TerraPass project science
TerraPass is more than an interesting idea. TerraPass represents a tangible step you can take to fight climate change by counterbalancing the greenhouse gas emissions from your driving. Through the Greener Miles program from Ford and TerraPass, you can directly fund our portfolio of clean energy projects.
| Project type | Key benefits |
Wind energy |
|
Biomass |
|
Wind energy
The Greener Miles program supports renewable energy production by purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs or "green tags"). RECs are tradable units that represent the unbundled environmental attributes of a unit of renewable energy. The introduction of renewable energy sources, like wind, into the electrical grid reduces production of electricity from the fossil fuels that contribute to climate change.
TerraPass makes a calculation of the carbon dioxide reduced as a result of the introduction of renewable energy by examining the carbon profile of the grid where the energy is produced. For example, if the grid has a carbon profile of 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour (MWh), then 100 MWh of renewable energy saves 100,000 pounds of carbon dioxide.
By purchasing green tags for the Greener Miles program, TerraPass sponsors windmills to replace power from dirty coal and other fossil fuels.
Biomass
Biomass refers to organic non-fossil material. Creating energy from biomass does not add to the world's carbon output. Biomass energy sources include methane gas, landfill gas, and biodiesel.
Methane gas is produced naturally from some forms of biomass. If not burned, methane adds greatly to our climate change problem. Methane has a greenhouse effect 22 times greater than carbon dioxide. TerraPass funds innovative projects such as anaerobic digester systems on dairy farms that harness methane as a clean form of energy and prevent it from reaching the atmosphere.
Typically these investments are made in the form of RECs or emissions reduction credits (or both) from energy generated by the methane. TerraPass converts emissions of all non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases to metric tons of CO2 equivalent using the one-hundred year Global Warming Potential (GWP) values established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The financial transaction between TerraPass and the entity implementing the efficiency project is governed by the extensive rules of the Chicago Climate Exchange. In addition, CCX has contracted with the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) to provide compliance services, which include the annual audits of emission reports submitted by CCX members, on-going market surveillance of trades on the CCX Trading Platform, and the review of membership applications and verifier reports. NASD is the leading regulatory entity for securities transactions in the United States.