August 18, 2026 · Carbon Credit · 3 min read
After you reduce your emissions, there's always a remaining portion that technically can't be brought to zero. This is exactly where the carbon credit (offsetting) comes in. In this guide, we explain what a carbon credit is, how your calculated emissions are converted into concrete equivalents (tree count, wind turbine output, € cost), and what choosing one credit type over another actually means.
A carbon credit is a unit that verifies that 1 ton of CO2e has either been removed from the atmosphere or prevented from being released. A business or individual can purchase these credits — generated by a verified project (afforestation, renewable energy, methane capture, etc.) — to "offset" emissions they cannot reduce themselves. An important point: purchasing a carbon credit is not a substitute for REDUCING emissions — the GHG Protocol and the climate science community recommend reducing first, and offsetting only what cannot be reduced ("reduce first, offset the rest").
To make a calculated kgCO2e amount understandable, the platform converts it into three concrete references:
1. Tree Count Equivalent: A mature tree sequesters an average of 21.77 kg CO2e
per year. Formula: tree count = kgCO2e ÷ 21.77 (rounded up).
2. Wind Turbine Day Equivalent: The annual output of a 2.5MW wind turbine is
6,570,000 kWh; substituted for grid electricity (0.442 kg CO2e/kWh), this is equivalent to
preventing ~7,956 kg CO2e of emissions per day. Formula: day count = kgCO2e ÷
7,956 (rounded up).
3. € Cost: Calculated using the unit price of the chosen carbon credit type
with the formula (kgCO2e ÷ 1000) × unit price (€/ton).
| Type | € / ton CO2e | Why This Price? |
|---|---|---|
| VERRA (Afforestation) | 18.5 | Nature-based, low-cost, but permanence depends on forest management (fire/logging risk) |
| Gold Standard (Renewable Energy) | 24.0 | Additional verification layers (including social benefit criteria), medium cost |
| CDM (Methane Capture) | 12.75 | Relatively cheap and measurable technology that captures industrial/landfill methane |
| DAC (Direct Air Capture) | 185.0 | An engineered solution that removes CO2 directly from the air; far more PERMANENT (thousands of years) but much more expensive |
The main reason for the price difference is permanence and technological maturity: an afforestation project is cheap, but the carbon can be released back into the atmosphere through fire or logging (low permanence); Direct Air Capture (DAC), on the other hand, is a far more permanent engineered solution, but is much more expensive because the technology is still maturing.
Tree count and wind turbine day equivalents are mainly for COMMUNICATION/awareness purposes — telling an investor or employee "equivalent to what 23 trees sequester in a year" creates a far more tangible impact than saying "500 kg CO2e." The € cost, on the other hand, is used for an ACTUAL purchasing decision: if you're looking for broad-scope offsetting on a low budget, CDM/VERRA may be more suitable; if your corporate reputation strategy prioritizes permanence and verifiability above all else, DAC/Gold Standard may be a better fit.
Offsetting equivalents for a business with annual emissions of 50,000 kg CO2e (50 tons):
Tree count = 50,000 ÷ 21.77 = 2,297 trees
Wind turbine day equivalent = 50,000 ÷ 7,956 = 7 days
VERRA cost = 50 tons × €18.5/ton = €925
DAC cost = 50 tons × €185/ton = €9,250 (10 times more expensive, but far more permanent)
Convert your emissions into concrete equivalents
See your calculated emissions in trees, wind turbines, and € with our Carbon Credit Marketplace module.
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