Dalradian, the west Tyrone based mine exploration and development company, has reduced its total carbon footprint by 67% from its 2019 baseline. This achievement and other proactive measures have helped the company secure Carbon Neutral Plus status for the third year running in 2021.
Between 2020 and 2021 the company reduced its carbon output by 17% due to its carbon management plan. Above and beyond that, further reductions were achieved by switching to renewable electricity. Dalradian also offsets its emissions by supporting an internationally certified project and secured ‘Plus’ status by planting trees in Northern Ireland.
Dalradian’s offsetting project in 2021 transformed a wastewater treatment facility in Bulgaria, reducing methane emissions, fossil fuel use and the amount of sludge produced at the plant[1].
The company’s status was accredited by Carbon Footprint Ltd, a leading sustainability and climate change solutions provider. Dr. Wendy Buckley from Carbon Footprint said:
“It’s great to see Dalradian’s progress over the three years we have worked with them. Every year they strive to find new ways to reduce carbon emissions across all scopes of activity, something which gets more challenging after the initial, easier reductions are made.
“Combined with their support for the scheme in Bulgaria, which is an internationally certified Gold Standard offset project, and local tree-planting, Dalradian has been recognised as a Carbon Neutral Plus organisation.”
Oonagh McKenna, Dalradian’s Sustainability & Community Relations Officer, commented:
“Congratulations are due to everyone at Dalradian for their work on this project. Each year, we bring together people from across the company, working together to identify areas for improvement.
“The driving force behind the substantial decrease in carbon since 2019 has been the constant effort to increase energy efficiency across all operations. We’ve upgraded lighting, started the process of replacing our diesel-fueled vehicles with electric and switched to 100% renewable electricity across all our offices.
“Further enhancements for 2022, including improving the efficiency of how we manage our exploration site, are already ongoing. We’re also continuing to research alternative energy sources such as hydrogenated vegetable oil and biodiesel as well as electric vehicles for the mining operation, post-planning. Our teams are in discussions with suppliers, including visits to their plants and mining operations using the latest technology, to discover the best solutions for our existing and future operations.”
The calculation of Dalradian’s carbon footprint for 2021 was assessed by Carbon Footprint following the exacting requirements of ISO 14064-1, an international standard for businesses and other organisations to quantify, monitor, report and assess greenhouse gas emissions. By doing this, Dalradian has achieved the status of Carbon Footprint Standard – Assessed for 2021. This process has followed the stringent requirements of BSI PAS 2060, a specification produced and published by the British Standards Institution with the objective of increasing transparency of carbon neutrality claims by providing a common definition and recognised method of achieving carbon neutral status.
Carbon Neutral Plus status means that in addition to reducing its emissions and supporting an internationally recognised offsetting project, Dalradian has gone one step further by supporting tree planting. The trees will be planted in Northern Ireland for the third year in a row, benefiting the local area.
Dalradian has also begun a native tree nursery project as part of its long-term plans for offsetting and progressive restoration at the proposed mine site. Seeds from a variety of local native tree species have been collected and sown in seed beds, in preparation for planting as saplings.
[1] The Bulgarian initiative is a Gold Standard Verified Emissions Reductions (GS VER) https://www.goldstandard.org/articles/gold-standard-emission-reductions
