Introducing Green Shield

In 2021, we debuted Green Shield, the first-in-the-industry carbon neutral offset program. We are proud to continue offering a simple way for you to mitigate your specific fuel usage greenhouse gas emissions by directly funding carbon-reducing projects. Your carbon offsets may be purchased as part of your annual preseason Prebuy or Budget Plan. See Customer Purchase of Credits section below.

Simple Energy is Carbon Neutral!

Simple Energy is all in…we are now officially carbon neutral! We have purchased enough carbon offset credits to remove over 500 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. (Equivalent to 1,276,705 miles driven by the average passenger vehicles, as calculated by the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator*)

We purchased this initial block of carbon offsets from Native Energy in Burlington, VT to support our first venture, the Laurelbrook Farm Compost Project. We used some of these credits to offset 100% of our company's projected 2021 Scope 1 direct emissions** and our projected 2022 emissions. The rest of the credits will be available for our customers to purchase, and we will purchase more as needed. We want to provide our customers the same opportunity to help in this important endeavor.

Laurelbrook Farm is a verified Emissions Reduction Project certified through Verra, a trusted source in managing and certifying carbon offset projects. On behalf of Simple Energy, Native Energy has retired our carbon offset purchase in the Verra registry***. Click here to see the certificate.

Laurelbrook Farm - Recipient of our Green Shield Project

Laurelbrook Farm is a fourth-generation family farm in East Canaan, CT. As one of the few remaining dairy farms in Connecticut, their compost project funds a manure separating and compost technology that reduces the farm’s greenhouse gas emissions and improves their financial outlook. Third generation Robert Jacquier, who oversees the farm, said: “We believe the composting operation is the best way to take full advantage of the nutrients in the waste stream while significantly reducing the environmental threat posed by manure decomposition and nutrient run-off. It’s a difficult time to operate a dairy farm, but we take pride in taking the best care of our animals and being good stewards of the land." Your purchase of carbon offsets helps fund this ongoing compost project at Laurelbrook Farm.

Customer Purchase of Credits

Our customers will be able to purchase carbon offsets from our remaining block of Laurelbrook Farm credits. Your carbon offsets may be purchased as part of your annual preseason Prebuy or Budget Plan. Sign into our Customer Account Portal to access your plan and the carbon neutral option will be presented as part of your contract. When you check the box to enroll, 100% of your gallon emissions will be carbon offset from our Verified Emissions Reduction Program with Laurelbrook Farm.

Future Partners

Laurelbrook Farm will be the first of many projects that Simple Energy and our customers support through our Green Shield carbon-neutral program. We will continue to seek out local, regional, national and international opportunities and allow you to choose which greenhouse-reducing project to support.

Validation and Verification

The Laurelbrook Farm project is listed on the Verra Registry.

More Information on Carbon Offsets

Native Energy, our partner is securing our carbon offsets

• How Carbon Offsets Work
• Help Slow Climate Change
• Carbon Calculator
• FAQs
• Case Studies
• Certifications

Carbon Offset Guide from the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute and the Stockholm Environment Institute

TSVCM 2021 full report from the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets

Summary report from TSVCM

Laurelbrook Farm Youtube Videos:

 

*To calculate what 500 tonnes is equivalent to on this EPA site, choose the blue tab “If You Have Emission Data” towards the bottom of the page. Then enter our 500 tonnes in the first space for “C02” under ‘Gas’. and click the green “Calculate”.

**Scope 1 direct emissions, as defined by the GHG Protocol corporate standard, “Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from owned or controlled sources”. For more information, PlanA has a more detailed definition of Scope 1 emissions.

***On 6/29/2021 7:20:14 PM, NativeEnergy, Inc. 2344 retired 508 Verra Registry Verified Carbon Standard VCU (verified carbon units). The VCU were issued in accordance to Verified Carbon Standard protocols. The issuance and ownership of these instruments are tracked in Verra Registry using unique serial numbers to prevent double counting or double selling. Details about the instruments are listed below.

• Quantity of retired VCU: 508
• Serial numbers: 8190-500085-500592-VCS-VCU-260-VER-US-13-1089-01012018-31122018-0
• Date of retirement: 6/29/2021 7:20:14 PM
• Beneficial Owner: Simple Energy customers
• Retirement reason details: Retirement for Person or Organization; Retired on behalf of Simple Energy customers
• Public URL: https://registry.verra.org/myModule/rpt/myrpt.asp?r=206&h=114928
• Laurelbrook Farm Dairy Manure Advanced Separation Project
• Project type: Waste handling and disposal
• Project country: US

Visit https://verra.org for more information about The Verra Registry. You can view public reports listing retired credits and additional information about the project, including project documentation.