. These light bulbs use one fifth the energy of standard 60W or 100W bulbs. The efficient light bulbs not only help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, they also save households much needed money on their electricity bills.
Vehicles and Climate Change
The automobile industry has made amazing ProgresS toward environmental stewardship in the past three decades. It now recycles over 90% of the steel in cars, and more than 80% of aluminum. Regulations in Europe are already leading to manufacturing and designs that will allow even higher levels of material efficiency. Engines have also become far less polluting. Since the early 70s, exhaust air pollutants have declined by more than 95%. The industry continues to strive to protect the environment while meeting consumer needs.
The big gain for climate change over the past thirty years has been a 30% increase in engine efficiency. However, efficiency gains alone are not enough. Automobiles still contribute more than 25% of greenhouse gas emissions.
Sometime in the next decade or two, renewable fuels will be used for cars and driving will have Negligible emissions. However, until that time investing in high quality carbon offset projects is one short-term solution. CoolDrivePass encourages everyone to use alternate means of transportation, however driving seems to be an inevitable resource.
References
Interview with Eclipse One Tonne Challenge Interview with Associated Press Interview with the Globe and Mail
Further reading
Verification and Validation of Offsets David Suzuki Foundation on Carbon Neutrality