Steller Sea Blog

Steller Sea Kayaking Purchases Carbon Credits

Since the days of my first Commodore 64 I’ve witnessed, and participated in, the exponential growth of a new breed of information and communications technology. What began as a revolution in the office as a stand alone computer, has become the most influential medium of cultural expression - the Internet. As Gutenberg’s movable type printing press was of central importance to the information sharing that ignited the Renaissance, computer networking and the Internet have ignited a Digital Renaissance.

Yet, I was amazed recently when I found out that the electricity required to power the exponential growth of digital information sharing over the Internet is responsible for 2% of global CO₂ emissions, and that this exceeds the emissions of the entire aviation industry. I always thought that the aviation industry had one of the largest carbon footprints of any technology. So, it was with great interest that I read about CO₂Stats and how this company was empowering individuals to offset the carbon footprint of information and communications technology. CO₂Stats is a service that allows users to place a badge on their web page stating that it is a “Green Certified Site.” The badge shows that the host site runs on green power credits.

The badge goes beyond simple eco-branding, however, because it represents that the website is actually purchasing renewable power to offset the amount of energy being consumed by both their servers as well as their customer’s computers. To accomplish this, CO₂Stats, has compiled a world-wide database of geographic energy sources. When someone surfs to a website with a CO₂Stats badge, scripts record the location of the user and matches them to their corresponding geographic energy source in the database. For example, if a visitor is from Washington State, the database would register that a hydro- and nuclear-based energy user had visited the site. The scripts then detail how long that person spent on the site, their total power dedicated to loading and browsing it, and even the approximate window size to estimate the monitor’s power consumption. This data is then run through an energy consumption algorithm that calculates a corresponding number of green power credits that are necessary to offset the energy used by that individual. Visitors to a “Green Certified Site” can click the CO₂Stats badge and see a display showing how many pounds of CO₂ are offset through the program.

In order to make a profit off the renewable energy market, CO₂Stats purchases green power credits in bulk from Sustainable Travel International and NativeEnergy. Bulk purchases allow for a profit margin over the fixed monthly rates that CO₂Stats charges based on total page views. A site can purchase the badge at a fixed monthly rate based on page views brackets (under 5 million, 1 million or 500k), while CO₂Stats manages purchasing green credits required to offset the site.

A carbon offset is a financial instrument representing a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Although there are six primary categories of greenhouse gases, carbon offsets are measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO₂e). One carbon offset represents the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases.

That global information and communications infrastructure can offset its entire carbon footprint through the purchase of carbon credits or offsets is a radical notion. So radical, in fact, that such a change is not likely to happen from the top down. That’s why Steller Sea Kayaking Limited has decided to join in this pioneering grassroots effort to make the Internet a carbon-free medium of cultural expression and exchange. So the next time you visit Steller Sea Kayaking Ltd. to plan your vacation, or post your latest kayaking experience on the Steller Sea Blog, check out our contribution to this grassroots campaign by clicking on our “Green Certified Site” badge at the bottom of the page.

Filed under: News | carbon fooptrint, climate change, CO2, energy, environnmental, green, peak oil|No Comments

New Boats for 2009

US auto sales dropped 26 percent in September, manufacturing fell to a 7-year low, and the Fed is weighing further cuts in interest rates. But still the Bush administration and some of the country’s leading economists are reluctant to admit that the country is in a recession.

What does this have to do with boats you might ask? Well, either literally or metaphorically everything can be related to boats. Like the economy, they can float high or low in the water, they can track well or poorly, they can list to the right or left, have great initial stability and poor secondary stability, and sometimes they take on water and begin a slow descent into the depths of the sea.

Some people would say “stay the course, this is no time to change boats”, while others would say “we’ve been on this course a long time and look where it has gotten us - it’s time for a change we can believe in.” Personally, I believe such change must happen and that it’s going to necessitate a re-evaluation of our footprint not only globally but personally. One of the big changes will be a reduction in travel to exotic destinations and an increase in domestic travel as people begin to explore their local environments. Already this past season we saw an increase in guests from British Columbia and I suspect we’ll see more from the US next year. With this in mind I’ve chosen to add five new boats to our existing fleet. As I write this the boats are scheduled for production and I’ll be picking them up at the factory in April. Em, ….new boats

Filed under: News | boats, economy, kayaks, recession, Travel|No Comments