The ways green car insurance companies offset your CO2

Green car insurance exists to provide cover for your car with the planet in mind. Green car insurance providers often offer eco-conscious features to help you offset the emissions generated by your car.

Now, you might be wondering exactly how this works. Well, there are several ways in which green car insurance companies can offset your mileage, from carbon offsetting through tree planting to seaweed carbon offsetting. And if you’re really passionate about one approach, you can choose your insurance based on a specific offset mechanism.

But wait, you might be thinking, does this mean I’ll have to pay more for my car insurance? Not necessarily! In fact, here at Zixty, you can enable our Zixty Miles add-on for free when you buy a temporary car insurance policy. We’ll take care of all the carbon offsetting in the background.

Let’s explore some ways in which green car insurance companies could carbon offset your mileage.

Not gonna lie, trees are pretty great. Did you know that a single tree can absorb around a tonne of CO2 over its lifetime? One great thing you can do for the planet right now is buy a sapling, head to your garden, and put it in the ground.

But, if you’ve run out of space for saplings, or you live in a cupboard your landlord insists is a bedroom in your overpriced house share in Zone 5, that might not be an option right now.

Still, there are companies out there that specialise in tree planting initiatives. Eden Reforestation, for example, works to re-establish native species while supporting local communities all over the world. They’ve planted nearly a billion trees so far, and they’re helping keep them alive and thriving too. They know their stuff.

Some car insurance companies, like Zixty, partner with these companies to help carbon offset your journeys. Different car insurance companies will have different ways of calculating the amount they’ll offset.

At Zixty, carbon offsetting works as follows: once you enable our free Zixty Miles add-on, we plant a tree every time you take out a policy. That’s right, your carbon offsetting starts before you’ve even put the key in the ignition.

And then, we look at the car you’re driving and work out how much carbon it creates while you’re behind the wheel. We cover the cost of planting trees to offset that CO2; up to 100 miles every day as long as you’re a customer. It’s a win-win, really. You get to drive your car knowing you’re doing your bit for the planet and new trees get planted to help tackle climate change.

After all,  remember that old saying: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” So, think about taking a green car insurance policy like Zixty next time you need to drive, knowing that you’re doing your part to help save the planet.

Investing in solar energy to carbon offset

First things first, solar carbon offsetting is all about reducing carbon emissions from non-renewable energy sources like petrol and diesel. By investing in solar power, we can offset these emissions by generating clean energy.

Now, you might be wondering how exactly this works. With solar carbon offsetting, the idea is that you invest in solar panels to create renewable energy that would otherwise be produced using non-renewable sources.

The most obvious way people do this is by installing actual solar panels in their house. Depending on the location and construction of the house, some people can offset as much as 177% of the CO2 and pollution resulting from the electricity generation they would normally require. This could power their electric cars and they could even “sell” some of their renewable solar energy back to the grid.

And on a bigger scale, companies looking to carbon offset their own emissions could get involved in solar offset projects where they support schools that want to install solar panels, for example. This is how green car insurance companies could help support solar carbon offsetting initiatives.

Wind carbon offsetting operates in a similar way to solar carbon offsetting. It’s another viable alternative for people looking for green car insurance and ways to carbon offset their mileage. 

Using carbon sequestration to manage carbon emissions

Carbon sequestration is another way to get rid of carbon emissions. Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and stored…elsewhere. It happens naturally through biological and geological carbon sequestration. Forests, the soil under your feet, and the ocean all capture and store CO2 naturally.

But, scientists have come up with ways for humans to speed up or imitate the process and reap the benefits. Carbon capture and storage is one of the most common ways to sequester carbon artificially. First, the CO2 from burning fossil fuels or other industrial processes is captured.  Then, it is injected into deep underground rock formations which act like sponges absorbing the CO2 and keeping it in place.

Now we know what you’re thinking, “Wait a minute, putting CO2 underground? Won’t that make the earth explode like Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings?” Nope! The geological formations that we store the CO2 in keep it all in place through natural pressure and seals.

Carbon capture technology has existed for decades, but in truth, it hasn’t yet been implemented on a wide scale. Still, individual countries are now starting to explore this option in earnest, with the UK government calling for submissions for carbon capture projects from companies in the power industry, for example.