In brief
A fleet carbon footprint records the greenhouse gas emissions produced by operating company vehicles. It is based on consumption and distance data rather than manufacturers’ specifications.
How is the footprint calculated?
Using the quantities of energy actually consumed: fuel filled and electricity charged, each multiplied by an emission factor. This is more reliable than an estimate based on standard consumption figures because real-world consumption is regularly higher.
Under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, vehicles owned or controlled by the company fall under Scope 1, electricity used for charging under Scope 2, and business travel in third-party vehicles under Scope 3.
What is the footprint needed for?
For sustainability reporting, tenders that ask for emission figures, and increasingly for customer inquiries along the supply chain. Internally, it guides decisions by showing which vehicles and sites contribute the most and where a change will have the greatest effect.
Why is data collection difficult?
Because consumption data is incomplete. Fuel purchases made with a fuel card are usually well recorded, but charging electricity is rarely captured completely because it is spread across the company site, the public network, and home charging. If home charging is missing, the footprint is systematically incomplete.
Emission factors are another consideration: using the electricity mix or a renewable electricity tariff significantly changes the result. The chosen assumption should therefore be documented and applied consistently over the years, or the figures will not be comparable.
Further reading
Fleet Management Without Excel Spreadsheets
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