Shell has made a carbon neutral service available in Hungary since Tuesday, the essence of which is that if you are willing to pay more per liter for fuel, you can use it to emit carbon dioxide emissions from your vehicle.

The additional cost of the carbon neutral service is 6 HUF per liter for private customers and 4.5 HUF + VAT for business customers. Shell realizes carbon offsets by purchasing carbon credits related to nature-based services. Each carbon balance corresponds to avoiding or withdrawing one ton of carbon dioxide.


The service is already available to business customers in 15 other countries, and private clients in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom have so far been able to contribute to voluntarily neutralizing their emissions.

Shell’s intent is clear: It is unlikely to include the carbon offset cost in its pricing in order to make it a truly voluntary contribution. At the same time, it seems doubtful how many people in Hungary would be willing to pay more for refueling, even for a noble cause.