Delta Offsets Frequently Asked Questions
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- What sets Delta Offsets apart?
- How will the revenue from my offset purchases be used?
- Are Delta Offsets verified by a third party?
- What am I actually buying?
- Would the greenhouse gases have been sequestered or eliminated even if I didn’t purchase offsets?
- Does it make any difference?
- Aren’t offsets just an easy way out of addressing the root causes of climate change?
- Are my purchased offsets permanently retired, i.e. will they not be double counted as someone else’s offsets?
1. What sets Delta Offsets apart?
Transparency. Delta is committed to transparency by showing you every step of our offset process—from the initial sequestration project registration to the retirement of carbon credits generated from that project. You can even track your offset purchase and its retirement in our innovative Offset Ledger.
Quality. We have conversations directly with the farmers and landowners. We sign up the eligible projects ourselves; we don’t go through any middlemen. We look at every project individually, perform rigorous due diligence, and follow the protocol established by the Chicago Climate Exchange.
Mission. As a nonprofit focused on improving environmental quality and community and economic development, Delta views carbon offsets as a great program to support conservation activities that address climate change and have a wide range of other environmental benefits such as habitat creation, soil conservation, and water and air quality improvements.
2. How will the revenue from my offset purchases be used?
Delta uses the revenue generated from offset sales to pay farmers, landowners, and project owners directly for maintaining the carbon reduction and sequestration activities described in About Delta Offsets, ensuring that they continue at least through the end of their contract with Delta. In turn, the farmers’ revenue helps them support conservation activities that have other environmental benefits and increases awareness to other farmers and landowners that people want these activities to occur. Delta collects 8-10% of the retail offset sales to fund the administration of our carbon program. At our current price, Delta receives $0.60-$0.75 from each metric ton retired.
3. Are Delta Offsets verified by a third party?
Delta Offsets are checked, verified and registered with the Chicago Climate Exchange to help ensure that the offsets are actually taking place and being maintained. Verification is performed by a CCX-approved organization. Conservation agriculture and grassland establishment projects in Illinois and Michigan are verified by the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts and Michigan Association of Conservation Districts, respectively.
4. What am I actually buying?
When you purchase Delta Offsets, you are funding a project run by a farmer, landowner, or project owner to do something that reduces greenhouse gas emissions or increases the amount of greenhouse gases being sequestered. Your purchase moves a specified amount of metric tons of carbon dioxide from the Delta trading account to our retirement account, where it cannot be traded, sold or transferred.
The offset credits you purchase are based on a calculation of the net impact of the projects that we register on the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX). That calculation comes from the protocol set by CCX and is based on either actual measurement through metering, or modeling from formulae developed by the scientific community from peer-reviewed research.
Your purchase retires the offset on your behalf, the offset cannot be traded or sold by you, us, or any other entity. It remains in our CCX Retirement Account in perpetuity.
5. Would the greenhouse gases have been sequestered or eliminated even if I didn’t purchase offsets?
Once you start looking at setting greenhouse gas emission baselines, enrolling offset projects, or reviewing the quality of offset credits, this question comes up frequently. This question is referred to by the term, “Additionality.” Additionality refers to whether or not the offset activity would have occurred without an outside investment. Simply, is it your money that allowed the offset project to commence? Delta Offsets are checked, verified and registered with the Chicago Climate Exchange to help ensure that the offsets are actually taking place and being maintained. Some of the activities that are sequestering or reducing greenhouse gas emissions were already going on when they became eligible to be assigned offset credits. However, the carbon offset revenue helps farmers maintain the activities that were occurring and insures that they continue at least through the end of their contract with Delta. In turn, the farmers’ revenue from their carbon offset activities helps them support conservation activities that have other environmental benefits and increases awareness to other farmers and landowners that people want these activities to occur.
6. Does it make any difference?
The Energy Information Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, reports that carbon dioxide emissions for the United States were approximately 5,956,980,000 metric tons in 2005 (just under 6 billion). So, is your offset purchase going to change the world? Statistically speaking, an individual purchase of a few metric tons of carbon offsets does not make a difference. However, with a larger scale and broader reach, the impact quickly multiplies. At Delta we believe that calculating greenhouse gas emissions, finding ways to offset the impacts of climate change, and putting a monetary value on the cost of emissions does make a difference.
7. Aren’t offsets just an easy way out of addressing the root causes of climate change?
Not at all, provided you use offsets to account for only those emissions that you absolutely cannot reduce yourself by changing your lifestyle habits or participating in sequestration activities.
8. Are my purchased offsets permanently retired, i.e. will they not be double counted as someone else’s offsets?
Yes—When 100 metric tons of offsets are sold, Delta informs the CCX® to deduct those credits from its account. Those credits are permanently retired, meaning the 100 metric tons of greenhouse gases are removed from the atmosphere, and no one else can count them as their reductions.
