Climate accounting

Our pilot customers have been working with climate accounting for some time, so it is no longer a "new" solution. However, we believe that more of our customers can benefit from the solution, so we now want to spread awareness of the module.

Today, very few companies know the CO₂ footprint (CO₂ equivalent; CO_2e) of their raw materials or the footprint of their production equipment. At the same time, calculating the precise CO_2e of finished products is a rather complex calculation - so complex that it may scare some from even getting started. We have tried to make the calculation simpler. In the long term, we will expand the module with more functions, but initially it is a relatively simple calculation that can be used to calculate a production's CO₂ emissions.

The different sources for the calculation are divided into 3 scopes.

Scope	Source type	Examples
1	Direct emissions	Combustion of gasoline for company cars Diesel generators
2	Indirect emissions from electricity, etc.	Power consumption of machines Heating of buildings Electric cars
3	Other indirect emissions	Raw materials Business travel by air

With estimates from The Danish Business Authority's table for CO₂ emissions, you can enter data for your raw materials' CO_2e - per kg, liter, meter, cubic meter, etc. - in Tracelink. Consumption of one kg of aluminum, for example, gives an approximately twice as large footprint as consumption of one kg of steel, while one kg of copper gives a three times larger footprint.

Excerpt from the Danish Business Authority's table for CO2 emissions

When the data has been entered for the raw materials in Tracelink, you can use the production bill of materials and route to calculate the price of the finished product and CO_2e. The cost price of a finished product in Tracelink will therefore consist of an amount of X kr. and a climate footprint of Y CO_2e in the future. It looks something like this:

It's not rocket science, and we haven't developed the deep dish either... On the other hand, we have tried to make the accounting as simple as possible. However, it still requires discipline to enter data, and right now we are calculating based on estimates, which is why we end up with estimates. We think it's a good start towards completing the climate accounting, and towards running a greener production. We are working on - during 2025 - being able to enter values automatically, from wholesalers and other sources, but more on that at a later date.

November 2024