What is carbon offsetting?
Carbon offsetting is a way for individuals and businesses to reduce their carbon footprint. It’s particularly popular for those who rely on fossil fuels, but cannot switch to lower-emission fuels or alternative power for efficiency, financial or practicality reasons.
Whilst it doesn’t remove the emissions at their source, it still helps to protect the global environment by funding carbon-reducing projects in other areas. You can get many of your questions answered in our carbon offsetting FAQ.
How does carbon offsetting work?
Carbon offsetting involves the purchase of carbon credits, which support and fund initiatives that either prevent or capture an equivalent amount of emissions. This balances your emissions against the amount reduced, which effectively offsets them.
Nationwide Fuels sources our carbon credits from CHOOOSE, a leading provider of accredited and verified carbon credits.
How many carbon credits will I need?
To ensure that you only buy the carbon offsets that you need, we look after the entire process for you. All you need to do is:
- Ask your account manager about offsetting your fuels next time you place an order
- They’ll calculate the carbon offset contribution required and provide a quote for the carbon credits
- Once you agree, your contributions go toward global projects that reduce emissions
- Your fuels will be delivered alongside a certificate for your carbon credits, proving that you’re doing your bit to reduce your environmental footprint!
Your account manager will be on hand to answer any of your questions about carbon offsetting.
Are Nationwide Fuels’ carbon credits legitimate?
All of the carbon credits supplied by Nationwide Fuels are fully verified and accredited by independent third parties.
They are sourced through CHOOOSE, an international supplier of carbon credits that are certified to the following globally-recognised standards:
- Gold Standard
- Verified Carbon Standard (VCS)
- United Nations Climate Change Carbon Mechanism (CDM)
- The Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBS)
By providing the name of our supplier, we hope to increase transparency and trust in carbon offsetting and the benefits that it can provide to communities around the world.
How do I know that my carbon credits will have an impact?
Your contributions will fund activities around the world that not only reduce global carbon levels but also have a positive impact on communities in emerging economies. This can range from programs at the household level, e.g replacing coal or wood-fired stoves with solar-powered electric replacements, all the way to funding wind and solar farms to replace coal-fired power stations.
However, to ensure that each credit has a viable and long-lasting impact on global greenhouse gas levels, they must meet the following four principles:
- Additionality – this principle ensures that your carbon offset leads to a reduction in greenhouse gases that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise. Meeting this principle requires rigorous accountability and transparency.
- Permanence – Offset projects should almost permanently keep CO2 emissions out of the atmosphere. This can be an issue with reforesting projects, with deforestation or fires impacting offset levels.
- Double counting – The purchased offsets must have exclusive claim to the emissions reduction project, which can be difficult between consumer, corporate and national levels.
- Leakage – Any activities should not lead to increased environmental or social impacts elsewhere.
We’re already carbon offsetting our unavoidable emissions
Nationwide Fuels has been carbon neutral since April 2022, due (at least in part) to carbon offsetting the emissions that we couldn’t reduce through other methods.
To reach this sustainability milestone, we couldn’t just rely on offsetting alone; we’ve adopted more environmentally friendly approaches to our operations, reducing avoidable emissions as much as possible and purchasing carbon credits to offset the remainder.
But that’s not all when it comes to our environmental activities. We’ve also been voluntarily offsetting our delivery miles since 2013, and we switched our entire delivery fleet to HVO fuel in 2021.
Is carbon offsetting the only way to address my carbon footprint?
Carbon offsetting isn’t the only option for fuel users looking to reduce their environmental impact.
Switching to alternative low-carbon fuels can have a massive impact on your emissions at their source. Nationwide Fuels is a leading provider of cleaner alternative fuels to consumers across the UK, including HVO fuel.
Your next steps…
Carbon offsetting is a great option for businesses and individuals looking to reduce their environmental impact, especially when it’s combined with other activities designed to reduce their carbon footprint.
However, the best way to reduce your emissions is to reduce them at their source. Our innovative range of alternative fuels like HVO can cut net CO2 emissions by up to 90% – a massive reduction compared to fossil diesel, but there are other ways that you can address your carbon footprint. Find out what Nationwide Fuels is doing to go green in our commitment to going green.
You can use our free carbon calculator to see how much CO2 you could save based on the amount of fuel you use compared to HVO fuel.
Carbon offset fuels FAQ
What is a carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is the combined total of the emissions produced by a person or organisation.
It includes both their direct emissions (from sources that are owned or directly controlled) and their indirect emissions (produced as a consequence of their activity, but owned or controlled by someone else).
What kind of projects will my credits support?
Carbon offsetting projects typically take place in developing nations where the credits can have the greatest impact on both global emissions and local communities.
This helps ensure that the credits fulfil the four principles outlined above (additionality, permanence, double counting and leakage). Examples include:
- Renewable energy projects – replacing coal and solid fuel-burning ovens and power generators with renewable solar and wind-powered alternatives.
- Tree planting – trees are planted in vast quantities to soak up CO2 from the air, but also provide vast ecological and biodiversity benefits in addition to carbon sequestration.
- Efficiency upgrades – such as insulation to reduce heat loss in buildings, or switching to energy-efficient vehicles and low-carbon transport options.
Are your carbon offsets in line with ISO 14068?
Yes! They adhere to the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and meet the offsetting standards within the ISO 14068 guidance on carbon neutrality. This provides full transparency and assurance on our carbon-neutral claims.
Is carbon offsetting a solution to climate change?
Offsetting is not the solution to climate change on its own.
Carbon credits are a cost-effective route to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, but have the most impact when combined with other carbon-reducing activities.
As a society, we need to find ways to cut off our emissions at their source. At Nationwide Fuels, we’re already working toward that goal by adopting greener processes and more environmentally-friendly business practices.
We’ve switched to innovative fuels like HVO and are further reducing our environmental impact by offsetting the emissions that we can’t currently avoid, and we will continue to refine these activities as other options become available. Since April 2022, we’ve been carbon neutral, which is an important milestone on our journey to being net zero by 2050.
You can find out more about what we’re doing in our own commitment to sustainability.
