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Burning fossil fuels to generate electricity produces large amounts of carbon dioxide, which is harmful to our environment and increases the effects of climate change.
For electricity, the impact occurs when fossil fuels such as coal, oil or gas are burnt at power plants in order to produce electricity.
Carbon neutral is achieved when the net greenhouse gas emissions associated with an activity (for example the electricity used by a business) are cancelled out or neutralised through emissions reduction and/or the purchase and cancellation of carbon offset units.
A carbon offset unit represents the removal of one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (t CO2-e) from the atmosphere, or the avoidance of one tonne of emissions.
We calculate how much carbon dioxide the generation of the electricity used by your business premises’ emits into the atmosphere and purchase carbon offsets, issued by accredited climate action projects, to offset the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The price of Business Carbon Neutral is based on your expected annual electricity use. We have three levels of monthly charges, dependant on your business premise electricity use. The pricing we have starts from $30 per month and is charged annually upfront on a pro-rata basis. For example, if you sign up on 1st September 2020, the monthly fee will be multiplied by the 6 months between September 2020 and February 2021 (inclusive) and this will be the amount payable on signing up."
In addition to EnergyAustralia purchasing carbon offset certificates on your behalf, when you join our Business Carbon Neutral program, you have the option to receive a marketing toolkit that contains point of sale collateral and digital assets to help you promote your business’ choice to offset your business premises’ electricity use. The toolkit includes items such as window decals, posters, shelf wobblers, pitch tent and digital assets for your website and social media accounts. We will also provide you with a guide to follow when you use the marketing material.
If you’re a new customer, you can easily sign up for business carbon neutral electricity at your business premises’ when you choose your new energy plans. You can call one of our business energy specialists on 1800 000 399.
If you’re an existing business customer, you can add Business Carbon Neutral to your EnergyAustralia plan for your business premises’ at any time – simply call us on 1800 000 399.
- Climate Active is an Australian Government-backed program that sets the rules for measuring, reducing, offsetting and reporting emissions, so that organisations can make a carbon neutral claim.
- When you opt into Business Carbon Neutral, we follow a set of requirements for measuring, reducing, reporting and offsetting your carbon emissions from your business premises’ electricity, according to the Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard.
- Carbon neutral claims made against Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard must meet certain criteria, including:
- Credible greenhouse gas measurement techniques, which ensure the emissions and emissions sources covered by a claim of carbon neutrality can be understood and evaluated
- Independent auditing every second year, to ensure emissions have been accurately measured, offset and reported
- A reasonable attempt has been made to reduce in-house emissions before using offset credits
- Genuine offsets units have been purchased and cancelled to compensate for all emissions associated with the claim
- Activities and achievements related to the carbon neutral claim are transparently reported. More information.
Renewable energy resources generate no or very little carbon as they produce energy from natural resources that don’t run out, like solar (sun) and wind. Carbon offsetting involves investing in projects that prevent or reduce emissions being released. For example, we calculate the emissions from your business premise electricity use and purchase the equivalent amount of carbon offsets to neutralise your electricity emissions – making your electricity use carbon neutral.
We support climate action projects accredited under the Climate Active. These currently include:
- Savanna fire management in Australia
- Forest regrowth in Australia
- Energy efficiency in India Greenhouse gas containment in Brazil
As a member of the Business Carbon Neutral program, you’ll receive regular updates about how you are helping to improve sustainability, including offset projects both in Australia and overseas
At this stage we don’t have a program that offsets your business premise gas use.
When signing up for Business Carbon Neutral you paid in advance for your offsetting activity. In signing up for Business Carbon Neutral you were provided with marketing material that recognises you as a member for that Business Carbon Neutral year (ending in February each year). Business Carbon Neutral is an annual subscription paid in advance, should you chose to leave EnergyAustralia as a business electricity customer, you will be required to remove any business carbon neutral marketing material and no refund will be provided.
Our purpose is to lead and accelerate the clean energy transformation for all.
By investing in the next generation of technology that will meet customers’ energy needs, and offsets for remaining emissions, our goal is to be carbon neutral by 2050.
We believe any decision we make or any project we do should be socially and environmentally acceptable.
Listening to our stakeholders, minimising our impact on the environment, working safely and providing economic opportunities for local businesses and workers are just some of the things we do so our operations are sustainable.
Our parent company CLP Group has strict sustainability principles governing how all its businesses, including EnergyAustralia, should operate sustainably.
The Business Carbon Neutral program does not just offset your electricity carbon emissions, it also provides you with marketing materials and updates that enable you to promote your ‘carbon neutral electricity’ status to your customers as a point of differentiation for your business. This may enable you to attract consumers who are interested in purchasing from businesses that are more sustainability focused, and give your business an edge.
As a member of the Business Carbon Neutral program, you will also have the choice of marketing materials that you can proudly display on your Business premise, website and social media pages to demonstrate your commitment to sustainability. These include a carbon neutral sticker, A2 poster, shelf wobbler, strut cards and digital content. We will provide a “How to” guide for you to follow get the most out of these materials and to help make sure your promotion of your participation in the program is clear and accurate.
You can get more information on Business Carbon Neutral here.