CO2
3 min. read
·All about carbon emissions
Reducing your carbon footprint
There are many ways to reduce your company's carbon footprint. To make informed choices, it is useful to know your current carbon emissions and the options available to address them. Ecommit can advise you on all these options.
Approach
How do you tackle carbon emissions?
You can avoid, reduce, and/or offset your company's carbon emissions. Avoiding and reducing emissions involves changing, limiting, or stopping certain activities in your company. These changes require adjustments, investments, and time. Offsetting means paying to remove the carbon emissions you cannot avoid from the atmosphere. This action can be implemented immediately.
Reducing emissions
How can you avoid and reduce carbon emissions?
Some improvements to permanently reduce your company's emissions can be implemented quickly, while others require more time and/or money. To avoid or reduce carbon emissions, consider switching to renewable energy sources (like solar panels), driving electric vehicles, improving insulation, and reducing waste. Review your business processes and equipment, and implement recycling programs. Also, look for more sustainable suppliers within your supply chain.
Offsetting emissions
How can you offset carbon?
Sustainability projects are key to removing carbon from the atmosphere. Plants, trees, and oceans can all capture carbon. There are also machines that extract carbon from the air or water. These groundbreaking initiatives require investments. Your company can purchase carbon credits from a sustainability project, supporting the project and offsetting (part of) your carbon emissions.
Temperature goal
Why is offsetting necessary?
The Paris Agreement aims to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius by 2050, with a target of 1.5 degrees. Research by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows that efforts to reduce carbons emissions alone will not be enough to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. To achieve this temperature goal, removing carbon from the atmosphere is also essential.
Bron: The State of Carbon Dioxide Removal (2023)
What does offsetting cost? An example calculation
What expenses should you consider when planning to offset carbon emissions? On average, an SME in Europe emits 67 tonnes of carbon annually. To estimate the costs for your business, you need to account for all emission sources within your operations. You can then decide whether to offset all or just a portion of your emissions.
Example calculation
Average carbon emissions | Cost | |
30 full-time employees (including gas, water, electricity) | 105 tonnes | € 8,925,- |
200 m2 office space | 10.2 tonnes | € 867,- |
5 terabytes of data storage | 10 tonnes | € 850,- |
5 petrol cars (100,000 km per car per year) | 72.5 tonnes | € 6,162,50 |
Total per year | 197.7 tonnes | € 16,804.50 |
How much carbon does a company emit?
Every company emits carbon, and the amount depends on various factors such as employees, transportation, and office space. The exact emissions vary based on specific circumstances and company activities.
1 fte
results in emissions of 3.5 tonnes of carbon per year.
1 terabyte of data storage
results in emissions of 2 tonnes of carbon per year.
1 m² office space
results in emissions of 51 kg of carbon per year.
1 kWh of electricity
results in emissions of 0.37 kg of carbon.
1 electric car
emits 53 grams of carbon per kilometer.
1 petrol car
emits 145 grams of carbon per kilometer.
How to reduce your company’s carbon footprint?
Eliminating carbon emissions entirely is nearly impossible, but there are many sustainable options to reduce your company’s footprint.
Avoidance
Prevent carbon emissions by not performing certain activities or modifying them. For example, using green energy, reducing car travel, or changing high-emission production processes.
Reduction
Limit carbon emissions by scaling back activities. This includes reducing energy consumption, switching to electric vehicles, minimizing waste, or sourcing more locally.
Offsetting
Remove unavoidable carbon emissions from the atmosphere. Ecommit offers solutions through sustainability projects that capture and store carbon.
Carbon offsetting plan
Step-by-step guide to carbon offsetting
Carbon offsetting is a step-by-step process for emissions you cannot avoid or reduce. Start by mapping your company’s emissions. Then, you can offset these emissions and gradually include more, such as your vehicle fleet, factory, or even pass on offsetting costs to customers. We are here to guide you through each step.
How will you offset your company’s carbon emissions?
There are several ways to offset your carbon emissions. Choose the method that fits your business best.
Choose your amount
Choose the amount for which you want to buy carbon credits. This way you always know exactly what your costs will be.
Choose the amount of carbon
Choose the amount of carbon you want to buy carbon credits for. This way you always know exactly how much carbon you are offsetting.
Choose a surcharge
By imposing a sustainability surcharge on your product or service, you can offset carbon. We will gladly help find the way that best suits your business.
Choose one-off
You can offset the emissions of a specific business activity, event or business unit. Choose the amount of carbon you want to offset as a one-off.
Carbon offsetting
We collaborate with projects that offset carbon emissions. Looking for a way to make your business more sustainable? Contribute to a sustainability project and receive carbon credits as proof.
Laws and regulations
Carbon legislation is complex and constantly evolving. What regulations do you need to comply with? We keep track of the latest developments and explain what the current and upcoming laws mean for your business.
Frequently asked questions about carbon emissions
Your company’s carbon emissions can be avoided, reduced, and/or offset. Avoiding and reducing emissions involves changing, limiting, or stopping certain activities altogether. Offsetting, on the other hand, means contributing financially to sustainability projects that remove the carbon emissions you cannot eliminate from the atmosphere, either partially or entirely.
A company’s carbon emissions depend on a wide range of factors, including employees, transportation methods, and business premises. The exact emissions vary for every business. On average, a small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) in Europe emits 67 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
Your business can purchase carbon credits from sustainability projects. These projects are an effective solution to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or prevent it from being released in the first place. Plants, trees, and oceans can naturally store carbon dioxide, while advanced technologies can extract it directly from the air or water. By contributing financially, you help make these sustainability projects possible and offset (part of) your carbon emissions.
To calculate your company’s carbon emissions, you need to identify the activities and resources within your business that contribute to emissions. Key factors include energy consumption, employees, transportation, business premises, and data storage. This page provides average emissions figures for each of these categories. To make a general estimate of your company’s carbon footprint, simply add up the emissions from all these factors.
Offsetting (part of) your carbon emissions is not the only step towards sustainability. However, it is an action you can implement quickly. Measures to permanently reduce your company’s emissions often take more time to implement, but they are crucial. Consider sustainability actions such as switching to renewable energy sources, adopting electric vehicles, improving insulation, and reducing waste. You can also optimize business processes, upgrade equipment, and implement recycling programs. The more you manage to reduce your emissions, the less you will need to rely on offsetting.
CDR stands for carbon dioxide removal. Other terms used to describe this process include carbon offsetting, carbon capture, and CO2 capture. All of these terms refer to the same concept: the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere after it has been emitted.
Stay informed with our blogs
In our blogs, you will find everything you need to know about carbon offsetting. We keep up with legislation, provide the latest news, summarize research findings, and share whitepapers.
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Questions about more sustainable business?
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