Carbon offsetting for UK drivers
What a drive, a road trip or a year in your car costs to offset in pounds, and five ways to do it, from the cheapest credits to UK woodland and beyond.
A year of driving the average car in the UK
1.7 t CO₂
Offset with woodland in the UK: £59.33. Cheapest: £10.17.
Work out your ownFive ways to offset, cheapest first
The cheaper credits pay to stop emissions somewhere else. The dearer ones take carbon back out of the air, and the more they cost, the longer it stays out.
| Way to offset | How long it lasts | Price | A year of driving |
|---|---|---|---|
Renewable energy Helps fund wind and solar farms that replace coal power. | Avoids emissions, removes none | £6 a tonne | £10.17 |
Clean cookstoves Swaps smoky open fires for efficient stoves, so families breathe cleaner air. | Avoids emissions, removes none | £14 a tonne | £23.73 |
Woodland in the UKOur pick Plants and protects native trees that take in CO₂ as they grow. | Decades | £35 a tonne | £59.33 |
Biochar Turns crop waste into charcoal that locks carbon into the soil. | Centuries | £125 a tonne | £212 |
Direct air capture Machines pull CO₂ out of the air and turn it to stone underground. | 10,000+ years | £470 a tonne | £797 |
What a drive costs to offset
For the average car in the UK. A bigger or thirstier car puts out more; an electric one far less.
| Drive | CO₂ | Renewable energy | Woodland in the UK | Direct air capture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 miles | 24.1 kg | £1.00 | £1.00 | £11.35 |
| A 500-mile road trip | 121 kg | £1.00 | £4.23 | £56.73 |
| A year (7,000 miles) | 1.7 t | £10.17 | £59.33 | £797 |
Small amounts are rounded up to a £1 minimum, which covers more CO₂ than the drive.
Avoid, then remove
Offsets come in two kinds. Avoidance credits pay for something that stops CO₂ being made somewhere else: a wind farm instead of a coal plant, a clean stove instead of an open fire. They're cheap, and the carbon you put out stays in the air.
Removal credits take CO₂ back out of the air. Trees do it for decades, biochar for centuries, and direct air capture turns it to stone for thousands of years. They cost more, and they're the only way to undo a drive rather than make up for it.
The cheapest offset of all is the drive you don't make, and the next is a more efficient car. Offsetting is for what's left.
Offsetting in the UK
UK woodland credits are checked under the Woodland Carbon Code, the government-backed standard. A new wood sells Pending Issuance Units first: a promise of the carbon the trees will take in as they grow, verified as they do and turned into Woodland Carbon Units.
That makes UK woodland a slow, long-term way to offset: the carbon is taken in over decades. It's why it costs more than credits from overseas, and why it's easier to see where your money went.
Businesses with company cars and vans report their fuel and its CO₂ under Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR). Offsetting doesn't reduce what's reported, but it's how many firms cover the miles they can't avoid.
Questions
How much does it cost to offset a car in the UK?
An average car in the UK driven 7,000 miles a year puts out about 1.7 t of CO₂. Offsetting that costs £10.17 a year with renewable energy credits, £59.33 with woodland in the UK, and £797 with direct air capture.
What is a carbon offset?
A carbon offset pays for a tonne of CO₂ to be kept out of the air, or taken out of it, somewhere else, to make up for a tonne you put in. Each one is a credit, checked by a registry and retired in your name once it's used, so it can't be sold twice.
Do carbon offsets work?
The good ones do what they say, but they're not all equal. Credits that avoid emissions (renewable energy, cookstoves) are cheap, and how much they really change is debated. Removals (forest, biochar, direct air capture) take carbon out of the air and are easier to trust, and the longer they lock it away, the more they cost. Driving less and in a more efficient car comes first; offsetting covers what's left.
Carbon offset or carbon credit: what's the difference?
A carbon credit is the certificate for a tonne of CO₂ avoided or removed. It becomes your offset when it's retired against your own emissions.
How many trees would offset my car?
A grown tree takes in roughly 22 kg of CO₂ a year, so a year of driving an average car needs about 75 to 210 trees growing for that year, depending on the car and how far it goes. Young trees take in far less, which is why forest credits are sold by the tonne, not the tree.
How much does it cost to offset a tonne of CO₂?
From £6 a tonne for renewable energy credits to £470 a tonne for direct air capture. Native forest, the middle of the range, is £35 a tonne.
What's the Woodland Carbon Code?
The UK's standard for woodland carbon projects, backed by the government. It checks how much CO₂ a new or restored wood will take in, and its credits are listed on the UK Land Carbon Registry so each one is only sold once.
Does my car tax pay for its emissions?
Not directly. Vehicle tax is banded by CO₂ for many cars, but the money isn't spent on removing carbon. Offsetting is separate from it.
More on your car's CO₂
Know what every drive puts out
Roadtrip works out the fuel cost and the CO₂ of any drive in your exact car, so you can pick the cheaper, cleaner way to go.
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