The recent International Green Hero Award was given to Version One by a UK environmental group, The Green Organisation, which got me thinking about historical carbon offsetting.

Version One has not only reduced its carbon footprint by as much as it can reasonably afford, but also offsets more than it emits. The company estimates that by 2010 it will have offset all the emissions the company has ever produced. The Co-Operative Bank also takes part in historical offsetting.

It made me wonder: would this be something that would get big business excited? The Co-Operative Bank markets itself on its environmental credentials and Version One is a document management systems for accounting and ERP systems, which will enable them to become paperless.

But would Bank of Scotland, for example, want to offset its historical carbon emissions as well as its current? The Governor and Company of Scotland's first bank got together way back in in 1695. That's a lot of emissions to account for!

Call me a cynic but I don't see this as a trend many of the larger corporates will be moving towards.