Browsing by Author "Gibson, Sean"
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- ItemInvestigating the feasibility of a locally developed carbon-offsetting scheme : the case of the Drifters Desert Nature Reserve(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012-03) Gibson, Sean; Brent, Alan C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the context of both climate change and peak oil, it is clear that the tourism industry cannot continue with a business-as-usual approach. Unfettered fossil fuel use is no longer an option and novel approaches need to be explored in order to change the configuration of energy systems. Transport is particularly energy intense and consequently, since it involves travel, so is tourism. The Drifters Desert Nature Reserve (DDNR) is probably a net carbon sink. The property is large and has thousands of long lived trees and bushes: but this would be an ‘easy out’ in an industry which is has a reputation for evading tough questions. Are there affordable techniques that can be employed by the Reserve that will reduce its carbon footprint and enable it to move toward being entirely carbon neutral, without relying on sequestration? A willingness to pay (WTP) survey investigating if clients were prepared to pay a voluntary amount towards reducing the emissions of the DDNR, thereby offsetting some of their own emissions, was conducted; 121 questionnaires were completed. The results were extrapolated out to represent the WTP of the 1055 clients that visited the DDNR in the last year. It was found that 73% of all the clients who stay at the DDNR are willing to pay toward helping the DDNR change the way its systems are configured as a means to offset some of their own emissions debt in getting to the reserve. Lodge clients were prepared to pay almost double the amount clients staying at the campsite would consider. In both cases, WTP was around 10% of the value of the accommodation package chosen. The fossil fuel use and consequent carbon dioxide debt of the DDNR was calculated and emissions were found to be in the region of 30 tonnes per annum. As per the case in the greater Namibia, transport is responsible for the bulk of the carbon dioxide output, with energy provision in this off-grid reserve being a close second. Of four potential interventions considered, two were found to be financially viable, regardless of the WTP of clientele. It is speculated that WTP on a small scale is administratively laborious and the potential contribution of a voluntary offsetting payment was perhaps not high to justify the implementation of the scheme. It was however found that reconfiguring the energy systems would definitely be a worthwhile exercise. On corporate level where efficiencies of size amplify gains, Drifters, as a group of 14 lodges and an overland company, may well find that a transparent voluntary emissions reduction (VER) payment, ring-fenced, appropriately used, and properly implemented, is worthwhile. Ethically, however, injecting VER payments into a balance sheet is problematic, especially where the payback period of the technological interventions is short and the benefits derived are long term.