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In 2019, The Fuel Store team teamed up with Forest Carbon to launch the Clean Air Partnership. The goal was to offer our customers the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions from their business by investing in woodland restoration projects.
Since we launched the Clean Air Partnership, we have planted over 240,000 trees which equates to 113 hectares (140 football pitches) of forest. These trees have offset over 62,000 tonnes of CO2.
Carbon offsetting for fleets
Over the last five years, The Fuel Store team has been supporting customers to calculate the carbon footprint of their business using the UK government’s greenhouse gas conversion tables. From this, the team knows how much carbon the business needs to offset, and we work with the team at Forest Carbon to offset it against reforestation schemes across the UK and beyond.
Talking about the partnership, Matt Cheesman, Partnerships Manager at The Fuel Store, commented, “There’s no denying that transport is a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Needless to say, there is significant work underway to decarbonise the transport sector, and the recent appointment of Louise Haugh as transport secretary has reinvigorated the focus on sustainability. However, while the industry transitions to meet sustainability goals, carbon offsetting allows companies to compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions by funding equivalent carbon dioxide savings elsewhere.“
The impact of our Clean Air Partnership projects
The Fuel Store works with a credible and trustworthy partner to deliver the Clean Air Partnership. Forest Carbon is certified as adhering to specific standards that ensure each carbon credit brought represents the removal or avoidance of one tonne of CO2. Projects supported so far include:
Balmedie Farm: Based in Aberdeenshire, this project is a predominantly native broadleaf establishment, with a coniferous element both for timber but also as a shelter belt for the native trees. The project has seen 14,510 trees planted over 6.7 hectares, offsetting 2.304 tonnes of C02.
Back Greenriggs: The project, part of a larger group at Lowther, represents the conversion of arable and grazing land to sustainable forestry. The project offers considerable benefits for wildlife, water quality in local rivers, and downstream flood mitigation.
Keltie phase 2: The UK is the world’s second largest importer of timber. This project saw the planting of 23,500 trees to meet the UK Government’s call for more timber, and is vital in ensuring a sustainable supply of wood for construction and other uses.
Doddington North: Doddington North is the largest planned new productive forest to be planted in England in the last 25 years. The forest will cover an area of around 350 hectares in Northumberland, with 36,985 trees funded by The Fuel Store and our customers.
Most of the projects we support are UK-based. Outside the UK, our Clean Air Partnership has also supported a range of projects that support the rainforests and sustainable timber creation in Guatemala, Peru, and Uruguay.
Carbon offsetting in the transport industry
Matt continues, “While the Clean Air Partnership can’t reduce the C02 produced by a business, it can form a critical part of an overall sustainability strategy. It is designed to help businesses become carbon neutral, which means balancing out their total carbon emissions with an equivalent amount of carbon savings elsewhere. Through the partnership, customers can invest in woodland creation and peatland restoration projects for carbon capture. As well as removing C02 from the atmosphere, these projects also help to enhance biodiversity, mitigate flood risks, and increase public access.”
“To be truly sustainable,” Matt continues, “it is also essential to reduce your emissions wherever possible. Using route planning and fleet management solutions such as Fuel AI can actively reduce fuel consumption, while making the switch to EV cars and fleets can also have a huge impact. There’s no doubt there’s change afoot as the industry becomes more sustainable. But, for now, offsetting is an important part of the journey.”