The uncertainty assessment in Our Impacts gives an indication of the relative uncertainty associated with activity data (depending on whether the data is actual or estimated) and the emission or conversion factors (depending on whether the factors have more or fewer built-in assumptions), and can be used to reduce uncertainty by encouraging reporting companies to improve the type and quality of data collected. Continue reading →

This paper presents a methodology and results for electricity-specific emission factors based on alternative data available from the IEA. The paper also provides a discussion of the reasons for the differences between the IEA composite electricity/heat factors and the new electricity-specific factors. Continue reading →

Green business reports, articles and even government programmes, such as the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC), often bundle greenhouse gas (or carbon) management together with energy efficiency. This simplification should be avoided for the following reasons… Continue reading →

We all know that an electric vehicle has zero tailpipe emissions and the popular counter argument is usually “what about the emissions at the power station”? This Ecometrica paper answers that question by presenting a definitive figure in gCO2/km for UK electric cars when CO2 emissions at the power station are taken into account. Continue reading →

Carbon reporting is likely to become a standard feature of company annual Directors’ Reports, either on a voluntary or mandatory basis. In the UK, the Climate Change Act (2008) tasks the government with introducing mandatory greenhouse reporting in Directors’ Reports. This paper sets out how greenhouse gas emissions can be included in company annual reporting, and how the financial liabilities associated with greenhouse gas emissions can be shown in a company’s balance sheet. Continue reading →

Is the CRC, while encouraging energy efficiency, a flawed scheme for reducing greenhouse gas emissions? Ecometrica’s Dr. Richard Tipper thinks so… Continue reading →

Is Searchinger’s latest input to the biofuel debate an insightful contribution or confused thinking? See Matt Brander’s analysis. Continue reading →

The additionality of projects is crucial to the integrity of the Clean Development Mechanism. The CDM tool for additionality produces binary outcomes; projects either pass or fail. This paper uses ΔIRR (the difference between a project’s IRR with and without … Continue reading →

Investment Additionality in the CDM – Appendix Continue reading →

Recent estimates of indirect land use change impacts associated with biofuel expansion have used forward-casting models to predict the effects of changes in feedstock use upon agricultural commodity markets and land use decisions. The predictive reliability of such models is … Continue reading →

Policies for supporting biofuels, such as the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive RED, the Renewable Fuel Standard in the US, and the UK’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), require life cycle carbon reporting to ensure that biofuels achieve greenhouse gas reductions … Continue reading →

There has been a fierce debate about the benefits of ‘carbon offsetting’ and the associated term ‘carbon neutral’. This paper does not seek to add to this polarised discussion, instead we seek to describe an emerging trend which we call … Continue reading →