Allowing you to offset your CO2 emission when you rent on Cruizador?  This project had been close to our hearts for a while. But let’s start from the beginning.

First of all, no moralizing speech from our side but just an observation. Motorbike rinding certainly brings infinite pleasure, but it also generates negative externalities such as noise, pollution, etc.

But what can we do at our level among our members? There is currently very little we can do about noise, except to encourage bikers to consider their surrounding when riding, by adapting the engine rpms according to the situation (city center for example).

However, it is on the pollution side that we are going to start 2022. We already told you about it in our article on the virtuous circle that Cruizador strives to put in place (here).

And no greenwashing either! We explain how we envisioned this pilot project. offsetting-co2-emissions

1.   Am I obliged to offset my CO2 emissions?

No, this is a voluntary act at this time. Also, from now on, renters will be able, optionally, to choose the option of offsetting the CO2 emissions of their rental during the checkout, by simply adding this option at the time of the request. And those who do not want to do so will be treated as well as the others. No discrimination at Cruizador 🙂

2.   Concretely, how does it work?

We work with the organization Myclimate.org, a Swiss leading organization in carbon offsetting. And, for people who have chosen to offset their emissions, we will make a donation with the offset pool at the end of each month. offsetting-co2-emissions

Technically, all you have to do is check the box when making the booking request.

3.   How are the emissions calculated?

To calculate CO2 emissions, we could define emissions with the following simplified formula:

CO2 emissions = number of km traveled * avg. fuel consumption

We can therefore see that there are two variables, namely the distance traveled and the average consumption. In addition, the age of the vehicle, i.e. the compliance with Euro standards also have an impact on emissions.

However, for both technical and practical reasons, we’ll set an average daily value. Otherwise, we would be forced to perform calculations at the end of each rental, which would still generate administrative work. So concretely, we will start with the following assumptions:

• Traveled distance: 250km/day
• fuel consumption: 5 liters/100km

Which sounds plausible for a typical rental of a 600-900cc vehicles and gives us the following result: 0.051 tons/day

And at the end of this pilot project (end of 2022), we will assess the results to see if our assumptions were under-, over- or justly evaluated. offsetting-co2-emissions

4.  What if I rent an electric vehicle?

Our desire is not to offset all the embodied energy linked to the life cycle of the vehicle (manufacturing, transport, maintenance, etc.) but the emissions linked to its use. Indeed, offsetting all the embodied energy would be complicated because it would firstly require to have total transparency over the entire life cycle of the vehicle in question (materials used, production sites, etc.). And then we would have to break it down for each rental, which would eventually require a lot of admin work.

So concretely, if you rent an electric vehicle, you will not need to offset the CO2 because without going into details, it does not emit CO2 when you drive it.

5. Where will the emissions be offset?

Our vision is that emissions should be offset where they are produced. It’s all well and good to go and plant trees halfway around the world, but if the vehicles are running in Switzerland and the surrounding areas, why bother? We have therefore chosen the option of offsetting at least 50% of emissions in projects in Switzerland. Why not 100%? Because Myclimate just doesn’t offer it at the moment! Now the main disadvantage is that compensation in Switzerland costs more: approx. 5CHF/day instead of 1CHF/day. And therefore, that could be a barrier for some. However, we are waiting to have the results of the pilot project and user feedbacks to decide if this is the right course or if we will adapt the strategy by compensating in other places of the world and making the compensation more affordable financially.

6.   And in the future ?

As mentioned below, we will do a first assessment at the end of the season to draw all the conclusions. But what is certain is that Cruizador would eventually like to cover for the compensation automatically in each rental and pay its fair share. However, due to our current margins, we cannot afford it yet. But we keep this goal in our sights and hope to be able to do so in the very near future. offsetting-co2-emissions

7. As an owner will this impact my income?

No, this option is the decision of the renter if he/she decides and will increase the rental price without impacting your income.

Do you want to discover how Cruizador wants to generate added value for society as a whole and how each actor of our ecosystem can benefit from it?

Read the article -> here <-