Green FAQs
How is Silverjet's carbon offset policy applied to flight bookings?
Silverjet is committed to giving customers the choice to help reduce their carbon footprint. For every booking, we let you decide if you would like to offset your flight. On the flight search results page, we give you the option to choose to make a contribution to our offset scheme. If you would prefer not to contribute, you can unselect this option and proceed with your booking.
Silverjet’s CarbonNeutral® offset scheme has been developed in partnership with The CarbonNeutral Company (TCNC) in lines with The CarbonNeutral protocol. The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management calculated the CO2 emissions of each Silverjet flight (based on actual fuel use and estimated associated ground handling vehicles*) and then Silverjet and The CarbonNeutral Company ensure these emissions are offset through high-quality Emission Reduction projects.
* These include catering vehicles, engineering vehicles, baggage vehicles, high loaders, push back tractors and steps.
Silverjet Carbon Offset Route Prices October 2007
|
London-NY
|
NY- London |
US/ UK Return |
London-Dubai |
Dubai-London |
UK/ UAE Return |
| tCO2 |
1.4 |
1.2 |
2.6 |
1.4 |
1.6 |
3 |
| Opt-out charge |
£10.76 |
£9.22 |
£19.98 |
£10.76 |
£12.30 |
£23.05 |
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Who is the CarbonNeutral Company?
The CarbonNeutral Company is the number 1 brand for climate change. It has a decade of experience, over 200 corporate clients and 60k+ individuals – and it’s helped them all to measure and tackle their contribution to climate change, with reductions and carbon offsetting programmes.
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What does CarbonNeutral include?
The cost of making something CarbonNeutral includes sourcing and contracting carbon offset projects; monitoring of those projects to measure carbon savings; independent verification of the offsets (TCNC commissions a third party to audit its business and ensure that it is delivering to its promise). As a business, TCNC also holds a ‘buffer stock’ of carbon offset – to use in the unlikely event that any particular project fails. And – outside of direct reductions – the company also invests significantly in building awareness of climate change as an issue for both business and individuals. This has involved sponsorship of key events and research – an Al Gore presentation to CEOs, for example, and acting as secretariat to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Change.
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How is the carbon offset calculated?
Projects may reduce emissions in a number of ways. All projects have a baseline, which is what would have happened in the absence of the project activity. A renewable energy project such as a wind farm generates electricity which displaces electricity that might otherwise have been generated by a coal-fired power station, or a coal mine methane capture project prevents the release of methane that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere. The emission reductions, or carbon credits, the project creates is the difference between the project baseline and the emissions (if any) associated with the project activity.
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What does carbon neutral mean?
CarbonNeutral is the registered trademark of The CarbonNeutral Company. CarbonNeutral is the registered trademark of Future Forests. It means global warming emissions have been measured, reductions identified and recommended, and remaining emissions fully offset through carbon credits purchased from renewable energy, energy efficiency and/or forestry projects around the world in accordance with TCNC’s CarbonNeutral Protocol, which incorporates established international guidelines and is verified annually by an independent auditor.
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Does carbon offset provide a solution to global warming?
On its own, carbon offset does not provide an answer to global warming but it does have a strong part to play in the overall approach to carbon management. It provides the vital step in engaging business and individuals to consider the implications of their CO2 emissions.
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What CarbonNeutral projects are Silverjet supporting?
Initially, Silverjet is supporting the following projects to neutralise emissions:
Jamaican energy efficient project – This project subsidises the cost of energy efficient light bulbs so that more will use them. There’s an overall benefit to the island: less dependence on depleted oil reserves and less power cuts which, in turn, is better for the prime industry here – tourism.
New Zealand wind farm – this is one of the few Gold Standard carbon offset projects in the world - providing an alternative to non-sustainable power sources.
Landfill gas capture in Ecuador - decomposing organic material releases substantial quantities of methane at the Zámbiza landfill. By capturing then flaring the methane until it changes to carbon dioxide, the methane's climate change impact is reduced by a factor of 21.
Rhine-Rhur waste gas project, Germany - methane continues to escape from many former coal mines in the Rhine and Ruhr valleys in Germany. This project captures the escaping methane and harnesses it to generate electricity and heat.
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How can I be sure that my money gets to the right carbon offset projects?
TCNC runs a total quality assurance programme. As part of that, KPMG is commissioned annually to review the total ‘carbon chain of custody’ – from contract with carbon offset partner to contract with client, and everything in between.
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