The results are in on our ongoing project to become carbon neutral. During the financial year of July 2020 to June 2021, Loop Foundry generated approximately 4.1 tonnes of CO2e emissions.
Our Emissions Breakdown
- 2.4 tonnes of vehicle-related emissions (both scope 1 and scope 3). This was largely the result of our consultants driving from their houses to meet clients personally at their business premises.
- 1.3 tonnes of electricity emissions. This is largely for running personal computers and related hardware. Our servers (sitting in Microsoft’s Azure data centres) are already carbon neutral.
- 0.4 tonnes of waste-related emissions. Paper sent to rot in landfill was by far the largest factor, as general waste (whilst certainly a significant problem) does not generate large amounts of carbon-dioxide emissions.
Before we get to our offsetting efforts, I’d like to make an important note. As offsetting is largely an accounting mechanism to encourage cleaner farming (robbing Peter to pay Paul, effectively), it is nowhere near as effective at actually fixing the climate problem as reducing emissions to begin with.
There are also two ways of counting carbon offsets. The first is to count all the emissions offsets at once when the project is initiated. Using this method, one tonne of offsets might be generated as soon as one tree is planted. The second method is to count them over the lifetime of the project. Here, planting one tree would generate 20 kilograms of offsets per year until the tree dies or is cut down. The second method yields far more accurate results but is much harder to account for.
Nevertheless, we have done our duty and purchased 5 tonnes of accredited carbon credits. In addition, we’ve personally helped in the planting of several dozen trees on a rural property in southern Tasmania, largely Australian Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) and various eucalypts.
Every little bit we can do to help the environment counts.