Helijet goes carbon neutral
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Updated: November 20, 2009 10:39 AM
Helicopters are likely the most polluting form of air travel, but now a Victoria company is working to mitigate its impact.
Helijet International became the first private company to buy carbon offsets from the new provincial Crown corporation, Pacific Carbon Trust.
"We're using a made-in-B.C. solution that reflects the interests of our passengers," said Danny Sitnam, president and CEO in a press release.
The company has committed to make all its scheduled flights between Victoria and Vancouver carbon neutral. Its ambulance service and chartered flights are not part of the deal.
From March through July, it paid $22,500 to offset 900 tonnes of CO2 emissions, and plans to make monthly purchases in the future.
Pacific Carbon Trust was set up by the provincial government in March 2008 with $24 million.
Until Helijet signed on as a client, it catered exclusively to the civil service, which has a provincial mandate to be carbon neutral.
Pacific Carbon Trust is one of about 20 vendors already operating in the international offset marketplace.
Not all vendors operate by the same standards and the David Suzuki Foundation rates them, giving four Canadian companies top grades, including Less, Planetair, CarbonZero and LivClean.
The foundation estimates the 2008 carbon-market at $460 million, a number which only includes voluntary transactions in the private market.
Offset vendors pay companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. They then sell these "offsets" to clients, such as Helijet, who wish to purchase them.
For instance, when Lefarge Cement in Richmond changed its fuel source from coal to biofuel, Pacific Carbon Trust paid it to make the change by offering a negotiated price per tonne of emissions reduced.
Pacific Carbon Trust then sold these emission reductions to its clients at $25 per tonne, said Scott MacDonald, CEO.
While Helijet is the first private company to sign on to the crown corporation, MacDonald said two more local companies are expected to declare carbon neutrality soon.
rholmen@saanichnews.com
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Did you know?
Helicopter flights emit more greenhouse gases per passenger than airplane, float plane or jet plane, according to a 2008 B.C. Government fact sheet.
