How do we offset your flights?
We have worked hard over the last 20 years, since founding our social enterprise, to identify and build relationships with the most effective and holistic carbon offsetting projects in the world. We have spent a lot of time establishing their credibility, transparency and effectiveness. Some of the projects we have worked with since their very beginning have now planted over 10 million trees.
The essential idea behind our offset schemes is balance. Carbon Balanced means action on carbon, action on forests, with communities. Simple tree-planting is a less effective solution than community-led projects where the community has full ownership and agency. Livelihoods, biodiversity, wellbeing and health are all integral to the carbon offsets that projects also create.
The projects we work with are all designed and verified under the Plan Vivo Standard, run by Scottish Charity, the Plan Vivo Foundation. This ensures they are designed and verified to the highest standards.
How much carbon does a flight produce?
The standard way to calculate CO2 emissions from aviation is to work out the fuel consumption of the aircraft. We do this for aircraft charter companies, where people are looking to balance or offset whole aircraft carbon emissions.
Given the variety of aircraft in use for commercial aviation, this is usually done via a mean average. For short international flights, one of the most common planes is something like a Boeing 737-400.
This type of aircraft uses about 3.61 tonnes of fuel for a flight of 926 km, including taxiing expenditure.
If we calculate based on CO2 emissions from aviation fuel of 3.15 grams per 1 gram of fuel, this means we arrive at a figure of 115 gm per passenger km.
Since these planes cruise at approximately 780 km per hour, we can conclude a figure of 90 kg CO2 per hour.
To assess the data from a slightly larger aircraft, the Boeing 747-400 which is used for long-haul flights, we calculate CO2 emissions of 92 kg per hour.
How do you calculate carbon emissions?
We follow best practice methodology and use the latest emission factors released by DEFRA (UK Dept of Food, Environment & Rural Affairs) to convert the information provided for your journey (or any other activity) to CO2 emissions. For flights, we apply the lastest Defra carbon factors per passenger per km travelled for different classes of air travel to arrive at the full carbon footprint of an individual’s journey by air.
The impact per passenger is greater when flying in business or first class. This is because the area allocated to these seats is greater than in economy, and therefore increases the proportion of the flight’s emissions they are responsible for.
For example, a one-way flight from the UK to Nairobi is 6,830 km, an economy passenger is responsible for 0.16 kg CO2e per km with a total flight carbon of 1.11 tonnes. A first passenger is responsible for 0.65 kg CO2e per km with a total flight carbon of 4.45 tonnes.*
The distance of a flight also influences the emissions. Take off and landing are the most fuel intensive (and therefore emission intensive) portions of the flight. Long-haul flights are more efficient per km because proportionally more of the flight is spent cruising rather than energy intensive take-off or landing.
The emission factors used in our calculations take radiative forcing into account, which increases total emissions by 90%. Radiative forcing is the increased damage caused by emissions released into the atmosphere at high altitude rather than those released at sea-level.
C Level flight carbon calculators make full use of Defra carbon factors and methodology.
*figures have been rounded up.
What does it mean to offset your carbon footprint?
Offsetting your carbon footprint means taking responsibility for the damaging effects of our 21st century lifestyle that have led to the increase in greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere and climate crisis. The science behind this is fairly simple; for every tonne of carbon released into the atmosphere, the ‘offset’ is a carefully designed and monitored ecosystem project which absorbs or stores equivalent CO2 to your emissions in order to compensate or balance your flight.
C Level have been providing this service since 2000. We sell Plan Vivo standard certificates which verify carbon uptake, biodiversity and sustainable livelihood benefits from the Voluntary Emissions Reduction (VERs) market. The certificates are equivalent to one tonne of CO2 and can be referred to as a carbon credit. These are all accounted for on the Markit Environmental Registry. This registry ensures transparency, trust and confidence in the accountability and reporting of carbon credits.
Being Carbon Balanced through C Level’s Balance My Flight means more than just carbon compensation. Our approach has always been to only work with the world’s most holistic carbon offsetting projects. Technology offsets sometimes have very limited broader benefits and are explicitly commercial. We choose to invest in forests and people. Under Plan Vivo, each carbon offset also delivers on biodiversity and sustainable development. More importantly, these are projects owned by local communities. A massive distinction.
If I offset my flight through your carbon calculator what other benefits will be achieved for people and the environment?
C Level is part of the Plan Vivo (Living Plan) network that ensures these projects are designed and verified to the highest standards. All our Carbon Balanced projects achieve action on carbon, action on forests, with communities. This is what both C Level and Plan Vivo is all about.
Your payment will directly empower indigenous communities to protect and reforest their land. Communities are at the heart of our work. This influx of money gives them livelihood, education and jobs while promoting urgent action on climate change. While Plan Vivo certificates are focussed on carbon reduction, they also deliver a wealth of other benefits from poverty reduction to education, improving watersheds and biodiversity conservation.
We firmly believe our solution, which is far more comprehensive than cheap tree planting, represents the most balanced, holistic and intelligent solution to carbon sequestration in the world. With CommuniTree for example, now the biggest reforestation project in the country where it operates, small holder farmer families receive around 25% of their annual income from the project, and they receive this for 10 years while the forests are being established.
Offsetting your carbon footprint means taking responsibility for the damaging effects of our 21st century lifestyle that have led to the increase in greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere and climate crisis. The science behind this is fairly simple; for every tonne of carbon released into the atmosphere, the ‘offset’ is a carefully designed and monitored ecosystem project which absorbs or stores equivalent CO2 to your emissions in order to compensate or balance your flight.
C Level have been providing this service since 2000. We sell Plan Vivo standard certificates which verify carbon uptake, biodiversity and sustainable livelihood benefits from the Voluntary Emissions Reduction (VERs) market. The certificates are equivalent to one tonne of CO2 and can be referred to as a carbon credit. These are all accounted for on the Markit Environmental Registry. This registry ensures transparency, trust and confidence in the accountability and reporting of carbon credits.
Being Carbon Balanced through C Level’s Balance My Flight means more than just carbon compensation. Our approach has always been to only work with the world’s most holistic carbon offsetting projects. Technology offsets sometimes have very limited broader benefits and are explicitly commercial. We choose to invest in forests and people. Under Plan Vivo, each carbon offset also delivers on biodiversity and sustainable development. More importantly, these are projects owned by local communities. A massive distinction.
How much does it cost to offset flights ?
Most European flights are going come in at less than £10 to offset, with most one-way international flights less than £20 for an economy seat. The price you pay covers project costs, including design, implementation, verification, livelihood support, communications and retirement of Plan Vivo certificates on the public IHS Markit Envuronmental Registry.
Offsetting your flight through our Balance My Flight carbon calculator, provides excellent value for these sophisticated projects all designed and verified under the global Plan Vivo standard. This is the world’s original standard, and the only one to put people and nature at the heart of the carbon projects. We provide detailed annual reports on the substantial benefits and achievements created by the projects you offset with. Hadza, CommuniTree and Khasi Hills are not just inspiring, they’re also award winning. In June 2019, Hadza Hunter Gatherers won the UN Equator Award.
Offsetting your carbon footprint means taking responsibility for the damaging effects of our 21st century lifestyle that have led to the increase in greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere and climate crisis. The science behind this is fairly simple; for every tonne of carbon released into the atmosphere, the ‘offset’ is a carefully designed and monitored ecosystem project which absorbs or stores equivalent CO2 to your emissions in order to compensate or balance your flight.
C Level have been providing this service since 2000. We sell Plan Vivo standard certificates which verify carbon uptake, biodiversity and sustainable livelihood benefits from the Voluntary Emissions Reduction (VERs) market. The certificates are equivalent to one tonne of CO2 and can be referred to as a carbon credit. These are all accounted for on the Markit Environmental Registry. This registry ensures transparency, trust and confidence in the accountability and reporting of carbon credits.
Being Carbon Balanced through C Level’s Balance My Flight means more than just carbon compensation. Our approach has always been to only work with the worlds most holistic carbon offsetting projects. Technology offsets sometimes have very limited broader benefits and are explicitly commercial. We choose to invest in forests and people. Under Plan Vivo, each carbon offset also delivers on biodiversity and sustainable development. More importantly, these are projects owned by local communities. A massive distinction.
