(Image Credit: Bing Generative Art “a man riding a bike on the road in a yellow jacket and a green bike near london bridge station, digital art“!)

In the middle of the year I published my First Half Commuting Stats. I worked up until the end of November when I finished so still keeping myself honest, here are the stats to round out the year. This is with a view to figuring out my carbon emissions and offsetting for the first time.

Summary

Total Days Worked To End of November	196
Days In The Office or Equivalent — 58 of these by cycle commute (48%) — 62 of these by train commute (52%)	120	61%
Days Working From Home	76	38%

Although I am no longer there, PwC’s general “ask” was to be in the office 2-3 days per week so for me I was in 61% of the time, which of course is slightly more than 3 days a week and meets my own accountability target.

What is the journey?

Estimated Costs in £ and CO2e

Transport	Days	Data Points	Estimated Commute Carbon Emissions	Time
Train	62	62 x £9.80 fare = £607 total Carbon: 35.1 g CO2e per passenger km in 2019-20 (source: gov.uk)	62 x 35.1 x 14.5 = 315kg	Walk + Train ~45 min
Cycle	58	£0 total 2023 Maintenance Costs £45 (cable, tubes). I did also buy/renew some clothing this year but I have not included that here. Carbon: 21g CO2e per passenger km (source: cyclinguk.org) – Wow I did not know this (see below) 58 days cycling saved £568 in train fares.	58 x 21 x 14.5 = 176kg	Cycle + Shower ~55 mins
WFH	76	£0 Carbon: Zero in terms of commuting If WFH were not possible, and assuming 60% of those 76 days were train, this implies a saving of roughly £460 (0.6 x 76 x 9.80)	0kg	0 mins!
			ESTIMATED TOTAL = 491kg CO2e

[ For completeness, car CO2e is about 164g per passenger km, a heck of a lot more ]

My guesstimate is that cycle and WFH saved me £1028 in 2023. And burnt a few calories 😃.

But… I did not realise until I looked that cycling has in fact got an estimated CO2e due to the additional food required to provide the energy! I had incorrectly assumed it would be zero or near zero. (Putting aside the costs of the bike for one moment)

How To Carbon Offset My Commute in 2023?

I’ve never done this before but I have assumed to offset 500kg CO2e (rounded up)

I found out it is sometimes called the “Volutary Carbon Market”

Carbon offsetting is not strictly a one-time activity of course but I was surprised at the “carbon offsetting as a service” monthly subscriptions. There is also a degree of skepticism that it actually works (e.g. this link)

I like trees a lot. Trees are carbon sinks – Up to 1 tonne of CO2e in their lifetime – so I have elected to donate to plant 10 trees, which I did just a few minutes ago, this is about 20x what my commute “cost”.

Summary

I revisited my commuting statistics for the entire year, highlighting my modes of transportation and associated carbon emissions.

I fully recognise this does not account for any number of other household emissions and other variables e.g. those caused by working from home.

Nevertheless costs and CO2 emissions for each mode of transport were detailed, with cycling being the most environmentally friendly.

I’ve opted (and paid!) to plant 10 trees as part of my effort. This

I need to educate myself more fully on this, but I have made a start.