1st June 2009

First carbon emission offsetting scheme for leased school IT equipment launched by Syscap

Launched June 1st – will cover all equipment leased as standard

Syscap, the UK’s leading independent IT financing company, is launching a carbon emission offsetting programme for all the IT equipment it leases to schools in the UK. This will be the first carbon offsetting initiative by a leasing company in the UK.

All IT equipment leased through Syscap to schools in the UK will be carbon neutral from June 1st 2009. The scheme will offset the carbon created in the production of the equipment being leased by investing in the African Energy Efficient School Stoves Project. The project is run by co2balance, the specialist carbon offsetting organisation.

The African Energy Efficient School Stoves Project replaces the wood fires that schools in Kenya currently use to cook food with new stoves that are approximately 75% more efficient in their use of wood. This is not only environmentally sound, but it also provides the schools with reduced energy costs which can be used to fund maintenance and other improvements to the schools, as well as saving the time previously taken to collect the firewood, as the news stoves consume less than half the amount.

Says Philip White, Chief Executive of Syscap: “Up until now if a school wanted to run a carbon neutral scheme for its IT equipment it would have to set up its own offsetting scheme with a carbon offsetting company, which is a prohibitively expensive and time consuming process. The novelty of our this scheme is that when a school leases IT equipment through Syscap all their carbon is automatically offset, irrespective of the manufacturer or what their equipment actually is.”

“We are delighted to be launching this carbon offsetting scheme. It will have immense benefits not only for the environment, but also for schools in Kenya and in Britain.”

Syscap explains that the scheme carries educational benefits for the schools that adopt it, as it fits well with the sciences and geography curriculum. Every school which signs up to the scheme will receive a carbon offset educational pack that includes interactive material for the children such as games and quizzes about climate change and carbon offsetting. In addition, students will be able to track their school stove via its GPS coordinates, and zoom in via Google Earth to actually see their stove and the impact they are making in Kenya.

The information pack also includes material on the causes of climate change, the Greenhouse Effect and what children can do to help.

Says Philip White: “This is a great project because teachers will be able to use it in classrooms to engage students by using real-life case studies that they are close to and can become enthusiastic about.”

“Another great benefit of this project is that not only will it provide British children with educational tools about the environment but they will also gain awareness of the issues faced by schoolchildren in developing countries.”

Each school that participates in Syscap’s offsetting scheme will be issued with a CarbonZero® certificate to display in common areas of the school, as well as posters about the project for classroom use.

Syscap is the UK’s leading independent provider of leasing for IT equipment in the education sector.

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Leasing Life