Bristol Airport becomes first airport in Europe to offset all road journeys

Bristol Airport becomes first airport in Europe to offset all road journeys
View attachment 15776

The carbon offsetting scheme came into effect on 1 January and forms part of the Airport’s Carbon Roadmap which was published last year.

Offsets will be purchased retrospectively based on an annual passenger survey showing the different modes of travel used by passengers. The Environmental Effects Working Group of the Airport’s Consultative Committee – on which local communities and Airport users are represented – will play a role in selecting suitable offsetting schemes, with a focus on local projects where possible.

James Shearman, Head of Sustainability at Bristol Airport, said:

“This commitment to offset carbon emissions from surface access recognises that environmental impacts reach beyond the boundary of the Airport. With airlines taking steps to reduce and offset carbon emissions it means many customer journeys could be carbon neutral from front door to final destination in 2020.”

In November, easyJet – which operates more than 50 per cent of flights to and from Bristol Airport – became the first major airline to offset carbon emissions from fuel used by its aircraft. Next year also sees the start of the Carbon Offsetting Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) – a global agreement to stabilise net carbon emissions from flights at 2020 levels.

 

Quite impressive and innovative, I have to say.

No doubt it will eventually be reflected in the price of parking going forward, but still.

Wonder how much that costs! The first carbon offset calculator/website on google suggests £5 per 1000km for a vehicle using 6l of petrol per 100km, so that'd be 50p for a 100km roundtrip.

 

Quite impressive and innovative, I have to say.

No doubt it will eventually be reflected in the price of parking going forward, but still.

Wonder how much that costs! The first carbon offset calculator/website on google suggests £5 per 1000km for a vehicle using 6l of petrol per 100km, so that'd be 50p for a 100km roundtrip.

It's a good headline winner but I doubt that it will impress the dedicated climate change activists who want nothing less than substantial reductions in air travel.

It seems an annual survey will be conducted into the different modes of travel used by passengers. I presume they will ask how far each person has travelled and establish an average length of journey and also the average number of occupants in each car. I don't know whether taxis and buses will be included or the type and size of the 'average' private car, with some types generating more emissions than others.

I suppose it's then possible to come to a rough conclusion of the annual number of road journeys made to and from the airport together with the average length from which the following year's total offsetting cost would be calculated.

If the average return road trip was 100 km we'd have to have a rough idea of the number of road journeys that involved. I would have thought that relatively few people travel to/from the airport alone and we don't know how they will calculate the effect of bus journeys.

The airport currently handles nearly nine million passengers a year. Nearly all will make return flights so we might be looking at around two million return road journeys to be offset, given the multiple occupancy of most road vehicles involved. At 50 pence a go that would be around £1 million. 100 km might be on the high side for an average return journey length but even if it was half that it would still be £500,000.

The report for the airport's financial year ending 31 December 2018 showed a pre-tax profit of £40.629 million which was reduced to £35.961 million after taxation of £4.668 million.