Essex Auto Group has offset the CO2 from their vehicle fleet and buildings through Castrol’s Carbon Neutral programme.

The scheme, which co-ordinates initiatiuves which can help offset a business’ impact on the environment, calculated that Essex Auto Group emitted a total of 1,547 tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents) each year.

The figure is the same as 3,825 trips from London to Aberdeen or 130,116 average days of driving one car and would require a 294- acre forest in order to extract that level of CO2 from the   atmosphere.

Essex Auto Group now reduces its carbon footprint using many methods, including support for Essex Wildlife Trust, using energy-saving technology and environmentally-sensitive materials when building new dealerships, and using Castrol Professional (the world’s first certified carbon neutral oil) in their workshops.

Philip Maskell, chairman of Essex Auto Group, said: “We’ve had a 27-year business partnership with Castrol, which has been beneficial for both sides – it is a true partnership. To be part of this carbon neutral programme is a massive pride point and privilege for my company.

“Carbon neutral is very important to us. We already have an energy conservation programme that we’ve been running for about the last five years where we have actually achieved about a 20% reduction in our cost of energy across our dealerships and also a similar reduction in carbon production.”

Essex Auto Group invests thousands of pounds in the Castrol Carbon Neutral programme to offset its footprint through BP Target Neutral – a not-for-profit organisation that ensures that every penny goes to low-carbon development projects.

Andrea Abrahams, global director at BP Target Neutral, said: “BP Target Neutral has a portfolio of carbon reduction and offset projects. All the money from carbon offsetting goes towards supporting carbon reduction initiatives, which would not otherwise happen without this funding.

“The projects range from renewable energy, for example wind farms, to fuel switching where you switch out a high-intensity carbon fuel with a low-intensity option, or even projects like forestry. Forests are called the ‘lungs of the Earth’, so they absorb carbon emissions and some of our projects help towards protecting precious rainforests around the   world.”

“We’re delighted to have Essex Auto Group as our first ever carbon neutral franchise in the UK. They really are a leader in taking great steps to show others what can be   done.”

A.S. Ramchander, global marketing director and vice president at Castrol, said: “Congratulations to Essex Auto Group for launching this offer to the market.

“We’re trying to test this offer out and if we have partnerships with organisations like Essex Auto Group, we can really make this successful and roll it out to a much, much larger target market.”