Climate change: EV charging facility owners in Hong Kong can soon make money by selling carbon credits

Hong Kong owners of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure will soon be able to earn revenue by selling carbon credits generated by their facilities through the city’s bourse, according to a local provider of charging equipment and software.

“We are the first EV charging solutions operator in Hong Kong that has started a carbon credit project,” said Cornerstone Technologies CEO Vincent Yip Siu-hong in an investors’ briefing on Friday.

“Our credits are generated through registration with Verra, which will become fully tradeable. We are talking to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) on how to operate on its newly established carbon-trading platform.”

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Washington-based Verra is a non-profit organisation that operates one of the world’s biggest carbon-crediting programmes. To obtain tradeable credits, claimants’ projects are subject to audits on their greenhouse gas reduction or removal benefits.

HKEX launched a voluntary carbon-credit-trading platform in late October, matching companies seeking to offset their carbon footprints with owners of verifiable projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions.

Cornerstone’s software is designed to help its clients calculate their carbon footprint reduction, based on which they can obtain carbon credits to be sold or used to offset their own emissions.

Under the current fuel mix of Hong Kong’s electricity supply, the carbon footprint of the full supply chain associated with EV energy use is around a quarter smaller than that of petrol or diesel vehicles, Yip said.

The government has offered multiple incentives to encourage the adoption of EVs.