Improve Your GHG Assessment and Optimize your Carbon Offsets

The carbon impact linked to the purchase of energy by the company is included in the calculation of indirect emissions, i.e. in scope 2. It is understood that when a company buys "green" energy, its responsibility is to buy the best it can within the framework of its Power Purchase Agreement.

For companies that have to activate the carbon offset mechanism, most of the time, the calculation is based on the energy mix of the country concerned. But some large companies go further, and NGOs sometimes encourage them to do so, by wanting to calculate their carbon impact precisely, and thus be fully involved in their decarbonization, with full knowledge of their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, a kwh does not emit the same amount of carbon depending on whether it is produced in July at 2pm or in November at 6am! And this becomes more pronounced with the increase in renewable energy sources. Peak carbon emissions do not necessarily correspond to off-peak or peak hours. The company can internalize this calculation of carbon emissions but this requires very specialized skills. The most common solution is to ask your energy supplier to calculate the real compensation, day by day and hour by hour, on a given site. The detailed energy monitoring, based on real time consumption, finds a new utility here. The company can then implement the carbon offset mechanism with precision, either by purchasing green certificates directly, or by imposing a decarbonized energy on its supplier (who will compensate within the framework of its Power Purchase Agreement, or by purchasing certificates of origin). However, this will be done on the basis of the company's actual carbon footprint, to be entered in scope 2.