Flights Carbon Offset 2013

Why Carbon Offset?

Unless I planned to stay in bed every day (with the heating and lights off) my everyday activities, including driving, heating my home, cooking my supper, and of course flying, produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which contribute to climate change. There are lots of things we can do to reduce our carbon footprint, such as cycling and getting the train more often, turning the heating down, and using energy efficient light bulbs - all of which we do where possible at Green Financial.

At Green Financial we offset our carbon emissions caused by flying. Whilst not perfect, it is something. When I fly on business matters, I subsequently carbon offset. My travel is usually to conferences or to work on financial planning committees or sometimes to present to other financial planners around the world. Whatever it is, there is a benefit in my increased knowledge, to Green Financial clients.

With carbon offsetting we pay a certain amount of money to a project, which reduces or removes the equivalent amount of CO2 being produced, and therefore there is no net gain of CO2 to the atmosphere, from my flight.

This year we have chosen to do this via myclimate (last year it was trees for cities). Currently this is supporting two renewable energy projects:

In the Indian state of Karnataka, it supports a power plant which uses agricultural waste to produce heat and energy for the local community. In addition, the project creates 650 jobs in the region and leads to an improvement of the groundwater quality as it ends uncontrolled burning of agricultural waste.

Power and heat from biomass in Karnataka, India

This project is the first of its kind in India. Technical innovations have made it possible to use biomass with a low calorific value as a useful fuel. This has led to a revolution in a poor and sparsely developed region of India, as biomass, until now burned in the fields as waste, has suddenly become valuable and is thus raising the income of the local farmers.

Through development of this biomass power plant, in the south-Indian state of Karnataka, brings various advantages for the local population: the project is creating 650 jobs in the region and farmers are also receiving an income from supplying the power plant with agricultural waste. From an ecological standpoint, the project reduces the uncontrolled burning of agricultural waste and thus prevents harmful emissions and the pollution of groundwater. After the waste has been incinerated in the power plant, the ash is given to the local farmers to use as organic fertiliser. In April 2007 this project was the first CDM project in the world to generate Certified Emissions Reductions certificates recognised by the Gold Standard.

 

On the Indonesian island of Sumatra, it supports the renovation of a hydro power station which will provide clean electricity for the local community. The construction and operation of the facility also creates new employment opportunities, while the environment benefits from the substitution of diesel-based energy.

Hydropower in rural Indonesia

This project is located in the west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra and involves supporting the renovation of an obsolete hydropower plant which has the potential to supply a rural region of Indonesia with electricity from renewable energy.

The current hydropower plant has a power output of 75 kW. But once restored could generate around 1 MW and reduces around 4,500 tons of CO2 annually.

As well as the contribution to climate protection, the project brings economical, social and ecological improvements to the region. Power cuts due to inadequate capacity are extremely common in rural Indonesia. This project allows the local population to benefit from a more stable grid – a vital requirement for the local economy. The construction and operation of the facility also creates new employment opportunities, while the environment benefits from the substitution of diesel-based energy. There is no additional impact on the environment, as the power plant is built upon existing infrastructure.

This carbon offsetting has been via a company called myclimate

myclimate is a Swiss based charity, whose vision is "to find innovative solutions to climate change and to promote clean energy solutions particularly in developing countries".

We have chosen them because Virgin Atlantic have completed due diligence and chosen them as their carbon offset partner. Virgin say “they are a bit different from the other offset providers. They guarantee to us that at least 85% of the money from the scheme goes direct to the projects, which is great. This was really important to us to ensure that our customers money would be well spent. They spend the other 15% on their administrative costs such as payment processing and other essential work to support the projects.”