CARBON REPORT

The directors present their carbon report for the year ended 31 March 2023.

Quantification and Reporting Methodology

We have followed the 2019 UK Government environmental reporting guidance and have used 2022 UK Government’s Greenhouse Gas Conversion Factors for Company Reporting.

 

Organisational boundary

We have used the financial control approach.

 

Operational scopes

We have measured our scope 1, 2 and certain scope 3 emissions.

  • Energy consumption used to calculate emissions MWh. UK and Offshore: 9,467.19 (Year ended 31/03/2023) 11562.58 (Year ended 31/03/2022)

  • Emissions from combustion of gas tCO2e (Scope 1). UK and Offshore: 357.2 (Year ended 31/03/2023) 75.6 (Year ended 31/03/2022)

  • Emissions from combustion of fuel for transport purposes tCO2e (Scope 1). UK and Offshore: 1837.9 (Year ended 31/03/2023) 2685.9 (Year ended 31/03/2022)

  • Emissions from business travel in rental cars or employee-owned vehicles where company is responsible for purchasing the fuel (Scope 3). UK and Offshore: - (Year ended 31/03/2023) - (Year ended 31/03/2022)

  • Emissions from purchased electricity tCO2e (Scope 2, location-based). UK and Offshore: 37.6 (Year ended 31/03/2023) 17.7 (Year ended 31/03/2022)

  • Total gross CO2e tonnes based on above. UK and Offshore: 2232.6 (Year ended 31/03/2023) 2779.2 (Year ended 31/03/2022)

  • Intensity ratio: tCO2e gross figure / £million revenue. UK and Offshore: 32.5 (Year ended 31/03/2023) 45.1 (Year ended 31/03/2022)

 

Base Year

We have a fixed base year of the year ended 31 March 2021. We chose this year as it was the first year in which the requirement for the company to produce carbon reporting came into effect due to F W S Carter & Sons Ltd meeting the criteria of a large business.

 

Targets

This is the third year of measuring emissions against the backdrop of changing patterns of energy consumption initially due to the pandemic which was further complicated in the year by the energy crisis and exasperated by the war in Ukraine which impact upon commercial decision making around energy sources. The board will continue to monitor the carbon emissions over the coming year with a view to setting a long term target for reduction across our gross global scope 1 and 2 emissions once these influences are deemed to have settled.

 

Intensity Measurement

We have chosen the metric gross scope 1 and 2 emissions in tonnes of CO2e per £’million of turnover as this is a common business metric for our industry sector.

 

Gas, Electricity and Fuel Consumption

Our overall gas and electricity consumption has increased compared to prior year, reflecting the continued increase in business activity as a result of a return to normality post Covid and as demonstrated by a £7.1m increase in turnover compared to prior year to £65.18m. The split between electricity and gas has shifted more towards gas usage. In October 2021 the commercial decision was made to use gas generators as a source of electricity in an attempt to avoid escalating electricity costs from the grid. Gas as a source of power was calculated to be significantly cheaper than being on the emergency electricity rates as a result of our electricity provider ceasing to operate. This continued to be a factor in the year to the 31 March 2023 as electricity prices continued to rise.

During the year we have purchased 680.8MWh of electricity for own use or consumption. A proportion of this electricity has been derived from the anaerobic digestion plant on the Greendale Business Park site which is owned and operated by a third party and from owned solar panels on the Greendale Estate. The anaerobic digestion plant experienced some downtime during the year in order to refurbish the two engines, this impacted upon the availability of electricity from the plant, requiring the purchase of electricity from the grid and the operation of gas generators which increased the emissions from electricity.

 The majority of Company emissions arise from the combustion of fuel for transport due to the fuel consumption by the haulage business. Five new lorries were added to the fleet at the start of the financial year, replacing some of the older vehicles, this has resulted in improved emissions across the fleet despite an increase in turnover of £150k.

The increase in activity has resulted in significant growth in turnover such that our intensity ratio has reduced from 45.1 to 32.5, a 28% reduction from prior year and a 32.5% reduction from our base year of 48.3 TCO2e.

 

Energy Efficiency Action

The haulage fleet represents a significant contribution to energy usage, however this area of the business is starting to show improvement as a result of various steps taken with regards to energy efficiency. These measures include a programme of more regular servicing and repairs of vehicles; the introduction of aerodynamic fuel skirts on new trailers which reduces fuel consumption; reduction of journeys with empty loads and journey planning to avoid variable terrain. The fleet of lorries and machinery across the business is gradually being renewed with the addition of five new lorries at the start of the financial year which will result in improved emission levels in future years as older, less fuel efficient vehicles get replaced.

The Company continues to benefit from LED lighting and upgraded building insulation and heating system which have been installed in the head office. Selected new buildings across the business park are being fitted with LED lighting to improve energy efficiency for our tenants.

 The installation of up to 1MW of rooftop solar has been delayed however it is anticipated that this will be operational within the next financial year and there is the intention to increase the rooftop solar capacity over the next few years subject to the export capacity from the site and the general export restrictions across the southwest due to the infrastructure limitations. The installation of electric vehicle charge points and move to electric delivery vans is being considered in the ongoing evaluation of environmental measures.