Carbon Offsetting
It has now become widely recognised and accepted that some human activities are contributing to the excessive accumulation of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere which leads to global warming and raises a significant threat to the well-being and continued development of contemporary society. This knowledge empowers contemporary society to responsibly act and work against global warming.
Vehicles and airplanes consume fossil fuels which contribute to the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. The travel involved for us all to attend the Rigpa Australian annual retreat is significant and is generally outside of our usual activities. In an effort to recognise and act on the importance of keeping our Earth healthy, just as we need to stay healthy, Rigpa is offering the opportunity for you to offset your emissions of travelling to and from retreat.
What is an emissions offset?
Offsetting emissions is a process which reduces the quantity of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. One method is to sequester carbon dioxide via planting and maintaining forests and it is this method which Rigpa Australia has chosen to offset our travel emissions.
How is the quantity of emissions from our travel calculated?
When an engine consumes one litre of fuel, such as a car, bus, train or airplane there is a quantity of greenhouse gases (measured in carbon dioxide equivalents; CO2-e) released into the atmosphere. For each kilometre travelled and based on the consumption rate of the transport method the quantity of CO2-e can be calculated.
For example, every litre of unleaded petrol consumed approximately 2.3 kg of CO2-e is released, while every litre of diesel consumed emits approximately 2.7 kg CO2-e and for LPG approximately 1.6 kg CO2-e. The actual amount of fuel consumed by a vehicle over a given distance is dependent on the fuel consumption of the engine. The average car in Australia has a fuel consumption rate of 11.4 L per 100 Km travelled. After driving 100 Km approximately 26.2 kg of CO2-e would be released into the atmosphere (2.3 kg CO2-e * 11.4 L/Km).
Based on these calculations and the number of people travelling to the Rigpa Australia Annual Retreat 2010 and their mode of transport approximately 173 tonnes of CO2-e will be released to the atmosphere. A donation of $5 per person (based on the number of adults only) has been estimated to cover the cost of offsetting our travel emissions by purchasing trees to sequester carbon.
Who is planting the trees?
All the money received from you will be donated to Greenfleet (www.greenfleet.com.au) to plant and maintain Australian mixed native forests comprised of species indigenous or endemic to the area of planting. The forestry offset methodology used by Greenfleet has been approved under the Federal Government’s Greenhouse Friendly™ initiative. This means the forestry methods, administrative processes and legal agreements have all be independently audited and meet the criteria and standards of the government initiative.
How many tonnes of CO2-e are sequestered by one tree?
The amount of CO2-e sequestered by a tree depends on the tree species, location, soil type, and rainfall. We are purchasing one tonne of CO2-e for $12.50 (+GST) or one tree for $3.35 (+GST); that is approximately 3.73 trees equals 1 tonne of CO2-e. If we reach our target of $5 per person, then we can purchase over 600 trees which will be a wonderful achievement.