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Calculate your Carbon Footprint

Knowing your business' carbon footprint is essential to reducing your environmental impact.

There are a number of free online tools which businesses can use to calculate the carbon footprint of their organisation for a specific time frame (usually a year).

The Carbon Trust has created a calculator for small and medium enterprise's (SMEs). The Carbon Footprint Calculator has been designed to help UK-based SMEs measure their corporate emission footprint following Greenhouse Gas Protocol Guidance, including direct emissions from fuel and processes (Scope 1 emissions) and those emissions from purchased electricity (or Scope 2 emissions) for the assets they operate. The tool is not a complete evaluation of an organisational footprint. It only includes selected emission sources, common to the majority of SMEs using an operational control approach.

In order to calculate the organisation’s footprint, you will need the following information for your chosen reporting year:

  • Fuel consumption - Fuel consumed by the organisation in its sites and owned vehicles. This can be natural gas, diesel or LPG. You may find this information in bills, fuel card data or meters.
  • Energy consumption - Electricity used in your sites. You may find this information through meter readings, utility bills, or automatic meter readings.
  • Top-ups made to air conditioning units - Many refrigeration, fire protection and air conditioning devices contain a type of F gas (Fluorinated greenhouse gas), which has a large carbon footprint. Please include the type and quantity of top-ups that have been added during the reporting year. You can find this information in the service sheets provided by your air conditioning or refrigeration contractor.

Low Carbon Kent

Low Carbon Kent  is a network of businesses tackling and adapting to climate change. They aim to reduce costs by cutting emissions and promote the opportunities of the low carbon market.

The low carbon market includes businesses who have green products or who are operating in an environmentally sound manner. A recent study estimated that the market contributes £1 billion to the Kent economy, employing between 17,000 and 25,000 people. The network aims to bring these businesses together across Kent, supporting them to grow, creating jobs and building the local economy.

Kent County Council, with European Union funding, has set up this network to support businesses in the low carbon market. Joining the network is free and demonstrates that your business is taking action on climate change.

Any business with a vested interest in Kent can become a member of the Low Carbon Kent business network. However, free sustainable business support is only available to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) i.e. businesses with 250 employees or less and either a turnover of £44 million or less or a balance sheet of less than £39 million.

Kent Invicta Chamber Of Commerce Decarbonisation Support Programme

Thousands of business owners are really committed to helping tackle climate change but need practical advice and guidance on how they can make a difference within their business. Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce has launched the Growth Hub’s Decarbonisation Support Programme.

You can book a free one-to-one meeting with their Decarbonisation Specialist Adviser who will,

  • Take you through a Net Zero audit of your business
  • Help you identify keys changes that you could introduce to make a difference
  • Identify areas of potential cost saving and reduction
  • Signpost and refer you to other specialist help
  • Refer you to local grant programmes that may be relevant

Whatever your industry sector and however big or small your business is, you can book an appointment to begin your carbon reduction journey. Visit Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce Decarbonisation Support Programme here.

Funding

Workplace Charging Scheme

The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) is a voucher-based scheme that provides eligible applicants with support towards the upfront costs of the purchase and installation of electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints. Installing chargepoints is a great way to encourage your staff to switch to EVs for commuting, or a good start towards electrifying your fleet, helping to reduce your emissions.  The WCS is open to businesses, charities and public sector organisations that meet the applicant and site eligibility criteria.

The grant covers up to 75% of the total costs of the purchase and installation of EV chargepoints (inclusive of VAT), capped at a maximum of:

  • £350 per socket
  • 40 sockets across all sites per applicant – for instance, if you would like to install them in 40 sites, you will have one socket available per site

EV infrastructure grant

The EV infrastructure grant for staff and fleets is for small-to-medium-sized businesses in the UK. The grant covers up to 75% of the cost of installing the infrastructure needed for chargepoints to operate and for future chargepoints to be installed, as well as the cost of any chargepoints installed. There is a limit of £15,000 per grant. You can get up to:

  • £350 per chargepoint socket installed
  • £500 per parking space enabled with supporting infrastructure

There is a separate and different grant from the Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS), which does not help towards the cost of chargepoint infrastructure. Both grants may be used for the same site, but not the same chargepoints.