NZ motorists offset fuel emissions with Z App

NZ motorists can now offset their fuel emissions using the Carbon Count feature in Z Energy’s Z App, supporting the protection of permanent, local forests. Carbon Count displays the carbon impact of each fill at the bowser, providing the opportunity to offset emissions per fill or in bulk — to fully offset a 50 L tank of petrol costs approximately $4.30.

Emissions will be automatically calculated for Z Energy customers that purchase fuel via Sharetank, Fastlane or Pumped in the Z App, or motorists can choose to manually enter their fuel purchase.

Carbon Count’s environmental benefits will not be limited to Z customers. All motorists will have the ability to manually enter their fuel purchase no matter their choice of retailer, as long as they have the Z App.

Z’s Head of Sustainability and Community Gerri Ward said that providing New Zealanders with the opportunity to offset their fuel emissions is an important stepping stone for addressing climate change.

“Permanent forests act as critical ‘carbon sinks’ that sequester or suck up carbon,” Ward said.

“By enabling motorists to protect them using Carbon Count, we can reduce the impact of the country’s transport emissions and promote biodiversity. It also demonstrates that we all have an impact and we can all take action.

“The impact of fuel emissions on climate change isn’t just about Z, it’s about our entire industry. That’s why we’ve chosen to make Carbon Count available to anyone wanting to do their bit for climate change, regardless of whether they’ve purchased fuel from us,” she said.

“Offsetting is not a substitute for reduction. We need to transition away from fossil fuels to combat climate change.

“Z encourages all motorists to reduce their fuel use wherever they can, and to use Carbon Count to offset the fuel emissions that they can’t avoid,” Ward said.

Z is also working on fuel-offset options for its commercial customers to allow fuel to be offset as part of monthly invoice transactions.

Z Commercial General Manager Nicolas Williams said the company is committed to working alongside its commercial partners to minimise their emissions impact.

“We believe that by providing commercial customers with the option to seamlessly purchase carbon credits that protect permanent forests, we are not only assisting them to meet their net emissions targets, we are giving them an opportunity make a positive inter-generational impact,” he said.

“Carbon offsetting aligns with our other initiatives to reduce commercial dependence on fossil fuels, including supplying biodiesel to a number of commercial customers.”

Z CEO Mike Bennetts said Carbon Count is another way in which Z is supporting the government’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

“Z fully endorses the net zero targets enshrined in the Zero Carbon Act. We firmly believe that companies like Z offering lower-carbon options to their customers, from EV charging on our forecourts to biodiesel, as well as the ability to reduce their carbon impact by protecting local, permanent forests is key to the just transition.

“We’re a big facilitator of emissions, so we have one of the biggest positive impacts to make, and that’s something we’ve put at the heart of our business,” he said.

“Our current voluntary offset program for our operational emissions has resulted in the protection of 4000 hectares of permanent forest with 93,000 tonnes of carbon capture capability, around 20% of which we’re pleased we’ve been able to partner with iwi on. This is the largest single voluntary purchase of units from permanent forest sinks seen in New Zealand to date.

“We know we can’t ask our customers to take action for 2050 without doing that ourselves. That’s why we have set a five-year target for our operational emissions to be 30% lower than our 2017 baseline [targets set against financial year 2017 baselines],” Bennetts said.

“We have already reduced our emissions by 4500 tonnes, equivalent to 10% of the baseline. We are now doing the hard work to deliver the remainder.”

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