New carbon offset projects for Avis in China and SA

(Front) The old method and (back) the Basa Magogo Method – South Africa.

The renewal of its carbon neutral status for the next two years is indicative of its commitment to make a real difference to the environment. "Our past relationship with The CarbonNeutral Company has been strong and for this next period, we tasked it to find a South African registered project that would complement our internal reduction efforts, and enable us to offset some of our unavoidable GHG emissions," says Wayne Duvenage, chief executive of Avis Rent a Car.

"We also wanted to expand our carbon management to include Scope 3 category, thereby earning us its accreditation for Scopes 1, 2 & 3 for the next two years, over which period the company will increase internal energy efficiencies as well as offset approximately 12 500 tonnes of CO2 per annum."

Scopes 1, 2 & 3 GHG emissions consists of all emissions relating to the company (Rent a Car, Zeda Car Sales and Luxury Division), including energy consumption, fuel usage, waste and business travel. Each of these were independently measured and are being reduced through a combination of internal business process changes (for example increasing recycling and reducing energy consumption) with carbon offsetting through the purchase of carbon credits which matches every tonne of CO2 emitted by Avis, with an equivalent amount saved by a project in its portfolio.

Carbon offset projects selected

The two projects Avis selected for its new two-year portfolio are the Tieling coalmine methane capture project in China and the Basa Magogo 'Light it up' improved cooking technique in South Africa.

The Tieling project, which is VCS accredited, captures coalmine methane (CMM) to prevent this potent greenhouse gas being released in to the atmosphere. Support from Avis enables this captured gas to be converted to an energy source to supply gas to homes and local industry, increasing energy sustainability in the local area as well as benefiting the local economy with jobs.

The South African Basa Magogo project is the first gold standard project of its kind in the world. Support enables the teaching of local communities in South Africa to burn coal differently in order to be more fuel-efficient, thereby saving money and reducing carbon emissions.

"We are very excited about the local project, because not only does it reduce GHG emissions, but it also goes a long way to creating a less polluted environment which will deliver immense health benefits for our local communities, who use coal as their main energy source for cooking and heating purposes. If it takes carbon offset funding to give excellent projects of this nature momentum, then we are delighted that we could assist in this regard," says Duvenage.

Jonathan Shopley, MD, the CarbonNeutral Company says, "It is a pleasure to work with a company like Avis in South Africa, as it leads the way in managing and reducing its carbon footprint and we were pleased to enhance the programme with an innovative South African carbon reduction project this year. The team at Avis has developed a comprehensive programme of offsets and other environmental activities which set a powerful example of how a business can grow and develop sustainably."

Duvenage says, "Offsetting is merely an additional way to address our emissions, as we have reduced our electricity consumption by over 300 000 kWh per annum through switching off high energy consuming devices and changing our behaviour. In addition, we continue to work with our motor manufacturer suppliers to introduce lower carbon emission products for use in our fleet, such as the Toyota Prius since 2007 and more recently the new Honda Jazz Hybrid."

For more information on these projects, go to www.carbonneutral.com/project-portfolio/light-it-up-improved-cooking-technique and www.carbonneutral.com/project-portfolio/tieling-coal-mine-methane-capture.