In this post:
Measuring a Business’ Carbon Footprint,
The big/important work,
Network within your company and with others,
Carbon Credits & Offsets….more revenue, funds?
Get certified as carbon footprint neutral or negative
…a list at the bottom of this series on Carbon Footprint
If you understand what it is for you, the consumer,
then let us look at what a Business Carbon Footprint means.
It means a lot to planet Earth!
We all know that most of this carbon footprint issue comes from our need for energy. This means manufacturing energy, let alone everything else………..
Every human, every product, every farm, every factory on planet Earth has a carbon footprint. The bigger the business the bigger the muck-up of the biosphere.
>>Measuring a Business’s Carbon Footprint.
Any business can focus on all of this in a number of ways:
- https://www.carbontrust.com/resources/tools/carbon-footprint-calculator/ – FREE – when you start this one, see that there are few (*) mandatory fields. You do not have to register here either. Only covers energy and a good idea to read through it. – simple
- https://www.carbonfootprint.com/small_business_calculator.html – FREE, but you have to open an account. It is in a number of languages. It includes, Single Building, 5 Flight trips, 5 Vehicles (Car & Vans), Vehicle Fuel, Public Transport, calculates totals and a downloadable PDF report.
- http://carbonfootprintmanagement.com/free-co2-carbon-calculator/ – FREE – one page, transparent, just “tab” through it
- If you are looking for in-depth information on this, there is a FREE online course (5 weeks @ 2-3 hrs/wk) from Australia. https://www.edx.org/course/essential-tools-for-the-low-carbon-economy
- http://www6.cityu.edu.hk/aerc/sme/index.asp – FREE – a comprehensive calculator in 3 parts: Direct Emissions, Energy Indirect Emissions, Other Indirect Emissions. You do not have to register to use it or print the results.
>>This is the big/important work. Measure a product’s total carbon footprint.
- https://www.iso.org/standard/59521.html Calculating the carbon footprint of a product is an incredibly complex task. It is important if the results can be trusted, especially for the consumer both B2C and B2B. This is an important way for companies to identify their products in the marketplace. So world-wide experts decided to develop principles, requirements and guidelines for the “quantification” and “sustainability guidelines” of a product. The standard ISO/TS 14067 will help companies calculate and communicate this data in an open and trusted way.
- THIS is also where C2C comes in!
- https://www.ecoinvent.org – This is a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) app and database. To try out the ecoinvent database you can first register FREE as a guest. Guests can view information on the datasets, but not inventory data or download datasets. There is a price.
- http://www.openlca.org/ – a FREE to download (open source ) app for creating Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies, of various types including “industry”, according to international standards. These are used in marketing your products or for sustainability reporting or product design. OpenLCA app allows fast calculation with the largest set of data bases available. There are case studies for review. Many business users rely onOpenLCA world-wide. This includes data bases such as GaBi or ecoinvent. (Look through these reference data bases before you get into the application, as some of the data is free, but some of it has a price.) The OpenLCA app is well supported by video tutorials on Youtube, and written manuals, and by the people who built it.
>>OR Talk to a consultant about reducing a company’s or product’s total carbon footprint. Consider operating with a closed-loop vision.
- If you do not have someone in your organization already, maybe this is the time to find someone to hire.
>>Network with your company’s local business community / Industrial Zone about reducing and offsetting each other’s Business Carbon Footprint. Maybe a local business needs some emission or trash that you produce!
- Review “An Idea…...”
- http://data.footprintnetwork.org/#/ – the information here is from 2014, but it is shown in interesting graphs, etc. It might trigger a conversation……
How to Sell Carbon Credits & Offsets
If your company produces few emissions, you may be eligible to sell carbon credits to other businesses, such as those operating in the manufacturing, transportation or shipping industries. Before you start selling carbon credits, make sure you understand how they differ from carbon offsets.
Organizations that engage in energy-saving projects like planting trees or building solar farms are eligible for carbon offsets. These credits are issued to companies that achieve a significant reduction in greenhouse emissions. Just like carbon credits, they are measured in tons of carbon dioxide or CO2 equivalents. These can be purchased and sold through trading platforms, online retailers and brokers.
>>Get certified as carbon footprint neutral or negative.
Besides a certification like C2C, there are certificates that are only for carbon footprint. There are lots on the internet, these are just a few……
- ISO/TS 14067: 2013
- https://www.carbonneutral.com/certification/how – and buy carbon offsets
- https://www.tuv-sud.com/activity/auditing-system-certification/carbon-footprint-certification
- https://www.scsglobalservices.com/carbon-footprint-certification – in many languages
- Cradle to Cradle part of process is to source renewable electricity and offset carbon emissions for the product’s final manufacturing stage.
- https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/cfv-carbon-footprint-verification/
There are 3 posts in this series on Carbon Footprint:
#1: Carbon Footprint: Everyone and Everything has one.
#2: Do you know Your Business Carbon Footprint?
#3: Shipping’s Carbon Footprint And Your Small Business >> Your Vote
(Remember our disclaimer: any company or website mentioned herein are only examples and should NOT be taken as recommendations or endorsements, unless specifically notated.)