Climate Consulting
Helping companies reduce their energy costs and transition to net-zero emissions.
Carbon Offsets Canada
Helping companies understand the difference between a Renewable Electricity Certificate (REC), Carbon Offset, and Carbon Credit in order to ensure businesses achieve their environmental targets in the most cost-effective method possible
Carbon Management Strategy
When implementing a carbon management strategy, many corporations look to the renewable energy industry to help reduce their scope 1 and scope 2 carbon emissions and accelerate their energy transition.
The first step we take with our clients in relation to our climate consulting services is to ensure a strong foundational knowledge throughout the organization about the difference between a Renewable Electricity Certificate (REC), carbon offset, and carbon credit.
This foundation of knowledge empowers our clients to make informed decisions and enables us to customize a sustainability strategy for them that integrates investments and transactions with large-scale renewable energy projects.
To fully understand the differences and financial implications of using RECs, Carbon Credits, and/or Carbon Offsets to achieve your sustainability strategy, it is helpful to review the basics of what RECs, Carbon Credits, and Carbon Offsets represent.
Renewable Electricity Credits (RECs)
A REC represents 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of renewable energy generated, regardless of how many greenhouse gases or tonnes of carbon equivalent it displaces from the local electricity grid.
This renewable energy generation can take place anywhere in the world, and RECs trade internationally. There is no central clearinghouse for RECs, although there are various independent certification programs to validate the credits such as Green-e and EcoLogo.
Because RECs aren’t linked to a set volume of carbon emissions reductions, organizations that purchase RECs cannot claim a defined volume of carbon reductions (unless they can verify the carbon intensity of the regional electricity grid from which the REC was sourced).
Carbon Credits
Carbon Credits represent a 1 tonne reduction of carbon equivalent, and are generated by facilities that perform below their jurisdictional carbon pricing program’s benchmark for emissions.
The delta between the facility’s actual emissions and the benchmark, measured in tonnes of carbon equivalent, would be the number of Carbon Credits that the facility receives.
Carbon Credits are either retired on behalf of the company generating the credit for compliance purposes or sold for profit to other organizations that didn’t meet their benchmark.
Because Carbon Credits represent a reduction below an industry established benchmark, it is possible for carbon-emitting facilities, such as a gas-fired electricity generation project, to earn Carbon Credits.
Buyers of Carbon Credits for ESG purposes should be cautious of the source of those credits in order to avoid getting labeled for greenwashing from buying credits with a poor narrative, such as an artificially high benchmark.
Carbon Offsets
Carbon Offsets represent 1 tonne of carbon equivalent and are generated by projects that prevent the release of carbon into the atmosphere, such as renewable energy projects that displace other, more carbon-intensive, forms of electricity generation from the grid.
The volume of Carbon Offsets credited to a project is calculated based on a government-defined calculation methodology and crediting protocol.
Buyers (or corporations that invest in projects which generate Carbon Offsets) should be aware that the protocol used to quantify the Carbon Offset doesn’t always align with the then-current emissions avoided from the project.
As a result, best practice is to align the quantification protocol used to calculate your scope 1 and scope 2 carbon emissions with the protocol used to calculate offsets generated.
Zenith Power Carbon Offset Advisory
Zenith Power helps organizations across Canada source high-quality renewable energy and emissions reductions through tailored power market strategies that support both voluntary and compliance carbon offset buyers. Whether you are looking to secure long-term clean power through power purchase agreements (PPAs) or access real-time opportunities in Alberta’s spot electricity market, our team connects your energy procurement directly to measurable carbon reductions. From Alberta Carbon Offsets to national Carbon Offset Canada programs, we guide clients on how to structure transactions, verify impacts, and efficiently buy carbon offsets while managing price risk and maximizing environmental value.