Streamlining Carbon Footprint Tracking with Biocode’s Emission Calculator

Biocode’s Emission Calculator (a.k.a carbon footprint calculator) is your one-stop solution for comprehensive carbon footprint calculations – encompassing emission factors and key calculation guidelines. Simply input data about your activities and let the Emission Calculator handle the rest, adhering to all relevant standards and guidelines.

For measuring carbon footprints, it’s necessary to calculate the total carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases produced by a specific entity, like a product. The process in Biocode’s Emission Calculator typically proceeds as follows:

1. Collect data on activities contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Calculate emissions using emission factors and other established methods to determine the amount of greenhouse gases caused by each activity.
3. Convert the emissions of other greenhouse gases to CO2 equivalents.

📖 Gain a comprehensive understanding of your carbon footprint with our guide.

With the emission calculator, the calculation is easy as the user only needs to input data from their own operations. The calculator includes emission factors by default and also converts emissions into CO2e format.

Additionally, the calculator has built-in key guidelines to make the execution of life cycle assessments (LCA) and the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) as straightforward as possible. Biocode uses a “field to factory gate” scope, covering stages of the lifecycle: raw materials, procurement, production, and packaging. Read about the applied system boundaries from HelpCenter.

The calculator assists in creating a life-cycle inventory for products, which makes it possible to reduce your own operational emissions and evaluate production methods.

The calculation with the Biocode’s calculator starts by adding the products whose emissions you intend to calculate. As the calculation progresses, you only need to know your own production process and follow the steps provided by the calculator.

Next, we present how the different stages of the calculator work.

The use of the emission calculator begins with data input

Start using the calculator by creating an overview, i.e. entering basic product information. At this stage, the required information includes:

Product name: The name can be the actual name of the product or some other descriptive name for the product.

Product code: You can enter the product’s GTIN code into the calculator, but this information is not necessary. Biocode’s integration with the GS1 Synkka service retrieves product raw material information with the GTIN code.

Assessment year: This information is mandatory in the calculator and cannot be modified later. You can also copy the product and its information, for example, for the assessment of the next or previous year.

Production size: Enter the total mass of the finished product in kilograms into the calculator.

Raw Materials

In this life cycle stage you’ll include all the raw materials used in the production of the product. Emissions, on the other hand, are formed from what kind of raw materials are and how much they are needed in production.

It is convenient to add and remove products in the calculator. You can also find an additional information about the emission factors used in the calculator, such as sources etc. In addition to the emission factors included in the calculator, you can also utilize calculation results from your own raw material suppliers.

Sourcing

Sourcing sometimes also referred to as transportation. The calculator lists all the transport vehicles and transport distances required for the product’s raw materials.

For a single raw material, it is possible to choose several transport vehicles. If you don’t know the exact transport vehicle, there are typical options for road, rail, air, and water transport within the calculator.

If, on the other hand, there is no exact information about the transport distance, you can use the best estimate.

Production

This life cycle phase covers the processing of the product, where raw materials are turned into the final product. The process generates emissions from the consumed energy.

In the emission calculator, the production phase is divided into two parts.

In the first part, the calculator inputs what kind of energy has been used in the production of the product and how much energy is needed for the production of the product per year. The most important thing is to note that if several products are produced on the same production line, the energy consumption is estimated only for the product being calculated.

The second part of the production phase is optional, but it allows the separation of the main product, by-products, and waste flow. With this section, you can see the emission shares between the main product and possible by-products. The allocation is based on economic allocation in the calculator.

Packaging

In Biocode’s calculator, the last lifecycle phase of the product is packaging. The packaging emission factor is formed from how the packaging material is produced.

The calculator inputs all packaging materials used when the product leaves the factory, i.e., packaging materials required for packaging, storage, and transportation.

Results

In the results section, you’ll get an overview of emissions and examine more closely where the emissions of different lifecycle stages come from.

The carbon footprint of the product is reported in carbon dioxide equivalents. The effects of different greenhouse gases have been converted to correspond to the effects of carbon dioxide. The calculator provides a detailed carbon footprint, and the total emissions of the entire production.

With the Emission Calculator, you can quickly and easily respond to increasing reporting pressure. Try Biocode’s calculator for free.