Carbon Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: What is a carbon footprint?
A: A carbon footprint is a measure of the carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gases responsible for climate change) emitted as a result of a particular activity or group of activities, and is measured in equivalent tonnes of carbon dioxide. A footprint can be taken of a site, a whole company, or an individual product.

Q: How is the carbon footprint of a company or site determined?
A: This kind of footprint consists of an analysis of all carbon emissions arising from the day-to-day running of the whole business, or a particular site or sites, and includes direct as well as indirect sources of carbon. These include:

• on-site energy consumption
• business travel and commuting
• product transport and refrigeration
• waste disposal

Q: How is the carbon footprint of an individual product or service determined?
A: These kinds of footprints examine the amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted along the supply chain for a single unit of a product or service provided to a customer. They typically include emissions related to:

• raw material extraction
• product manufacturing
• product transport
• consumer use
• disposal and recycling

Q: What do I do with the information from a carbon footprint?
A: In addition to carrying out carbon footprints, ecoVeritas can offer advice and recommendations on issues arising from your carbon reduction program, such as:

• identifying the most cost-effective areas for change to reduce carbon emissions, such as energy efficiency and renewable technologies
• carbon offsetting and trading under regulated schemes, including the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC - see below)
• communicating your carbon and wider sustainability policies and practices to the media and consumers

Q: What is carbon assurance?
A: We have been verifying global carbon emissions for major international companies for over 15 years. This involves:

• assessing the scope of emissions reporting
• assessing the methodologies used to calculate these emissions
• assessing the systems used to collect and collate data used in these calculations
• undertaking spot checks as appropriate to test these systems

Q: What is the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC)?
A: The CRC, also known as the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, will institute mandatory emissions trading to cut carbon emissions from large commercial and public sector organisations whose annual half-hourly metered electricity use is at or above 6,000 MWh. On an annual basis, organisations are required to report their UK-based CO₂ emissions from all fixed-point energy sources.

This includes electricity, gas and other fuel types such as LPG and diesel. It came into effect in January 2010 with a three year introductory phase featuring simple, fixed-price sales of emission allowances. From 2013 onwards, there will be a government-imposed cap on the number of allowances, and allowances will be sold each year by auction.

The scheme will be broadly revenue neutral to the UK Exchequer. The revenue raised will be "recycled" to participants, proportional to their 2009 emissions (adjusted by a bonus or penalty according to their performance in the CRC league table).

For a free quotation for any of our carbon services, please click the button at left, , or call our offices on 01865 721375.