What are carbon factors and how will the update affect your data?
What are carbon factors?
There are several greenhouse gases (GHGs) that have a warming effect on the planet when emitted, with carbon being the most widely recognised. These are expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2e).
Some things to know about CO2e:
- It’s usually measured in tonnes (tCO2e) but in some instances, kilograms are used (kgCO2e).
- To calculate the carbon footprint of a particular activity we multiply ‘activity data’ by an emissions factor to equal your CO2e. For example:
Activity Data x Carbon Factor = CO2e
- Emissions factors are always expressed in kgCO2e, such as kgCO2e/mile (kgCO2e per mile) for transport. For example, transport is calculated using the following equation:
Distance travelled x carbon factor of vehicle engine type = CO2e
So for an average petrol car, this looks like this:
10 miles x 0.33875 kgCO2e/mile = 3.3875 kgCO2e
Where do our carbon factors come from?
In TRACE, all of our data is scientifically backed and verified and as such, our calculations rely on accurate carbon factors. As technology advances and standard practice changes, the carbon factors will also need to change in order to represent the most up-to-date emissions associated with an activity. Given the differences between countries, the carbon factors may need to change based on this too.
TRACE uses a mix of accredited bodies to generate the most accurate factors including using the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) for energy factors in the UK, with equivalent bodies providing figures within each country.
Other modules will use a mixture of life-cycle analysis (LCA), averages pulled from global databases and modelling as a way of determining factors for different material and meal types.
How will the update impact my data?
The update has retrospectively changed the factors for all of the events that were completed in 2024 and for any data that has been currently inputted into the platform. Your 2022 and 2023 events are still using using the factors for those years.
The changes all happen behind the scenes in the calculations and will lead to small but not insignificant changes to your final emissions.
You’ll most likely notice this in your combined dashboard where the cumulative impact of the changes will be most apparent. This will be the most accurate value for your event emissions.
This doesn't mean that reports based on previous data are incorrect or need updating -- they were produced using the most up-to-date data available, supported by externally validated methodology.
Please email support@traceyour.events for more details on our methodology.