5 Carbon Data Sources Most Businesses Already Have
Updated: 7 days ago
When you start carbon tracking, it can feel like a big task, particularly if you're unsure what information you need or where to find it.
One of the most common concerns we hear is: “Where do we even get the data from?”
For many businesses, the answer is closer than you might think. Useful carbon data sources can often be found within the bills, invoices, booking systems and operational records your teams already use.
These records often contain activity data, such as electricity consumed, fuel purchased or distance travelled.
Activity data can then be combined with appropriate emission factors to calculate estimated greenhouse gas emissions. The UK Government greenhouse gas conversion factors include factors for activities such as fuel use, electricity consumption and travel.
If you're looking to start your business carbon tracking journey, here are five carbon data sources you may already have access to.
What Are The Most Common Carbon Data Sources For Businesses?
Common carbon data sources for businesses include utility bills, travel bookings, fleet records, supplier invoices and waste reports.
Exactly what your business needs will depend on its activities, reporting boundary and the emissions being measured, but everyday business records can provide a practical starting point for carbon emissions data collection.
Carbon data source | Information you may already have |
Utility bills | Electricity and gas consumption, including units such as kWh |
Travel bookings | Transport type, journeys, destinations and other booking information |
Fleet records | Fuel type, fuel purchased, mileage and vehicle information |
Supplier invoices | Products and services purchased, quantities or spend information |
Waste reports | Waste quantities, waste types and treatment or disposal information where available |
You may have other useful sources too. Expense claims, procurement systems, mileage records and facilities information can all contribute to your business carbon data, depending on the footprint you're calculating.
1. Utility Bills
Utility bills can provide activity data such as the amount of electricity or gas your business has consumed during a reporting period.
For many businesses, utility bills are one of the easiest places to start because this information is already collected as part of normal operations.
When reviewing your bills, useful information may include:
Electricity consumption in kWh
Gas consumption and the unit in which it is reported
The reporting period covered by the bill
The site or meter the consumption relates to
Water consumption where relevant to what you're measuring
For carbon calculations, the amount of energy consumed can be used as activity data rather than relying only on how much the business paid.
For example, GOV.UK identifies kWh of electricity purchased as one form of activity data that can be used with the government's conversion factors to calculate greenhouse gas emissions.
If you operate from several locations, it is also worth checking which sites your bills cover so that you understand what is and isn't included in the data you've collected.
2. Travel Bookings And Expense Records
Travel bookings and expense records can provide activity data for calculating emissions associated with business travel.
If your team books flights, trains, hotels or hire cars through a central system, you may already have useful travel information available.
Depending on what you're calculating, useful records might include:
Type of transport
Origin and destination
Distance travelled
Flight class where relevant
Hotel stays where relevant
Hire-car information
Business mileage claimed in employees' own vehicles
Don't forget expense systems. Not every business journey will necessarily pass through a central travel platform, so mileage claims and travel expenses may help you identify information held elsewhere within the organisation.
The exact data needed will depend on the calculation being made. The UK Government greenhouse gas conversion factors, for example, include distance travelled as one of the types of activity data that can be used when calculating certain travel emissions.
3. Fleet And Fuel Records
Fleet and fuel records can provide activity data for calculating emissions associated with vehicles operated by your organisation.
If your business operates company vehicles, you may already collect useful information for financial, operational or fleet management purposes.
Look for records such as:
Fuel purchases
Fuel type
Litres or other quantities of fuel purchased
Vehicle mileage
Vehicle information
Fuel card records
The exact information required will depend on the calculation method you're using.
For fuel-based calculations, the UK Government conversion factors include the quantity of fuel used as activity data that can be converted into estimated greenhouse gas emissions.
Rather than starting a completely new data collection process, check what your fleet, finance or operations teams already record.
4. Supplier Invoices And Procurement Records
Supplier invoices and procurement records can help businesses understand what they purchase and provide information that may support calculations of supply chain emissions.
Your supplier invoices can reveal much more than just spending, but it's important not to treat an invoice itself as a direct measurement of emissions.
Depending on your records, you may be able to identify:
Products or services purchased
Supplier information
Quantities or weights where recorded
Amount spent
Purchase dates
Product or service categories
The calculation method matters here. Where suitable activity data is available, that information may support an activity-based calculation. Where sufficient activity data isn't available, spend information can sometimes provide a starting point for estimating supply chain emissions.
UK Government guidance explains that spend-based emission factors can be used for an initial assessment of supply chain emissions where suitable activity data is not available. The calculation method and any assumptions should be recorded clearly.
Your first round of carbon data collection may therefore contain gaps or estimates, particularly where more detailed supplier information is not yet available. These should be identified clearly rather than presented as exact measurements, with data quality improved where possible over time.
5. Waste Reports
Waste reports can provide information about the amount and type of waste generated by your business and, where available, how that waste is treated.
Many waste management providers supply reports alongside invoices or collection records, so it is worth checking what information you already receive.
Depending on the information provided and the calculation you're carrying out, useful data could include:
Weight or quantity of waste
Type of waste
Collection information
Treatment or disposal route where available
Recycling information
If your existing reports don't contain everything you need, they can still provide a useful starting point.
Reviewing the information you already receive can also help you identify what additional data you may need to request from your waste provider in future reporting periods.
What Carbon Data Should A Business Collect?
Businesses should collect activity data relevant to the emission sources included within their carbon footprint, with the exact information required depending on their operations, reporting boundary and calculation method.
This is an important distinction because a utility bill, fuel receipt or travel record isn't necessarily carbon emissions data on its own.
Instead, these records often provide the underlying activity data used in the emissions calculation.
At its simplest, the calculation can be thought of as:
Activity data × appropriate emission factor = estimated emissions
For example, a business might collect the number of kWh of electricity purchased during a reporting period and use an appropriate conversion factor to estimate the associated greenhouse gas emissions.
The UK Government publishes greenhouse gas conversion factors for company reporting, which enable organisations to calculate emissions from different types of activity data.
If you're unfamiliar with this part of the calculation, our guide to what emission factors are explains how activity information can be converted into an emissions estimate.
Where Can You Find Carbon Data Within A Business?
Carbon data is often spread across different teams and systems because much of the information used for emissions calculations was originally collected for financial or operational purposes.
Instead of asking one person to find everything, it can be more practical to identify who already owns each type of information.
Team or system | Data you might find |
Finance | Bills, invoices, expenses and purchasing records |
Facilities | Energy, water and building information |
Operations | Fuel, equipment and operational activity |
Procurement | Supplier and purchasing information |
Travel systems | Flights, rail, hotels and hire cars |
Fleet management | Vehicles, mileage and fuel records |
Waste providers | Waste quantities and treatment information |
This is why carbon emissions data collection often involves several parts of an organisation rather than sitting with one sustainability or finance team.
Understanding where information is held can make the process easier and highlight which data sources are still missing.
What If You Don't Have All Your Carbon Data?
You can still begin measuring emissions when some carbon data is unavailable, but estimates, proxies and assumptions should be clearly identified rather than presented as exact measurements.
Missing information can be a normal part of developing a carbon footprint, particularly when you're measuring certain emission sources for the first time.
A practical starting process is to:
Record what you already have. Establish which sources and reporting periods are covered.
Identify your data gaps. Make missing information visible rather than allowing gaps to go unnoticed.
Use an appropriate estimate or proxy where necessary. The suitable method will depend on the emission source and calculation.
Document your assumptions. Keep a record of where estimates or alternative calculation methods have been used.
Improve the underlying data over time. Use what you learn from your first reporting period to improve future collection.
If you're missing information, our guide to estimating carbon emissions when you don't have perfect data explains how to approach those gaps.
You can also explore practical ways to improve your carbon data over time once you understand where better information is needed.
Getting Started With Carbon Data Collection Is Often Easier Than You Think
Many businesses can begin carbon data collection using information they already hold before developing more detailed processes as their carbon reporting matures.
You don't necessarily need to create an entirely new data collection system before you can begin.
Start by checking the records already available across your organisation:
Utility bills
Travel bookings and expense records
Fleet and fuel information
Supplier and procurement records
Waste reports
Once you've gathered what you already have, you'll have a much clearer picture of which information is available, what's missing and where data quality could improve.
Put Your Existing Business Carbon Data To Use
Once you've identified the activity data your business already holds, you can begin using it to build an initial picture of your organisation's carbon footprint.
You don't need to start from scratch simply because your information currently sits across bills, invoices, spreadsheets or other business systems.
Scope's free Business Carbon Calculator can help you start using everyday business activity data to calculate your organisation's emissions.
Starting with the information available can help you identify gaps and understand where data quality needs to improve as your carbon reporting develops.
As the amount of information you collect grows, Scope can also help you bring business carbon data together through our business carbon accounting software.
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