Elysian Retreat offsets 150% of Carbon Emissions for 2019

Daily Mercury

The team at Elysian have just completed their annual audit of greenhouse gas emissions for 2019 through
Carbon Neutral and have offset 150% of their annual emissions for the 2019 calendar year. Elysian Retreat,
Australia's first solar powered island resort, remain fully committed to reducing the impact of its activities,
services and products on the environment as much as possible.
Elysian Retreat switched over to 100% solar power on the 16th of April 2019 two weeks after opening,
becoming the first 100% solar powered island resort on the Great Barrier Reef. They operate a full commercial
kitchen, spa, restaurant, bar and 10 air conditioned guest villas and hot water systems off solar power and
batteries. The switch to solar power saves an estimated 39,420 litres of diesel from being burnt per year plus
the additional fuel it would have used to transport the 39,420 litres of diesel to the island via barge. Considering
the burning of fossil fuels is arguably the largest contributor to climate change, we felt that it was one of the
biggest impacts we could make in terms of innovation in climate change action. This translates to 112 tonnes of
carbon emissions for the fuel alone, excluding the transport of the fuel, which could easily need four 14 tonnes
barges per year. The roll on effect of transporting this amount of fuel to an island is incredibly hard to determine,
but quite substantial in terms of the logistics.
After calculating the carbon footprint through Carbon Neutral, 150% of the Carbon Emissions are offset for
each calendar year with carbon credits purchased and surrendered through selected Gold Standard projects.
The team have selected to invest in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity project, Australia's first Gold Standard project
and the largest revegetation project based on carbon capture and biodiversity

*Every project certified by The Gold Standard must monitor, report and verify carbon savings and sustainable
development benefits for local communities. More information here. https://carbonneutral.com.au/australiannative-
reforestation-gold-standard/

The Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor – bringing it to life what we are achieving through carbon offset projects.