EN3.2
Business travel: travelling for work (by land)
Travel
Environment
Business travel: travelling for work (by land)
Reducing travel or replacing travel methods with less harmful alternatives, when travelling for work other than commuting to and from the office.
When considering travel for work over land by road, choosing less harmful alternatives could include:
- Meeting from home, telecommuting rather than travelling.
- Using an electric vehicle or hybrid car.
- Taking public transport instead of taking a car.
Organisations and individuals could also consider offsetting any carbon emissions generated from their travel, if travelling is unavoidable.
Key Value
£252 per tCO2e or 25.2p per kgCO2e
Carbon values in £2020 prices per tonne of CO2: central series for 2023 is 252£. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/valuing-greenhouse-gas-emissions-in-policy-appraisal/valuation-of-greenhouse-gas-emissions-for-policy-appraisal-and-evaluation
The monetary value of carbon comes from “BEIS updated short-term traded sector carbon values for policy appraisal, £/tCO2e” (updated in 2018).
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/carbon-valuation–2
The conversion into kg CO2e come from the UK government Greenhouse Gas Conversion Factors
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting
Bronze
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Estimate the mode of travel by land, number of miles or kilometres, times by the monetised cost of carbon. Do the same for a standard petrol car. Deduct the car CO2 cost estimate from the alternative estimate to calculate amount of CO2 saved.
Travel by road: by car
Benchmark current usage by calculating approximate mileage travelled in an average size car using petrol.
1 mile travelled = 0.27436 kgco2e
1 kilometre travelled = 0.17048 kgco2e
Calculate equivalent mileage travelled in a vehicle producing fewer carbon emissions. Refer to latest conversion factors for the relevant passenger vehicle at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting
Then deduct from the total kgCO2e travelled by petrol car.
Consider factoring in hotel accommodation into your carbon emission calculations for business travel. They should be included in any Scope 3 reporting. Refer to UK government’s greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors for hotel accommodation.
Example 1: Travelling to a meeting in London, in an average plug in electric vehicle instead of an average petrol car.
Travel to a meeting 120 miles away in London, in an average size petrol car: (120 * 2) * 0.27436 = 65.8464 kgco2e.
Travel to a meeting 120 miles away in London, in a plug in electric vehicle: (120 * 2) * 0.10934 = 26.2416 kgco2e.
Carbon saving = 65.8464 – 26.2416 = 39.6048 kgCO2e.
Staying in a London hotel overnight = 11.5 kgCO2e
Total carbon emissions saved during the trip = 39.6048 – 11.5 = 28.1048 kgCO2e
Example 2: Meeting from home instead of driving to a meeting in an average petrol car
Carbon saving by working from home instead of driving a petrol car to a meeting 120 miles away: (120 * 2) * 0.27436 = 65.8464 kgCO2e.
Value of carbon saving from working from home instead of driving a petrol car to a meeting 120 miles away:
65.8464 kgCO2e * £0.252 = £16.6
Travel by road: by taxi
Travel by taxi produces different levels of emissions:
- Regular taxi: 0.20826 kgCO2e per kilometre travelled
- Black cab: 0.30624 kgCO2e per kilometre travelled
You can also calculate only the passenger’s proportion of those emissions, e.g:
- Regular taxi (passenger only): 0.14876 kgCO2e per kilometre travelled
- Black cab (passenger only): 0.20416 kgCO2e per kilometre travelled
Travel by road: by bus
Transport by bus is often considered more environmentally-friendly as the greenhouse gas emissions are divided between the total number of passengers.
To calculate greenhouse gas emissions per passenger:
- Local bus (not in London): 0.10778 kgCO2e per kilometre travelled
- Average London bus: 0.07936 kgCO2e per kilometre travelled
- Coach: 0.02733 kgCO2e per kilometre travelled
Travel by rail
National Rail: 0.03549 kgCO2e per kilometre travelled
- Light rail and tram: 0.02861 kgCO2e per kilometre travelled
- London Underground: 0.02781 kgCO2e per kilometre travelled
All these figures are for 2022. Refer to UK government’s most recent Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors for the most up to date conversions:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting
Silver
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Estimate the approximate mileage, including car size (small, medium, large, sports) and fuel type (petrol, diesel, hybrid, electric) for the car journey being replaced. Estimate the equivalent alternative mode of transport being used. Deduct the car journey CO2 estimate from the alternative mode of transport CO2 estimate to get the estimated kgCO2e saved. For the monetised value times this by the monetised cost of carbon.
Refer to UK government’s most recent Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors for estimated conversion factors for each type of car and fuel type to adjust your calculations:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting
Gold
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
At the Gold level, you should record the actual miles or km, by mode of transport, and deduct from the actual mode of transport replaced to gain the CO2 saved.
At Gold level you are expected to measure more accurately using more specific data, for example:
- Actual road mileage travelled (e.g. from telemetry data from devices installed in vehicles etc.)
- Actual car size (small, medium, large, sports) and fuel type (petrol, diesel, hybrid, electric)
- Actual air mileage, by plane travel class (Business, Economy etc.)
For freight, measure using litres of fuel and kW/h electricity as a more accurate measurement than miles/km travelled.
Refer to UK government’s most recent Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting
| Value Type: | Activity |
What's this?
This is the type of value. Some values are outcomes, which means many different interventions might lead to them, others are specific interventions that have a set value. |
|---|---|---|
| UN SDG Categories: |
|
What's this?
The UN Sustainable Development Goals are global goals adopted in 2015 for all signed up nations to achieve for us to have a sustainable global future by 2030. There are 17 Goals that address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The Goals are all interconnected, and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve them all by 2030. |
| PN06/20 Categories: |
|
What's this?
PPN 06/20 Taking account of social value in the award of central government contracts introduced the Central Government Social Value Model in 2020 which all Central Government contracting authorities must use in their in scope procurements. It consists of 5 themes, 8 policy outcomes, and 24 Model Award Criteria which outline key priority areas to achieve more social value. |
Evidence
Measure Up focuses on empowering you to numerically measure the impact you’re having. We recommend that numeric reports are backed up with stories and other types of evidence to help illustrate, in human terms, the impact that’s being made on individuals.
We recommend seeking consent from participants in your intervention to collect and tell their story. This should include a little background on the participant, a summing up of life before the intervention, the human impact of the intervention, and the longer term (if known) impact on the person’s life outside of, and after, the intervention.
Providing photographs, audio recordings, video interviews or even artefacts from the intervention (for example, writing, paintings, music from creative interventions) can add more to the story, and convey the emotional impact of interventions more directly.
In some cases it’s appropriate to anonymise or abbreviate the personal information of case study participants. No story should be published or shared without the recorded consent of the individual(s) it concerns. Individuals continue to own the rights to their stories and if they request you stop sharing the story or making it available online you should do so promptly and without need for justification.
Feedback
Measure Up is an open, collaborative and transparent. If you have any suggestions or feedback on our pragmatic, recommended approach to measuring and valuing social value, including wellbeing, economic, and fiscal impact, and effects on our environment, please get in touch so we can share and discuss this at our next Advisory Group meeting.
More help
We want to empower anyone to perform and improve their impact measurement – without needing a degree in economics.
If you need any more help, or just someone to do the legwork for you we can help signpost you to software, training and consultancy to help you get to grips with the impact you’re having and value you are creating.
