San Francisco International Airport (SFO) now has three kiosks that passengers can use to purchase carbon offsets, contributing to carbon reduction initiatives in the city.
The airport on Thursday launched its “Climate Passport” program, offering travelers a way to easily calculate and reduce the carbon footprint of their air travel by supporting carbon offset projects based in San Francisco and California. The program is said to be the first of its kind in the nation’s airports.
“We created a program that enables travelers to voluntarily offset the emissions from their trip through supporting local projects that reduce greenhouse gases,” said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. “The Climate Passport kiosks are good for the climate and for San Francisco’s economy."
Travelers can also access the Climate Passport through SFO’s website. Using the kiosks or the website, travelers can calculate the carbon footprint of their flights to determine the amount of carbon offsets (aka, Verified Emission Reductions or VERs) needed to address the greenhouse gas impact. When the amount is set, 3Degrees, a local San Francisco carbon and renewable energy marketing firm that manages the Climate Passport kiosks, sources carbon offsets from The Conservation Fund’s Garcia River Forest Project and the San Francisco Carbon Fund, to ensure an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases has been reduced.
Carbon offsets for Climate Passport are sourced from specific projects and are third-party verified against the Climate Action Reserve, a rigorous, objective and transparent standard for offsets from forestry projects. Furthermore, all projects from 3Degrees must pass a test for "additionality," which ensures carbon offset sales are critical to the project’s existence. Climate Passport also allocates $1.50 per ton of all sales to the SFCarbon Fund, a City-run fund that invests in greenhouse gas reduction projects within San Francisco.
The first project of the San Francisco Carbon Fund is Dog Patch Biofuels, San Francisco’s only publicly-owned biodiesel filling station and eco-friendly convenience store in the Southeast sector of the city. The project will reduce as much as 660,000 pounds of CO2 in its first year of operation. The climate benefits from this project result from replacing petro diesel in local vehicle fleets with cleaner, sustainable recycled biodiesel.
The Garcia River Forest is a conservation-based forest management project located in Mendocino County, California and managed by The Conservations Fund, a nonprofit land conservation organization. Dominated by native redwood and Douglas fir trees, Garcia River Forest is recognized by the California Department of Fish and Game as a high priority for protection and recovery of the state and federally-listed endangered Coho Salmon and Steelhead Trout. The property also supports Northern Spotted Owl and numerous other rare plants and animals.
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