Carbon Neutrality

St Raphael Resort and Marina: Pioneering Carbon Neutrality in Cyprus's Hotel Industry

St Raphael Resort & Marina have committed to Net-Zero, a feat demonstrated by becoming the first carbon neutral hotel in Cyprus. 

An audit of the hotels carbon footprint was performed by billion-air assessing the entirety of the hotels scope 1&2 emissions, as well as a share of their scope 3 emissions. 

From the 1st of October 2022 to the 31st of September 2023 the hotel was responsible for 2,642 metric tonnes of CO2e emissions.  In order to reduce their carbon footprint, the hotel utilised guarantees of origin (GOs) supplied by billion-air.  GOs provide the ability to track the production of electricity drawn from the grid. By utilising GOs St Raphael Resort & Marina where able to source 413,000KWH of electricity from a solar farm, preventing 270,000 kg of CO2 emissions - reducing the hotels carbon footprint by 10.2%. 

In order to achieve carbon neutral status, the hotel offset the remaining 2,372 tonnes of CO2 via billion-airs portfolio of verified carbon reduction projects.  2,320 tonnes where offset via a renewable energy project in India, aiding the sustainable development of the nation. The remaining 52 tonnes were split across a rainforest conservation project in Kenya and Brazil as well as a borehole project providing clean water to people living in rural villages in Rwanda.

The bulk of the carbon footprint was offset via a renewable energy project in order to aid the acceleration away from fossil fuels which account for roughly 80% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.  As the worlds population continues to grow there is a dying need to support renewable energy projects and accelerate the transition to a hydrogen economy. The remaining 52 tonnes were offset via reforestation and safe water projects, in order to support a total of 7 UN sustainable development goals, aiding the alleviation of poverty while recording reductions in CO2 emissions.

The hotels carbon footprint and carbon neutral certification was preformed by billion-air before undergoing an external audit by Carbon Footprint Ltd.

The table below shows a breakdown of the carbon footprint of St Raphael Resort & Marina from 01/10/2022 – 31/09/2023 (prior to utilizing guarantees of origin to reduce their carbon footprint by 270 tonnes.)