2013 Certificate of Offset

This certificate describes the actions we take on your behalf when you purchase carbon offsets from TerraPass, including the amount and types of emission reductions. An independent auditor verifies these claims and prepares a report that we publish on our website.

Your purchase commits TerraPass to obtain and retire a specific quantity of carbon offsets. A carbon offset represents a verified reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, measured in pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e). By retiring carbon offsets, TerraPass ensures the reductions are permanent. They can never be reused or resold.

The quantity of carbon offsets associated with your purchase is listed on your order confirmation. This offset represents a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, not in other pollutants such as particulate matter, lead or nitrogen oxides. If you calculated your emissions using a TerraPass calculator, remember that the calculator provides estimates only. Details of our emission estimation methods are available on our website. A TerraPass offset does not reduce CO₂ emissions directly from your activities; rather, your purchase supports emission reduction projects elsewhere.

TerraPass business practices

TerraPass makes every effort to ensure that the carbon offsets you purchase meet your expectations. We seek out bonafide emission reduction projects where TerraPass’ funding is important to the project’s success. We substantiate our efforts, in part, through the business practices listed here.

Standards and registries. Every project is conducted and verified according to a publically available carbon offset standard such as the Verified Carbon Standard or the Climate Action Reserve. TerraPass publishes the offset standard on our project portfolio web page. Each project’s emission reductions are listed on a public registry upon their verification.

Independent verification. All TerraPass projects are verified by an independent accredited Verifier. All verifications include audits of project data, project monitoring equipment, and project operations relative to the standard used. Emission reductions are always verified before they are included in our portfolio.

Published, audited portfolio. A completed portfolio, that shows which projects supplied the carbon offsets we retired to match our customer purchases, is published on our web site after our independent audit is complete.

Refund policy. If you are dissatisfied with your TerraPass purchase for any reason, you can return it within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.

TerraPass emission reduction project requirements

TerraPass’ carbon offsets come from a collection of projects which we call our “portfolio.” This approach enables us to provide a variety of project types in varying locations to every customer. The projects which make up our portfolio change over time. All projects must meet the requirements listed here.

Project type and location. TerraPass has considerable expertise in North American offset projects, and through 2011 we have supported only U.S. projects which derive from landfill and agricultural methane destruction, wind energy, and abandoned coal mine methane destruction. We seek new project types and consider projects in other geographies on an ongoing basis.

Project disclosure. We keep an up-to-date project list on our website; see the “full project listing” page. A selection of these projects will be included in our 2013 Portfolio. Please note that some 2013 Portfolio Projects may not be identified and added to the list until they are undergoing verification in 2013.

Project comment period. To ensure all projects meet customer expectations, we conduct public comment periods. We publish the project name, location, offset standard and other supporting details on our website and invite comments. Each comment period is announced in our newsletter, website, and blog. Projects we decide to support are added to our “full project listing” webpage on an ongoing basis.

Project age and offset vintage. TerraPass projects must have started operations January 1, 2006 or later. Purchases during 2013 will be fulfilled with verified emission reductions which occur no later than December 31, 2013.

If you have any questions, the best way to contact us is email, at info@terrapass.com.
Customers may also call us at (415) 692-3411 or toll-free at (877) 210-9581.