GHG emissions data from 3 leading Indian IT companies

GHG Emissions plus SOx, NOx, and Particulate Matter (PM) Data - From 3 leading Indian IT companies

Background

Section-I

Details of greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions) and its intensity:

Description of Scope 1 and Scope 2 Emissions

"Scope 1 emissions are direct greenhouse (GHG) emissions that occur from sources that are controlled or owned by an organization (e.g., emissions associated with fuel combustion in boilers, furnaces, vehicles). Scope 2 emissions are indirect GHG emissions associated with the purchase of electricity, steam, heat, or cooling. Although scope 2 emissions physically occur at the facility where they are generated, they are accounted for in an organization’s GHG inventory because they are a result of the organization’s energy use." - Source EPA

Greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions) and its intensity

Unit for Data on Total Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions is Metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

The data was read using XML/XBRL for Scope 1 and 2 emissions. It was inline with data read manually from PDF file.

A) Scope 1: Infosys gave break up of Total Scope 1 emissions (Break-up of the GHG into CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, SF6, NF3, if available) in its PDF format document.

C) Scope 1 and 2 per Rs Turnover and F) Scope 3 per Rs Turnover: HCL reported it per Rs million, whereas Infosys per Rs Cr. MindTree reported in per Rs hence its ratio was very small and was shown as zero.

This was also observed in intensity calculations related to electricity in my earlier blog post.

D) Scope 1 and 2 intensity MindTree reported it in Metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent per square feet. The other two companies did not.

Please see the data table below.

Description of Scope 3 Emissions

"Scope 3 emissions are the result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organization, but that the organization indirectly affects in its value chain. Scope 3 emissions include all sources not within an organization’s scope 1 and 2 boundary. The scope 3 emissions for one organization are the scope 1 and 2 emissions of another organization. Scope 3 emissions, also referred to as value chain emissions, often represent the majority of an organization’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions."

"The GHG Protocol defines 15 categories of scope 3 emissions, though not every category will be relevant to all organizations. Scope 3 emission sources include emissions both upstream and downstream of the organization’s activities."

Figure Scope 1, 2 and 3 expalined (Source EPA)

Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions explained by EPA, USA

"Emissions-wise, Scope 3 is nearly always the big one."

G) Scope 3 intensity: MindTree reported it in Metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent per square feet. The other two companies did not.

E) Scope 3: The script returned NaN for Infosys even though the number was typed in and present. I suspect the number was typed and formatted manually by adding thousand separators. I had to replace that number without thousand separators and it worked.

I keep highlighting issues on organising data in spreadsheets. Please refer to my earlier blog on it.

Data Table for Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions

GHG Scope 1, 2, 3  emissions data of leading Indian companies

Section-II

Details of air emissions (other than GHG emissions) by the entity:

About Sulphur oxides (SOx ) and nitrogen oxides (NOx ) emissions

Atmospheric pollutants from energy transformation and energy consumption, but also from industrial processes, are the main contributors to regional and local air pollution. Major concerns relate to their effects on human health and ecosystems. Source: OECD

About Particle pollution — also called particulate matter (PM)

— is made up of particles (tiny pieces) of solids or liquids that are in the air. These particles may include:

• Dust
• Dirt
• Soot
• Smoke
• Drops of liquid

Breathing in particle pollution can be harmful to your health. Source: CDC

Please see the data table below.

NOx and SOx figures were reported in kgs.

Data Table on non GHG emissions

non GHG SOx, NOx and particulate matter emissions data

The following categories were not reported by all the companies.

• Persistent organic pollutants (POP),
• Volatile organic compounds (VOC),
• Hazardous air pollutants (HAP),
• Others- please specify

This is understandable as the industry they belong to is not a polluting industry.

Conclusion

This was a quick overview of pollution data of 3 leading Indian IT companies. The data was read using the machine readable XML and XBRL. I hope you got an understanding of pollution data that is tracked and reported.