CO2 Reporting in Direct Data (iBank) & Methodology

CIS Carbon Estimation Methodology
 

In order to help Cornerstone's iBank® customers to provide estimated CO2 emission levels in their iBank reports, we have developed basic calculations of such estimates based on guidelines specified by the UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). More specifically, the calculations and the factors used in the calculation are those published in the document titled '2017 Government GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting: Methodology Paper for Emission Factors', and referenced at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/650244/2017_methodology_paper_FINAL_MASTER.pdf Cornerstone is permitted use of these factors and methodology through the UK Open Government Licence referenced at:http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ Disclaimer: Cornerstone provides these estimated calculations to our iBank clients as a courtesy, and free of additional charge, relying on the methods and factors specified in the above referenced UK DEFRA document at the time of its publication. We do not warrant their reliability or accuracy. Users of these calculations should reference the DEFRA document for additional detail and relevance to their reporting requirements, for example, use of the calculations for travel outside the UK.

Carbon Calculations

·  Air CO2 Emissions - Our flight carbon calculator estimates the carbon dioxide emissions from air travel based on the number and distance of trips. First we calculate the distance between your origin and destination city based on latitude and longitude. Then we categorize your flight as a short, medium, or long haul trip and estimate the amount of emissions of the trip based on a carbon index. Since planes burn more fuel at takeoff and landing than at cruising altitude, short haul trips are less fuel efficient per mile flown. Longer haul flights become less efficient due to the need to carry more fuel. The calculations are as follows:

[Flight Distance] x [Air CO2 Index*] x [Uplift Factor] = kg of CO₂

*The emission factors include CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases (CO2e), but does not include Radiative Forcing.

**The 8% uplift factor comes from Defra/DECC 2017 recommendations and should be added to take into account non-direct routes (i.e. not along the straight line great circle distances between destinations) and delays/circling.

·  Alternate Car CO2 Emissions - The Alternate Car CO2 emissions is an estimate of carbon emissions if the traveler had chosen to travel by personal vehicle rather instead of air travel. The calculations are as follows:

[Flight Distance] x [0.19407*] = kg of CO₂

*These factors are estimated average values for the UK car fleet in 2017 travelling on average trips in the UK. They are calculated based on data from SMMT on new car CO2 emissions from 1997 to 2017 combined with factors from TRL as functions of average speed of vehicle derived from test data under real world testing cycles and an uplift of 15% agreed with DfT to take into account further real-world driving effects on emissions relative to test-cycle based data.

·  Alternate Rail CO2 Emissions - Similar to Alternative Car CO2 emissions, the Alternate Rail CO2 emissions is an estimate of carbon emissions if the traveler had chosen to travel by train instead of air. The calculations used are as follows:

[Flight Distance] x [Rail CO₂ Index] = kg of CO₂

·  Car Rental CO2 Emissions - Car Rental emissions are calculated for each booking attached to a trip. The calculations are as follows:

[100 Miles/day] x [Car CO₂ Index] = kg of CO₂

·  Hotel Booking CO2 Emissions - Hotel CO₂ Emissions are calculated for each stay attached to a trip.

(# nights) * (# rooms) * (38.18 kg CO₂) = Total Hotel Rental CO₂