P.E.I. charity launches carbon offset program

Farmers Helping Farmers, a P.E.I. group that supports communities in Kenya, is launching a carbon credit program.

'It saves them cutting down trees.' — Ian Dohoo, Farmers Helping Farmers

The money raised will help pay for new technology in Kenya to reduce greenhouse emissions in that country, and allow Islanders to offset their own greenhouse gas emissions.

"The main one is the use of biogas generators that use cow manure to create cooking gas for Kenyan farming families. It saves them cutting down trees and burning trees to do that," said Farmers Helping Farmers member Ian Dohoo.

Dohoo said the biogas cookers are more efficient than the wood-burning cookers generally used, and so produce less greenhouse gas. They also have side benefits that improve the quality of life for the farm families.

"They reduce the amount of time they spend collecting wood; they greatly improve the air quality in these families' homes," he said.

The money will help purchase both the biogas generators and the fuel-efficient cookers.