Demystifying carbon footprint measurement for your business.
As consumer demand for businesses that are transparent about their sustainability continues to grow, more and more companies are choosing to quantify and publicly report on their carbon footprints. Accomplishing this involves measuring and monitoring the amount of carbon emissions that they produce from different sources in their operations. While many companies choose to outsource this work, some may wish to carry it out internally.
Although this is rewarding, it can often be a confusing and lengthy task. How exactly do you measure a company's carbon footprint and where do you start?
Emission scopes
An organisation's total carbon emissions can be split into three sections or 'scopes' depending on the emission source.
Scope 1
The company's direct emissions. These are associated with company-owned resources or activities that the company directly controls.
Examples include emissions from the fuel of company-owned vehicles or from manufacturing processes that occur on company facilities.
Scope 2
The company's emissions from energy that is purchased from a third-party utility provider.
Examples include electricity, steam, heat and cooling.
Fun fact: If your company gets heating from a natural gas boiler, this qualifies as scope 1 rather than scope 2. This is because the gas fuel is combusted on-site to produce energy rather than arriving on-site in the form of energy like electricity or district heating.
Scope 3
This is the broadest category; it encompasses all other indirect emissions within the company's value chain.
This includes both upstream (e.g. business travel, employee commuting) and downstream activities (e.g. third-party distribution of finished products, end-of-life disposal of sold products).
As this is the category over which the company has least control and oversight, it can be particularly difficult to monitor and reduce scope 3 emissions.
Image source: GHG Protocol
Are there official standards relating to measuring and reporting organisational carbon footprints?
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard is widely considered to represent international best practice in measuring and reporting organisational emissions. On the GHG Protocol website you can find an abundance of free guides, resources and calculation tools for your business. Their detailed guide on how to measure each of the 15 sources of scope 3 emissions is particularly useful.
In the UK, quoted companies and some other large companies meeting certain criteria are legally obliged to report their scope 1 and 2 annual emissions according to GHG Protocol standards; reporting of scope 3 is optional in most circumstances, and most unquoted companies have no legal reporting obligations. In Ireland, no companies are currently legally obliged to report on their emissions.
How do I start to measure my company’s carbon footprint?
The first step in measuring your carbon footprint is to inventory your emission sources and set the boundaries of your project.
If you wish to follow GHG Protocol standards in reporting your emissions, you must include all scope 1 and scope 2 sources. For scope 3, it is up to you to decide what is feasible for you to measure and/or estimate. These parameters will differ depending on the level of time and resources that you allocate to this project. For example, estimating emissions from employee commuting or business travel is generally much simpler than attempting to estimate emissions from the end-of-life treatment/disposal of sold products. The more you account for, the more accurate your total results will be.
Here are some tips for how to monitor a selection of different emission sources within each scope.
| Scope |
Source |
Tips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Company vehicles |
Monitor fuel usage and multiply: petrol emits 2.3 kg CO2 per liter, diesel emits 2.7 kg CO2 per liter Alternatively, monitor mileage and multiply this by each vehicle's CO2/km emission factor (found in vehicle handbook or manufacturer's website) |
| Gas heating |
Suppliers generally provide an emissions estimate both per unit and for total usage on each invoice If you only have your usage info in units, multiply your units by natural gas's emission factor: 204.7 g CO2/kWh |
|
| 2 |
Electricity |
Suppliers generally provide an emissions estimate per unit and for total usage on each invoice If you are with a 100% renewable electricity supplier, you will have zero emissions |
| 3 |
Business travel |
Air travel emissions per flight can be easily estimated using this calculator Train travel emissions are approximately 35.1 g CO2e per passenger kilometer - individual companies may have more precise estimations |
| Employee commuting |
Data needed includes each employee's method and length of commute - collect this through a survey For employees that use private vehicles, the make/model would be helpful to obtain precise emission factors - if this data is unavailable, use an average figure or best estimate |
|
| Waste |
Emissions can vary dramatically depending on type of waste and method of disposal Waste disposal/treatment companies can generally provide customers specific estimates of emissions per kg |
Here are some other detailed resources that may help on your journey to monitor and control your business's carbon footprint:
Guidance on how to measure and report your greenhouse gas emissions (UK gov)
Environmental Reporting guidelines (UK gov)
Origin Green guidance: pathways to net zero (Bord Bia; written for food companies but contains valuable information for all companies)
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (GHG Protocol)
Technical guidance for calculating scope 3 emissions (GHG Protocol)
Whether you choose to outsource the work or conduct it internally, showing that you prioritise sustainability by measuring and reporting on your carbon footprint will give you a competitive edge. A clear picture of your company's current carbon footprint is also vital in order to identify your main sources of emissions and come up with a plan to reduce and manage them, aiming towards decarbonisation.
Take the initiative – join Techies Go Green!
Techies Go Green is a movement dedicated to decarbonising IT and tech-oriented companies through collaborating and sharing knowledge. Membership is open to both companies and individuals within the UK and Ireland. We would love to have you join and to help you in your journey towards sustainability and decarbonisation.
