Ibuyeco claims it has offset 35,000 tonnes of carbon in six months

UK targets for CO2 reduction, set for 2008 by the EU ten years ago, will not be met, car insurer ibuyeco has said.

In a statement it said that manufacturers had admitted that they had "no hope" of meeting targets to produce vehicles that emitted no more than stipulated levels of 140g of CO2 per kilometre by this year.

Since its launch in June 2007, ibuyeco has offset more than 35,000 tons of carbon – enough to power a small town for an entire year, the company claims.

Lucy Bailey, Marketing Manager, ibuyeco said: "With targets not being met by the car manufacturing industry to reduce carbon emissions, there was a huge demand for an insurance product that enabled the public to counteract the damaging effect of everyday use of cars.

"ibuyeco is a practical step for people to make whilst also giving them a competitive insurance quote."

ibuyeco is one of the first schemes of its kind in this country, offsetting 100% of a vehicle's carbon emissions for the life of its policies.

A small additional amount is added to customers' insurance preium to counter the damage done by driving their vehicle, calculated based on the make and model of car they drive, and the estimated mileage details. This additional amount is then invested in projects which counter the damage caused by driving the vehicle by The Carbon Neutral Company.