CarbonFREE

 The Carbon Fund for Reducing Emissions in Eastleigh

• Do you want to help tackle the causes of climate change?
• You may already be reducing the amount of energy you use that comes from fossil fuels such as oil, coal or gas but want to do more.
• One way you could do this is to invest in projects that will help to balance carbon dioxide emissions in Eastleigh Borough by investing in sustainable energy projects locally.  This is what the Council is doing and you can do it too.
• The Council is reducing its own carbon dioxide emissions as part of its goal to become “Carbon Neutral” for its key business activities by the 2012 Olympics. It has also set up CarbonFREE – the Carbon Fund for Reducing Emissions in Eastleigh. The Council is investing money into the Fund for sustainable energy projects that will save carbon dioxide emissions and you can do so too.
• Eastleigh Borough Council is continually looking for ways to help create a low carbon community across the borough. The Council is investing in the future of our planet and our local community through CarbonFREE – if you want to help, read more below.

CarbonFREE is a local fund for local people for local sustainable energy projects in homes and community buildings. It has a clear audit trail for the carbon dioxide saved – no double counting or investment in projects with dubious long term management, like tree planting half way across the world.  CarbonFREE is an offset/compensation fund you can trust.

But are you still unsure as to why there is a need to invest in carbon dioxide saving projects?

Climate Change has environmental, social, health and economic effects for everyone but everyone can play their part in reducing the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.

• Our Climate Change webpage gives more information

Carbon dioxide is a key greenhouse gas that is responsible for the enhanced greenhouse effect driving Climate Change through global warming. Most importantly, we can all try to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by using all types of energy more efficiently and use more energy from non fossil fuels – such as electricity generated by water, wind or sun or heat produced by solar thermal panels or biomass boilers.

However, with current lifestyles in the UK, we will still produce a certain amount of carbon dioxide.  We can balance this by paying for projects that reduce or stop carbon dioxide being emitted, such as building insulation, energy saving devices and renewable energy technology. This is called carbon (dioxide) offsetting or compensation and CarbonFREE will invest in such projects.

Are you ready to reduce your own carbon dioxide emissions? Do you want to balance some or all of your carbon dioxide emissions by investing in projects that you can trust to deliver real and measured carbon dioxide savings that will have benefit to the local community?

CarbonFREE is unique – a local carbon offsetting fund for local people that will provide energy saving projects that will benefit the local community by funding building insulation and other energy saving measures for local homes and community buildings.

Start by taking five basic steps to making Eastleigh Borough a low carbon community.

1. Look at how you use energy in your home, organisation or business and check your energy bills, not just the cost but how much energy you are using.
2. Get help and advice to reduce your energy use. Check out our  Climate Change and Energy for Heat and Power pages.
3. Make no/low cost changes first, like using heating controls effectively, turning off equipment not in use, investing in insulation and low energy lighting and plan journeys with care. You will quickly make financial savings as well as help the environment.
4. Invest in sustainable or renewable energy technologies that are appropriate for your home or organisation that will lead to carbon dioxide and financial savings in the longer term.
5. Once you’ve done steps 1 to 4, find out how much carbon dioxide you are still emitting and invest in carbon dioxide saving projects. That’s where CarbonFREE can help.

How do I know how much carbon dioxide I am emitting?

You can find out how much carbon dioxide is emitted from various activities from lots of different sources and the choice of what calculator to use will be yours. Here are just some suggestions.

• The Government’s Act on CO2 carbon calculator is useful because it can give you a personal action plan that will show you how to cut down on your carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions - that is steps 1 to 4 above. It will also show you what carbon dioxide you emit through typical travel patterns and in the use of your home and household appliances.
• The  Resurgence Carbon Calculator website takes a different approach and offers the opportunity to work out various energy using elements of your lifestyle through an on site calculator, or a spreadsheet or via a pocket calculator.
• The Council is also calculating its own carbon dioxide emissions as part of its plans to Go Carbon Neutral by 2012 and you may choose to work out your own carbon dioxide emissions in a similar way.

Please note that the Council is not responsible for the content of other websites linked from its website pages.

Done all that? Then why not invest in CarbonFREE on a purely voluntary basis.

Please complete this form to register your interest and tell us how much carbon dioxide you want to offset. You can send the form by email us at CarbonFREEpayments@eastleigh.gov.uk or by post to the address on the form. There is no commitment for you to pay at this stage. The Council will then notify you to tell you how much you need to pay to compensate for the carbon dioxide you have told us about. You can then pay via the Council’s website, by post or in person and you will then receive a receipt and certificate to say how much carbon dioxide your investment in CarbonFREE will save.

How much will it cost to invest in CarbonFREE?

As at 25 February 2008, the CarbonFREE cost of offsetting one tonne of carbon dioxide (which is about 10% of the “average” UK individual’s annual carbon dioxide emissions) is £10. You will automatically receive a copy of the CarbonFREE annual report. This will be published in the Autumn each year for the previous financial year, so the first one will be Autumn 2009. The report will show what projects have been funded, give you an insight into what difference they made to local people and the total amount invested by the Council and local community into CarbonFREE.

*The Council may have to change the cost per tonne in the future but, once you have received your CarbonFREE statement , you will only need to pay that amount, even if the charge changes. You will not receive any reminders to pay from the Council if you fail within 3 months. The Council will assume that you have simply changed your mind. You will normally receive a CarbonFREE statement within 10 working days of the receipt of the expression of interest form by the Council.

Together we can become a low carbon community!

If you have any queries about the scheme, contact the Council’s Sustainability Policy Coordinator on 023 8068 8085, email sustainability@eastleigh.gov.uk or write to Sustainability Policy Coordinator, Chief Executive’s Unit, Eastleigh Borough Council, Leigh Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9YN.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn announces Government offsetting code