Vehicle Emissions

How did you get to work today? Did you consider public transport? How many people were in the vehicle? Did you consider car sharing?

How far did you have to drive to get to work today?
km =   kg CO2 for the trip.

What distance do you drive monthly or annually?

* Monthly distance :	km / month
* Annual distance :	km / annum
* CO2 emmissions / annum :	tones of CO2 / annum

Tree planting

One of the ways to counteract the creation of these emmissions is by planting trees.

 tones of CO2 can be off-set by planting  trees.

This is however not the most effective way due to the delicate balance of the carbon pool as explained below:

Active Carbon Pool Carbon moves between forests, atmosphere and oceans in a very complex natural rhythm of daily/seasonal/annual and multi-annual cycles. The overall amount in all three carbon stores together rarely increases in nature. This is ‘active’ carbon. Fossil Carbon Pool Some carbon is locked away and rarely comes into contact with the atmosphere naturally. This ‘fossil carbon’ is stored permanently in coal, oil and gas deposits and therefore is not part of the active carbon pool. When humans mine and extract these reserves this inactive fossil carbon does not go back in the ground, but is added into the active carbon pool, disrupting a delicate balance.

At an international level carbon reducation will need to be done through energy efficiency and renewable energy, but at a personal level planting of trees should be supported. Visit the Food and Trees for Africa website for more information about off-setting your emissions through planting trees in relation to driving a car, flying, using paper or electricity in South Africa. They also have a local tree planting initiative which is highly recommended.

Renewable Energy

Another way of off-set emmissions is through the purchase of Tradable Renewable Energy Certificates (TRECs). Approximately 1 ton of CO2 is created for each MWh of electricty generated in SA.

Your annual travelling distance created  tones of CO2 emissions.

This can be offset by purchasing  TRECs.

This would cost you approximately  which is  per month.

For more information about TRECs you can download the fact sheet or visit the GreenX website (www.greenxenergy.com)

Flight Emissions

Aviation at present accounts for 3% of greenhouse gases and generates nearly as much carbon dioxide in 1 year as the total population of Africa; expected to be 8% in 2020.

Estimated CO2 emissions of return flights from Cape Town to:

• Johannesburg, SA - 720 kg
• London, UK - 7040 kg
• Canberra, Australia - 7780 kg

When booking your flight find out if the airline you use has a carbon off-set or greening programme. To determine your flight emissions you can use one of the following on-line carbon calculators:

Avoid what you can, off-set what you can't!