Most people are concerned about the impact of climate change on our world. On a personal level flying to a holiday destination is probably the single biggest carbon generator any individual is responsible for in a given year. All flights burn fossil fuels and release carbon into the atmosphere.

Find out how much carbon your holiday with Unicorn Trails will generate.

Thus it follows that the most immediate way to decrease a personal carbon footprint is to offset the carbon emission of any flights taken. Unicorn fully supports this aim and offers carbon neutral travel. Just mention at the time of booking that you would like your travel to be carbon neutral and we'll take care of the rest.

Find out more about how we do this.

How Carbon offsetting works

When you fly, drive or heat your home the CO2 emissions generated add to climate change. By calculating exactly how much CO2 a person is responsible for a "carbon footprint" is calculated.

To calculate the carbon emitted on a flight to any of our holidays see our carbon page.

To "offset" this carbon, an equivalent amount of energy is produced from sources that do not generate carbon.
As an initial cost is incurred to set up alternative energy sources such as installing solar panels, building wave power generators, green energy is very expensive in the short term. In the long term however, it is highly cost effective as the projects will continue producing zero carbon energy for hundreds of years at no or very limited further cost. Funds collected specifically go to support the green energy projects below:

Solar Power:
Converting the energy from solar power to useful electricity is one of the fastest growing alternative energies. This rests not only on capturing the sun's power as efficiently as possible (watts/m2) but also in a way that can be easily installed and used.
Powerfilm Solar
PowerFilm is a developer and manufacturer of thin, flexible solar panels based on a proprietary low cost production process. Powerfilm not only makes industrial solar panels but also makes fantastic lightweight, flexible and durable solar chargers for batteries, mobile phones, cameras and laptops which Unicorn staff personally utilize on holidays abroad.

Marine Power:
Harnessing the energy of the sea and tides are another source of energy that is available to us. This has the advantage of not being dependent on cloud cover.
Ocean Power Technologies
Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) is a leading renewable energy company specializing in cost-effective, advanced, and environmentally sound offshore wave power technology. The electrical power generated by OPT's technology is key to meeting the energy needs of utilities, independent power producers and the public sector.

Wind Power:
Everyone has seen the wind turbines that are rising up all over Europe including the UK. While not everyone appreciates the architectural impact, the energy that is harnessed is largely carbon free although generation of this pwer is dependent on the weather.
Clipper
A rapidly growing company engaged in wind energy technology, wind turbine manufacturing and wind project development

Geothermal Power:
Under the mantle of the earth the molten magma usually only seen spewing from volcanoes, offers a virtually unlimited amount of energy. By using heat exchange pumps this energy can be harnessed to provide for our needs. Iceland is a foremost example of a country that has utilized their geothermal assets extremely well. While initially expensive, this form of energy is available at any time.
Western Geopower
Western GeoPower Corp is a renewable energy company dedicated to the development of geothermal energy projects for the delivery of clean, sustainable baseload electricity generation. The Company holds 100% interests in the Unit 15 Steam Field located in The Geyser Geothermal Field in California, United States and in the South Meager Geothermal Project in British Columbia, Canada.

Energy Storage:
It's one thing producing clean power from all these sources however the power is not always produced exactly when it is needed. Conventional solutions such as pump storage schemes are very environmentally unfriendly. Batteries are not yet able to store large scale energy effectively and other solutions such as ultra capacitors are needed.


Maxwell Technologies
Ultracapacitors bring new levels of efficiency and power to a wide range of applications, including consumer electronics, hybrid cars, and renewable energy sources.As the leader in ultracapacitor technology, Maxwell Technologies is helping to change the way energy is stored all over the world.