Sustainability

Carbon Emissions Initiative

All fossil fuel powered motoring will be under tremendous – and increasing – public scrutiny for the rest of the decade as we attempt to meet the target of the UK becoming net-zero by 2050. At the request of the then Club President, Paul Tunnicliffe, a volunteer member of the Library with expertise in the area undertook a due diligence exercise assisted by others, examining the viability of carbon emissions recovery schemes. 

Notwithstanding the significant national heritage inherent in Edwardian, vintage, thoroughbred and classic cars, the wider political realities now render superfluous any arguments that organizations such as the VSCC do not need to be contributing explicitly and significantly to the UK being carbon neutral.  In contrast the VSCC is ideally placed to provide strong leadership, delivering a viable, sustainable future for vintage motoring and competition throughout this decade and beyond. 

Further to the Club’s original Environmental Statement and the recent President’s Letter, the research focused on how the Club can both reduce its emissions and recover those emissions that are unavoidable, during the period before 100% sustainable fuels (as opposed to biofuels) become readily available. 

Following the due diligence exercise, the Club has entered into an arrangement with Tree-V (the preferred partner of the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs) to:

a) recover around 400% of the total annual emissions from all of its events, equally balanced in accredited international offsets and accredited UK capture; UK capture will be through a 50-50 split between tree-planting and peatland restoration.

b) to 100% UK capture 10,000 miles of modern car emissions, which more than covers the annual business mileage accrued by the Club’s staff.

Following a report detailing the Carbon Emissions Initiative, including an events emissions tonnage calculator the recommendations were approved by the Board on the 16th March 2022. To allow for the necessary accounting arrangements to be put in place, the first event to be covered by the new scheme was the Welsh Weekend Tour, 26-27th March, 2022. Starting with the Curborough Speed Trials, event programmes contain information and promotion for the initiative. For further information, see the Frequently Asked Questions.

Members can recover the on-road emissions from their own cars by visiting trees.fbhvc.co.uk 

For all inquiries please email: library@vscc.co.uk with the subject header Carbon Emissions Initiative.