Wednesday, April 27, 2016 by Tim Greiner
Advances in renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy storage are pushing us toward a more sustainable, low-carbon future, but an outright energy revolution is being held back by the fact that the market prices of coal, oil and gas include almost none of the costs of carbon pollution.
At the national level, putting a price on carbon will transform energy investment, re-shape consumption, and sharply reduce the carbon emissions that are driving global warming, according to the Carbon Tax Center. This “upstream” tax would target the carbon contents of fossil fuels, including coal, oil and natural gas, as well as biofuels.
While Congress has idled on putting a price on carbon, companies from Microsoft toUnilever already have implemented their own — which has in some cases provided a significant boost to the bottom line. Microsoft, for example, claims to be saving $10 million per year after its internal carbon fee helped it achieve carbon neutrality.
At the corporate level, pricing carbon allows companies to redirect funds toward sustainability investments, such as renewables, energy efficiency and energy storage, which can drive further cost savings in the long run.
To get a better understanding of pricing carbon in the corporate world, we spoke with Tim Greiner, co-founder and managing director at sustainability consulting firm Pure Strategies.