Tread warily if you go online to reduce carbon footprint

Published on Sunday 23 March 2008 21:27

CARBON offsetting websites are inconsistent and confusing, with costs varying by up to 540 per cent, according to a new report.

A survey by Which? Money found huge variations in how such schemes calculate people’s “carbon footprint” – and how much they charge.

A range of activities affect people’s carbon footprint, from driving to work and flying overseas to heating and lighting our homes and buying food from non-local sources; the higher the “food miles” before it reaches the plate, the greater the environmental impact.

There are now hundreds of schemes that aim to help individuals and businesses reduce their emissions by offsetting, reducing or displacing the in another place, typically where it is more economical to do so. They use the money to invest in renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation projects around the globe.

Which? Money compared the websites of 13 UK-based carbon offset firms, and found emissions based on the same example varied from 1.15 tonnes with Carbon Footprint to 7.1 tonnes with the Carbon Neutral Company. The government’s calculator, at www.direct.gov.uk/ActonCO2, gave an emissions figure of 4.31 tonnes for a test home.

To add to the confusion, the cost of offsetting a tonne of varied from 7 with Carbon Offsets to almost 23 with Carbon Responsible. The total cost to offset the carbon produced by the test home ranged from 25 to almost 160 – 540 per cent more.

Which? Money also uncovered a lack of transparency. Few of the companies gave sufficient information on the administration fees involved or proportion of the money that reaches carbon offset projects. Climate Care was the most transparent, while Blue Ventures Carbon Offset, PURE and the World Land Trust were also highly rated.

The government plans to introduce a voluntary code of practice this spring to cover carbon offsetting projects that comply with the Kyoto treaty on climate change.

The website survey was based on a typical example of a couple living in a two-bedroom semi-detached home in west London, spending 500 a year on gas and 300 on electricity, driving a petrol-engined Ford Focus 8,000 miles a year and taking one return flight each a year from London Heathrow to Barcelona.