Nowadays more and more people care about the environment so if you want to get more customers you should show be able to prove your commitment to tackling climate change. Knowing what your business’s carbon footprint is is the first step to prove that and is an important element of net-zero strategies and creating a sustainable future.
But do you know what actually is your carbon footprint?
Your business’s carbon footprint is the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions that are released into the atmosphere as a result of your company’s operations and activities. The greenhouse gas most frequently emitted by humans is CO2, but there are a number of other greenhouse gases that are equally harmful to the environment. The main six greenhouse gases are:
- Sulphur Hexafluoride – SF6
- carbon dioxide – CO2
- methane – CH4
- hydrofluorocarbons – HFCs
- nitrous oxide – N2O
- Perfluorocarbons – PFCs.
The term ‘carbon’ is often used to refer to them all.
Carbon footprint is usually measured by taking into consideration the total quantity of greenhouse gas emissions generated by a company over the course of one calendar year. Nevertheless, some businesses prefer to measure it by looking at specific products.
Carbon footprint is expressed in tonnes (metric tonnes) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
Measuring carbon footprint is a common practice, but many businesses don’t know where to start and how to it. Luckily Niccolo Gas has prepared this useful guide that will tell you everything you need to know about calculating your company’s gas and electricity carbon footprint.
Benefits of calculating your business’s carbon footprint
Are you still not sure why you should measure what your emissions are? If so, have a look at the numerous advantages of doing it.
- You can demonstrate your environmental performance and later review the progress you’ve been making over the years.
- You can show that you care about the environment more than your competitors.
- You can reduce your energy consumption, hence spending less money on energy bills.
- You can enhance your brand and build your company’s reputation.
- You can protect the planet and contribute to fighting global warming and climate change.
What information do I need to calculate my company’s carbon footprint?
Before you start actually calculating your emissions you will need to obtain some important information. The things that you will need to investigate are:
| Fuel consumption | how much fuel does your business consume in all sites and vehiclescan include natural gas, diesel, or LPG |
| Energy consumption | how much electricity do all sites of your business use?to find out you can have a look at past meter readings or electricity bills |
| Air conditioning units | do refrigeration and air conditioning equipment at your business’s sites use fluorinated greenhouse gas?to find out check the top-ups you have made to these units |
If you cannot find actual information, you can estimate your usage.
How to calculate my company’s carbon footprint?
There are several steps you need to follow to effectively measure your gas and electricity carbon footprint. Keep reading to find out what they are.
- Find the sources of emissions
Normally, burning fossil fuels is the primary source of CO2 emissions produced by humans. When you start calculating what your company’s emissions are, ask yourself how your business uses electricity and gas. There are many ways in which energy can be used, for example, to power equipment and premises, or to run vehicles. You should also investigate where your energy is sourced from. Does it come from renewable sources? Or does your supplier mainly use fossil fuels?
- Find out how much energy you use
Once you identify all the aspects where your business uses energy, you will need to find out how much energy it uses. To do it, you should take a lot at past electricity and gas bills, or find out how many miles your team has travelled using the vehicles owned by the company. Using a spreadsheet is very useful when analysing that as it is easy to lose track of all the data and quantities.
- Calculate your business’s footprint
Now that you have all the information about how much energy your business uses, you can convert it into carbon emissions. There are many carbon emission calculators available online so you can use them. You can also talk to energy specialists that can offer a more accurate calculation.
- Think about how to reduce your emissions
When you find out what your business’s carbon footprint is, you should take a while to analyse the results and think about ways to reduce it. Even if your carbon footprint is not too high, there is always room for improvement. Even small changes to your energy consumption habits can have a positive impact on your business’s performance. From the next section of this guide, you will find out more about ways to lower your company’s carbon footprint.
- Think about what the next step will be
Calculating your carbon footprint should be the first step in introducing positive changes to your company. Once you know what your emissions are, you have to think about how you will change the way in which you manage your company and launch your products and services. You should take your carbon footprint into consideration when thinking of how to develop your business in a way that will not be harmful to the environment.
How to reduce your carbon footprint?
Reducing your business’s carbon footprint does not have to be difficult but you have to make sure that all employees are on board and work together towards making your company greener. Have a look at some examples that can help you reduce your greenhouse gases emissions.
- Switch to renewable energy
Nowadays almost all energy suppliers offer green energy tariffs where electricity and gas are sourced from renewable sources. When looking for an environmentally-friendly tariff, you should make sure that the energy it offers is backed by REGO certificates. The Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) ensure transparency and assure that the energy supplied to you is 100% renewable.
You should also always look at the fuel mix of your supplier, which indicates what sources they use to generate their energy. When you only use renewable energy sources, your greenhouse gases emissions will be zero!
- Reduce energy consumption at your business’s premises
There are many ways in which you can reduce energy consumption at the office. Many of them require simply changing your team’s energy consumption habits. For example, you should advise your employees to always turn the lights off when they leave the room or to not open the windows when the heating is on.
Furthermore, some changes you could introduce are installing energy-efficient lighting options such as LED light bulbs or installing thermostats that ensure that the heating is only on during certain times when there are people in the building.
- Promote recycling
Without a doubt, you and your employees use a lot of paper, packaging, water, food, and office equipment. Manufacturing and transporting all of these can significantly increase your company’s carbon footprint. That’s why, in order to lower your greenhouse gases emissions, you should consider buying recycled paper or refurbished laptops. You should also encourage people to bring food to work in containers that they can later wash and reuse, instead of purchasing food in plastic packagings. Minimising single-use plastic is crucial to protecting the environment.
- Reduce your travel emissions
If your business gives company cars to employees, consider switching to electric vehicles instead of using regular petrol or diesel cars. Electricity is cheaper per mile, so using electric vehicles will not only help you reduce your carbon footprint, but will also allow you to cut costs.
In addition to switching to electric vehicles, you should undertake steps to cut business travel emissions. In fact, air, car, or train transportation are amongst the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions. You should encourage your employees to use a bike instead of a car to get to the office if they live nearby, and you should facilitate carpooling. Even though sometimes flying is necessary, you should book fuel-efficient economy seats and try to get direct flights.
- Educate employees
Not everyone is aware of how their actions affect the environment. That’s why have a talk with your employees and educating them about the benefits of maximising efforts to lower the company’s carbon footprint is always a good idea. In order for your company to be greener, your employees need to understand what changes are being introduced and why they need to follow them.