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EnergyAustralia has offset more than 2.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions since 2016 through its Go Neutral program, making it the biggest offset program by an energy retailer on an annualised basis, and EnergyAustralia the second largest voluntary buyer of offsets in Australia.
Last year alone EnergyAustralia offset 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions at no additional cost to its customers, says EnergyAustralia’s Chief Customer Officer, Mark Brownfield.
“Our Go Neutral product is something special. It means customers can choose to cancel out the carbon emissions from their electricity or gas usage, or both. Our residential customers are keen to make a difference and are embracing the offer in record numbers - we now have more than 300,000 households opting into the program,” said Mark.
“Since Go Neutral kicked off we’ve offset nearly three million tonnes of CO2. That’s the equivalent of taking over 870,000 cars off the road for an entire year. Or to put it another way, more than double the number of cars in the entire state of Tasmania!” he said.
Mark puts the popularity of EnergyAustralia’s Go Neutral program down to people wanting to do their bit for the environment.
“People are thinking more about climate change, and they want to help. They love that by choosing Go Neutral they can cancel out the emissions from their home energy use. We make it easy for them to make an impact and at no cost to them.
“When a customer chooses to Go Neutral, EnergyAustralia calculates the emissions associated with their household energy use – electricity or gas, or both. It then purchases enough carbon offsets to cancel out the emissions, making their home energy use carbon neutral.
“We offset emissions through carbon offset units from climate action projects. There are projects in Arnhem Land and the Cape York Peninsula that are working to prevent large bushfires that generate emissions. Another project is stopping greenhouse gases through landfill waste management in Brazil. Often the projects are good not just for the environment but for communities as well.
“It’s all done the right way. We only buy offset units that the Australian Government’s Climate Active program says are eligible. They’re one of the most rigorous and credible carbon neutral certification programs in Australia. And we produce public disclosure statements which explain in detail what offsets we’re purchasing and our carbon neutral calculations.”
As well as helping residential customers Go Neutral, EnergyAustralia added Business Carbon Neutral in June 2020 to help its business customers get in on the act and offset their electricity emissions.
EnergyAustralia customers can opt to Go Neutral at https://www.energyaustralia.com.au/home/electricity-and-gas/go-neutral/opt-in-for-carbon-neutral/