Greater Investment in Decarbonising and Moving on From Offsets

Powerday has decided to discontinue our carbon offsetting programme with immediate effect. The money saved from no longer offsetting our fleet emissions will be invested in fleet decarbonisation measures instead.    

We began our offsetting programme in 2021, offsetting 2,882 tonnes of CO2e to cover our fleet emissions for the financial year 2019/20.  We continued this scheme in 2022 and 2023, offsetting fleet emission for the financial years 2020/21 and 2021/22 respectively. As detailed in our 2024 Manifesto, we planned to continue offsetting unavoidable fleet emissions and retaining our carbon neutral fleet until 2026 but have now decided that we would be better investing this sum in carbon reduction measures.    

During the three years we offset fleet emissions, we did so through Carbon Footprint who certified our fleet as carbon neutral.  We supported a range of projects to protect the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, finance solar and wind power projects in the Philippines, India and Thailand, and promote improved cooking practices in Nigeria as well as planting trees in the UK. 

Our offsetting programme sat alongside our carbon reduction plans but was not part of our net zero strategy.  During this period, we invested in two electric skip vehicles which have been fully integrated into our fleet running out of Old Oak Sidings for over 12 months.  Recognising that HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) could have a significant role in reducing our carbon emissions in the short and medium term, we have also been running trials and rolling out HVO in place of diesel in our Old Oak Sidings and Enfield fleet.  By the end of 2024, we were running 27 skip and roro vehicles on HVO which is estimated to reduce tailpipe emissions by 90% compared to diesel yet costs significantly more, which has in part influenced our decision to end offsetting.

Liam Kearney, Joint Managing Director says: “We always recognised that offsetting played a secondary role after avoiding and reducing emissions.  We continually reviewed our offsetting strategy to ensure it remained in line with best practice and aligned to our carbon strategy.  Having recently undertaken a review, we no longer believe offsetting provides the best interim solution while we work to decarbonise our fleet.  We have chosen instead to redirect funds into our fleet decarbonisation strategy.  We remain committed to reducing our carbon emissions in line with our net zero target and supporting our clients to do the same.”

Powerday is currently working towards our 2026 target of a 35% reduction in Scopes 1 and 2 emissions in line with our net zero target for 2040 (against our 2021 baseline).  We are also currently working towards setting a net zero target for our Scope 3 emissions.  We will shortly be publishing our latest Manifesto outlining our progress against our carbon management pillar and our other sustainability pillars during 2024.  In the meantime, we have published an interim manifesto whilst we align our reporting period with our financial year.