Carbon and Climate Change

The carbon offsetting companies reckon that my flights will cause around 2 tonnes of carbon emissions, so I thought it would be interesting to compare that with other carbon emissions and savings that I am responsible for or contribute to.

The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for our house says that our heating, lighting and water will cause 2.1 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. I did 6,220 miles in our low emissions diesel car last year, which equates to 1.14 tonnes of CO2. So clearly this flight makes a BIG impact on my carbon footprint.

Comparing it with carbon I am saving this year – our 8 solar panels are calculated to generate 1,447 kWh electricity per year. That equates to 0.785 tonnes CO2. Our solid wall insulation, according to the EPC, will save 1.2 tonnes CO2 per year, so the eco-work we did last year will almost  compensate for these flights!

I take some comfort from the work I do to encourage other carbon savings – trustee of FootSteps and helping with the major eco-refurbishment which has actually just started! Also trustee of Gloucestershire Community Energy Co-op  which has just installed a 45 kwp system which should generate 40,000 kWh electricity per year, saving 21.7 tonnes CO2. We have just heard that TransitionTown Cheltenham has won some Government funding to encourage energy savings in Cheltenham, so the work continues.

The Co-op are offsetting our carbon emissions with ClimateCare and I thought I would do the same for mine with Renewable World  Both these companies invest in renewable energy projects in poorer countries – which seems to me a more worthwhile and immediate way of offsetting carbon than planting trees. Having said that, planting trees in East Africa, where there are massive problems with deforestation, is a great, and appropriate thing to do in the circumstances. There are a number of excellent tree-planting charities. We Forest   sounds good – I’ll investigate when I return.