New app helps offset your tailpipe emissions

Do you, as a driver, want to take more responsibility for your impact on the environment? Thanks to a new app, you can now begin to make a positive change and reduce your carbon footprint.

Karai, a free smartphone app by Drive Key, has been developed to help you offset carbon emissions in real-time, but how exactly does the app work?

Introducing Karai

Karai – which combines Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) data on tailpipe emissions with a driver’s journey information to calculate their actual emissions – is said to be the only app that tracks vehicle carbon emissions in real-time, as well as offering eco driving behaviour scores and tips.

It recommends carbon offsetting solutions such as re-wilding, reforestation, and renewable energy projects to drivers so that you know what to do, and how much to pay, in order to offset your carbon emissions.

The app is currently aimed at drivers of internal combustion-engined cars, encouraging them to become carbon neutral or carbon positive by paying into offset schemes.

When analysing the carbon emissions of a Vauxhall Corsa that’s driven 6,000 miles, Karai found that it would cost £3.50 per month to offset 100% of emissions.

Similarly, a Nissan Qashqai travelling 20,000 miles a year would cost less than £15 per month to offset carbon emissions, and a luxury SUV (eg a  Range Rover Sport) would cost £34 for the same mileage.

Working towards a greener future

Calin Saftoiu, CEO of Drive Key Corporation, said: “Our initial focus is on helping drivers to reduce their emissions, and the efficient driving techniques that result from Karai’s recommendations can do so by up to 25%.

“In the same way a fitness app builds active habits, our vision for the app is to help driving more effectively become second nature to Karai users.”

The app is now available for Apple devices in the App Store and will be released on Android and other operating systems in the summer.

Read more about the upcoming low emission zones in Glasgow.