Tag: carbon offset

Do you, like us, love motorcycling and, equally, want to help tackle climate change?

How would it feel to know that your passion for riding is directly funding projects that draw down CO2 levels in the air and improve the environment?

Motorcycle Offsetters are leading the way by taking action to turn riding into a force that helps give the planet a fighting chance.

Motorcycle Offsetters are introducing Carbon Negative Riding. By purchasing carbon offsets over and above what is needed to neutralise your CO2 emissions, your investment pulls more CO2 out of the atmosphere than you emit. In short, you leave things better than you found them.

How This Works

When you purchase carbon offsets, your money is spent on projects that, in various ways, improve the natural environment and reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Carbonzero is our partner and offset provider. They are an award-winning, leading provider of high-calibre Canadian and international carbon offsets. Find out more about how your investment funds our project portfolio on the website at https://motorcycleoffsetters.com

Your Questions Answered

Q: What is a carbon offset?

A: A carbon offset is a way to compensate for emissions by funding an equivalent CO2 reduction or saving elsewhere

Q: What does carbon negative mean?

A: Going “carbon negative” means that the rider purchases carbon offsets over and above what is needed to neutralise the CO2 footprint arising from his/her motorcycle riding. The incremental cost to the rider to do so is minimal, but the cumulative effect of millions of riders doing so can be astounding.

Motorcycle Offsetters has been set up and is run by TVAM member Andreas Gneist. If you’d like to offset your riding, either on a single trip, for a group ride or annual basis, then head over to https://motorcycleoffsetters.com and you can input your motorcycle and purchase the relevant carbon offsets.

First published in Slipstream November 2021

As the world focuses on COP26, we now have two member-led initiatives to help Club members offset the carbon footprint associated with their motorcycle riding.

The first is an update from Nigel Winstanley, following the proposal he outlined in Slipstream a little while ago. It’s taken a bit longer than we would have liked to get up and running but Nigel gives an update.

The second is a scheme developed by Andreas Gneist called “Motorcyle Offsetters” and Andreas explains all opposite.

So, if you want to offset your carbon, check out both and see if one works for you – it’s your choice. We will post any updates from both projects for your information.

Following the initial work done at the beginning of this year, you may recall that a page for collecting voluntary donations was set up on the TVAM web shop. The aim of this was that individual members were able to make donations which offset a proportion of their annual motorcycle mileage. In return the proposal was to plant trees in our local Thames Vale catchment area. This would have the secondary benefit of improving the local environment and amenity for residents in that local area.

The solution adopted was to search for a local charity with the expertise and experience to successfully oversee this type of project. The Club has recently agreed a plan and signed off on a Memorandum of Understanding, covering how we will work together on this initiative with a local sustainability charity, Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment, or (TOE for short).

To this end the monies previously donated have now been transferred over to TOE so that they can use these funds to kick off our first pilot tree planting. Members who choose to make further donations will be able to directly to TOE. Work is now underway to identify a suitable site in South Oxfordshire or Berkshire, we will then update TVAM members.

The saplings will take around 5 years to establish, members will be able to ride out to see the trees (forest!) resulting from their efforts. TOE works with local landowners to ensure that the tree types planted are suitable for local conditions and to ensure a long-term sustainable biodiversity is created. These are not just trees planted for commercial forestry later.

An “average large motorcycle” will emit approximately one tonne of carbon in 5,000 miles of riding*. A tree will lock up about one tonne of carbon. Planting a tree costs £10. So, a £10 donation to TOE will offset 5,000 miles of riding and directly result in a new tree being planted.

** https://www.thrustcarbon.com/insights/how-to-calculate-motorbike-co2-emissions

Look out for news on how to make your contribution to TOE

You can find out more about TOE on their website at https://www.trustforoxfordshire.org.uk/

Nigel Winstanley

First published in Slipstream November 2021

I first presented my thoughts to the TVAM committee at the end of 2020 on how we as motorcyclists could mitigate our carbon footprint and adopt a more socially and environmentally responsible position. The thinking centred around protecting and preserving our freedoms as a bunch of enthusiastic motorcycle riders who could be seen by the public as generating unwanted carbon emissions in the pursuit of our skills training and social riding. The proposal debated, centred around both offsetting our carbon footprint whilst also improving the local environment and amenity levels by planting trees across the region where we all live and take our outdoor recreation.

One of the key things we agreed early on was that we would not go to the full membership with any form of mandatory levy. Given that the club membership fee should be spent on existing activities, we settled on a way that members could make separate voluntary donations to ‘offset’ their own personal motorcycle miles.

Three key activities quickly followed:

1. The publication of an article in Slipstream (to introduce the idea and raise awareness) – see January 2021 article.
2. The January 2021 AGM highlighted the initiative and gave a brief summary to members.
3. A TVAM web shop page was created with the opportunity for members to make voluntary donations to offset their own choice of annual mileage.*

The Slipstream article was generally positively reviewed with lots of messages of support gratefully received. Within a few short months we had donations covering approximately a third of what we expected to need as our annual budget. It still remains my personal long-term vison to find a way to ‘plant a tree on behalf of every member  each year’, with initial estimates suggesting this would move us towards achieving carbon neutrality within 5 years, however this is not club policy and is running as purely a member driven voluntary initiative.

We have had a number of challenges to deal with in the last few months

• Validating the realistic range of modern motorcycle emissions
• Quantifying the clubs ‘Carbon Footprint’ into a justifiable estimate
• Navigating the various restrictions, imposed on charities, regarding fund raising for none-core activity and how to spend or pass on the donations raised to a targeted charitable trust.
• Searching and selecting a suitable partner organisation with the correct charitable aims and expertise to ensure that we deliver successful and sustainable results on behalf of our donors.

Where are we today and what are the next steps ?

After a search of suitable organisations to partner with we were now looking to engage with ‘TOE’ (Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment). They meet all of our key criteria:-

• Operational across TVAM’s catchment/activity area
• Expertise and track record of delivering similar woodland projects throughout the Thames Valley region
• Willingness to partner with TVAM and work in collaboration
• Able to correctly handle & track any funds donated by TVAM members
• Following the ‘Woodland Carbon Code’ and as such able to track & report verifiable performance metrics on any carbon offset achieved

The immediate activity underway is to draw up a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (MoU) to outline roles and expectations on both side. Then we will move into a more detailed planning phase.