Joe Barrett, COO, Applegreen; Fiona Matthews, Commercial Director and Bob Etchingham, CEO.Applegreen has launched a new initiative that will see the fuel retailer offset all carbon emissions from fuel used by customers who fill their tank with PowerPlus.
In addition, the brand plans to plant more than 300,000 native trees in Ireland, beginning in selected locations in Limerick and Mayo later this year. This includes planting one tree for every tonne of carbon generated by the use of PowerPlus fuel, with a minimum of 100,000 trees per year and no upper limit on the number of trees to be planted.
Speaking about the launch, Joe Barrett, Chief Operating Officer of Applegreen, said: “For every litre of PowerPlus that is purchased at our pumps, we will offset those fuel emissions and give our customers the opportunity to drive CarbonNeutral®. This programme accelerates our sustainability journey in line with our transition to cleaner energy including electricity – a key element of the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals.”
PowerPlus is Applegreen’s premium fuel and includes a special additive that the brand says delivers fuel economy benefits of up to 3-4% while also reducing CO2 emissions (by some 3.73% for diesel, compared to unadditized fuel). Applegreen says that PowerPlus has also been proven to actively clean and restore engines as the vehicle is driven.
To achieve CarbonNeutral® certification, Applegreen is supporting a clean water initiative in East Africa that will offset more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon each year.
The company is working with the global climate finance and carbon neutral specialist Natural Capital Partners to purchase carbon offset credits from Irish N.G.O. Vita, whose project involves restoring community water points to provide easy access to clean water for families in East Africa. This reduces the need to burn fuel wood, resulting in deforestation, in order to boil water.
Vita’s Chairperson, Dermot Byrne, commented on the partnership with Applegreen: “We are delighted to be part of Applegreen’s shift towards sustainable driving. This prescient initiative not only creates carbon emissions savings in East Africa, it also facilitates those communities to ‘drive’ their own development.”