Why annual Scope 2 emissions figures are about to stop being enough
Yearly consumption figures and generic government-listed emission factors for lots of our clients are overestimating most companies’ emissions, this is surprising but true. Changes to the GHG Protocol will fix this, with hourly matching expected to be phased in for market-based emissions and a requirement that location-based emissions use the most precise emission factors, for the UK this will be half hourly.
This change will increase the burden on companies. With the proposed exemption thresholds being asymmetric. They exempt smaller organisations from hourly matching under the market-based method, while still requiring larger reporters to hourly match. There’s no equivalent size exemption on the location-based emission factor hierarchy. So, a company small enough to escape hourly matching could still be required to calculate its location-based inventory hourly.
Instead of doing a once-yearly calculation (yearly consumption × yearly emission factor), they’ll have to do 17,520 calculations (half-hourly consumption × half-hourly emission factor), where both figures are always changing, plus the bureaucracy required behind explaining where these sources come from.
This not only increases the workload but also increases the likelihood of mistakes creeping in, makes it more difficult to identify errors and requires more explanation around each figure.
Inside our Scope 2 emissions reporting platform
One of our clients, a company in the south of England, has kindly allowed us to share their platform overview, so we can show real-world figures.
We build each dashboard around what the client reports. This client reports location-based only, so that’s what their dashboard shows. Where clients report both methods, we show market-based and location-based side by side, plus the option to show Scope 3 transmission and distribution.
For other clients we show both market-based and location-based emissions, and Scope 3 transmission and distribution emissions.
Annual overview: Your headline Scope 2 emissions figure
This is really simple we just sum all the data we have for a year:
- This is simple. We sum all the data we have for a year:
- Scope 2 carbon emissions in kg
- Energy consumption in kWh
- Solar sole operation: how many hours this year the company has run only on the roof-mounted solar they have installed
- First data upload: when the first data we received or managed to extract from your energy supplier dates from
- Latest upload: the last piece of data in the dashboard (in this example, we took these images on 1 September, so this was as up to date as possible)
The graphs show the emissions impact and energy consumption per month. This is the fixed annual view – the figures that go into your report.
Site breakdown: Identifying out-of-hours energy consumption
Too often data isn’t fully utilised, so our site breakdown page allows the user to investigate quickly when they are using energy. It allows them to select a month, a start time and an end time, and the platform shows how much electricity they’re using between those periods. Surprisingly, in this example, our client was using more energy outside working hours than during them. They’re using 287kWh between 08:00–17:00 and 417kWh outside these hours. So, 59% of their electrical usage is happening out of standard working hours.
This is a helpful indicator of whether you have good building control or a strong building management system.
We don’t identify the reasons, we just present the data. But you can’t fix problems you can’t see, and here they have a possible large energy saving opportunity.
This can also help with ESOS reports, allowing you to action and showcase a reduction in out-of-hours usage.
Consumption profile: Half-hourly electricity data and emissions
This is our granularity page. Here you can select a day, and the page shows the electrical consumption of that selection and the associated Scope 2 emissions. This allows for detailed analysis of individual days or times, should the client wish.
Audit: Proving your Scope 2 data is complete
Finally, and most importantly, there’s the audit sheet. It highlights the overall figures, but also the completeness of the data, showing whether any data points are missing, either carbon or energy. In this example, our client can see that there isn’t any data missing, however there’s 138 energy data points that are reporting zero.
A zero can mean the site ran entirely on its own solar or it can mean the data feed failed. These need different responses, so we distinguish between them rather than treating every zero as a gap. We check this against onsite solar data to confirm that these zeros are legitimate.
With the large uptake in onsite solar, zeros in the data should now be anticipated, as buildings are slowly becoming more self-reliant when it comes to energy. But importantly, we’re tracking all of this to give confidence to the company, auditors and assessors that we have all the data and are tracking it, and to enable all parties to chase the utility companies when there are data drop-offs.
Getting your own platform
It’s quick and easy. You attend one meeting and sign one letter.
- Scoping: We agree the reporting boundary with you and pick up the details that shape the build, this includes the number of electricity meters, any onsite solar or wind, usual operating hours and how far back you want historical data recovered.
- Letter of authority: You sign an LOA authorising us to request your half-hourly data directly from your electricity supplier.
- Build: We recover the data, validate it and build your dashboard.
- Handover: We give you access to the dashboard and train you how to use it, before moving into the operational phase where we remain on hand to answer any queries and to provide assistance.
Most clients are live within two months of the first meeting. The main variable is how quickly the supplier responds to the LOA, which is the one part of the process none of us can control.
Pricing is a one-off setup fee plus an annual subscription – these are based on the number of sites and meters. Get in touch and we’ll scope it with you. Typical costs start from around £500 per site.
