Business Carbon Footprints Explained
What Scope 1, 2 and 3 actually cover, the data you will need, and the point at which a calculator stops being enough.
Business ServicesDirect emissions you control
Gas burned on site, fuel in company vehicles, and refrigerant losses. Data comes from your own meters, fuel cards and service records.
Purchased energy
The electricity, heat or steam you buy. Reported using both location-based and market-based factors, so your tariff and any renewable certificates matter.
Your value chain
Purchased goods and services, business travel, commuting, waste, distribution and use of sold products. Usually the largest share of the total, and the part customers and tender questionnaires increasingly ask about.
When a calculator is not enough
Tender questionnaires, customer supplier surveys and lender requests generally ask for a footprint prepared in line with the GHG Protocol, with a stated base year, boundary and methodology. That means working from your own consumption and procurement data rather than typical figures — and it means the result can be repeated next year to show progress.
If you simply want a sense of scale for your own household while you are here, the free calculator takes about three minutes.