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The CarbonNeutral Company measured a range of factors from electricity consumption to business travel and deliveries, including commuting by employees. The latter is not always included in such analyses, but it can contribute a significant proportion of a company's CO² output. It was measured at 23 per cent in the case of Eclipse, according to the analysis.

The findings prompted Eclipse to invest in number of carbon offsetting programmes, including wind farms in India, a methane capture project in Pennsylvania and a Ugandan forestry project.

The ISP also plans to reduce emissions each year, starting with a 10 per cent decrease over the next 12 months. It will try to do this by using more brown (organic) energy sources, switching to a green energy supplier and reducing energy consumption with a 'switch off and save' campaign. It will also make savings, it says, by introducing motion sensors and low-energy lighting and by installing air-conditioning timers and evaluating the use

Eclipse also plans to cut business travel by making greater use of audio and video-conferencing facilities, and making more efficient use of server capacity, for example by using virtualisation technology.

Other planned measures include more recycling, replacing desktop PCs with more energy-efficient thin clients and TFT screens, providing each employee with low-energy lightbulbs to use at home, setting printers to print double-sided by default and promoting paperless billing.

'Our new carbon neutral status is a major step toward reducing our impact on the environment, but it is the first of many. We are committed to becoming a fully green ISP, providing a better, more sustainable service for our many thousands of business and residential customers,' said Eclipse director Mark Lang.

'We were particularly surprised to see the proportion of our own carbon emissions that resulted from staff commuting to work, and as an ISP, are conscious that we have a part to play in helping other businesses use broadband and Internet applications to reduce their emissions by cutting down on the travel required by employees.'

Jonathan Shopley, executive director of The CarbonNeutral Company said that companies can no longer ignore their environmental impact.

'It's great to see ISPs like Eclipse taking this issue seriously and working hard to achieve full carbon neutral status,' he said. 'This is a long term investment but, supported properly, will pay great dividends for staff and customers alike.'