In May 2008 we pledged to make our UK operations carbon neutral and entered a two year carbon neutrality commitment with The CarbonNeutral Company.

Carbon neutral stands for achieving a net zero carbon footprint through both internal and external reductions of CO2 emissions.

Internal reductions are things we do within our business and the way all our people behave. We have developed a carbon management plan aiming at reducing our emissions by 15% in the first year. Implementing better building insulation, state of the art lighting systems as well as a staff awareness campaign will help us achieve this.

External reductions (called ‘carbon offsetting’) are reductions we make happen outside of our business. The way it works is that for every one ton of CO2 we produce, we pay for an equivalent one ton of CO2 to be saved through a project somewhere else in the world. 

Our projects, outlined below, cover a variety of renewable energy sources, representing Hydro-Power, Methane Capture and Sustainable Fuels.

a) India – Sustainable fuels: Bagasse Cogeneration Project

This Clean Development Mechanism project implements a cogeneration power plant that runs on agricultural residues at a factory in India. The power plant generates steam and electricity and reduces India’s reliance on fossil fuels. The project aims to generate emission reductions of an estimated 100,000 tCO2 equivalent between 2006 and 2012. For more details about the project please have a look at BagasseCogenerationProject1pg.pdf

 b) China - Sichuan Province: Hydro Power Project

This project bundles four small run-of-river hydro power stations in Sichuan Province, western China. The project displaces electricity generated by fossil-fuel power plants and will generate emission reductions of an estimated 360,000 tCO2 equivalent between 2006 and 2012, verified and certified to the Voluntary Carbon Standard. More information about the project is available here: SichuanProvinceHydroPowerProject.pdf

 c) The Netherlands - Methane Capture: Sterksel Biogas Project This project sees the construction of biogas facilities at five farms in the Netherlands. The project reduces methane emissions to the atmosphere and displaces fossil fuels used to heat local buildings. The project will generate emission reductions of an estimated 35,000 tCO2 equivalent between 2006 and 2007, verified and certified to the Voluntary Carbon Standard. For more information on the Sterksel Biogas project please download SterkselBiogasProject.pdf