At Avon Energy Partners, we are committed to a sustainable and Net Zero future. And whilst our company mission is to empower other organisations to become aware of their impact and aid them in their Net Zero journey, it is of course important to us that we ourselves are doing the same.
Since the end of 2021, we have been looking into Avon Energy's own carbon footprint. Here's a bit about how we did it and how micro-businesses can do the same.
Methodology:
The boundaries of our carbon footprint includes all aspects of business activity emissions. Most of our emission categories were calculated using the Avon Energy Carbon Footprint Calculator:
Work Place: Remote working was the primary work place scenario and so monthly gas and electricity bills were used to calculate emissions and were subsequently proportioned out for number of days worked throughout the year.
Travel: All travel for business purposes was included (primary travel methods were driving and train journeys).
Food and Diet: All food consumed during work hours (1 lunch per working day per employee)
Assets: Includes all assets purchased during 2021 (i.e.. electronic goods purchased for business purposes)
Operational: Includes the operational activity emissions emitted during the daily running of Avon Energy (i.e. data storage, emailing, mobile phone use, etc)
Carbon Emissions
For the period of January to December 2021, the total carbon emissions emitted for business operations of Avon Energy Partners was 5.30 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents.
The breakdown of this total can be seen below:
We are pleased to see that our carbon footprint is relatively low at only 5.3 tonnes of CO2e. In addition, this process is important in allowing us to identify which of our business activities emits the most carbon and where to focus our carbon reduction solutions year on year. We haven't included renewable tariffs as our methodology was location-based rather than market-based for energy.
For this year, we wanted to start by offsetting our emissions for 2021 by supporting the Rimba Raya biodiversity reserve project. We have chosen this specific projects as it progresses all 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and is the first of its kind to do so. It is also protecting a large part of a vital rainforest ecosystem that locks in thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide in plants and trees.
Looking forward, we want to lower our emissions using the following reduction solutions:
Workplace Efficiency: Our employees are looking to use electricity within the work place more sustainably but following more efficient work station practices such as turning devices on and off when not in use, and using efficient charging practices.
Transport: As an organisation, we are looking to minimise business travel generally and if it is deemed necessary, we will continue to use public transport. In addition, Avon Energy is looking into purchasing an electric vehicle as much of the travel emissions can not be minimised solely by public transport and eliminating carbon emissions from vehicles would eliminate almost 99% of our travel emissions.
Assets: with every replaced office chair, phone or laptop, we are putting in place a sustainable procurement policy to ensure that what we buy for the business is the sustainable option.
To go even further, we have also donated to the Europe Rewilding Project, which works with biodiversity and wilderness areas that contribute to a sustainable future (https://rewildingeurope.com). More specifically, we are donating to the Abruzzo region's rewilding efforts, connecting national parks via co-existence corridors with locals and wildlife, and providing support for the Marsican Bear population, which is currently endangered.
We think everyone can participate in a Net Zero and sustainable future regardless of size or industry, and there's no better time to start than today!
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