Free carbon footprint software: which one to choose?
Summary
This article evaluates the effectiveness of free carbon assessment software for individuals and businesses, highlighting their advantages and limitations. Although they raise awareness and advise on reducing the environmental footprint, they lack functionality, data history and accuracy. In comparison, paid solutions like D-Carbonize offer comprehensive data collection, greater accuracy and expert support to implement GHG emissions reduction strategies.
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INDEX
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4 free carbon footprint software packages
The GoodPlanet Foundation provides individuals and companies with free online tools to help them measure and reduce their impact on the environment. GoodPlanet calculators can track energy consumption, gas emissions, water use and other environmental factors. In just a few simple steps, you can calculate your carbon footprint and start taking steps to reduce it.
This free carbon footprint software enables users to instantly calculate their carbon footprint. It offers personalised advice on how to reduce emissions and suggests measures to reduce energy consumption. It’s a free software that makes it easy to calculate your carbon footprint. It is aimed at both individuals and small businesses.
MyClimate is a free online platform that measures greenhouse gas emissions generated by aircrafts, car traffic, housing, work and leisure activities. The tool allows users to compare their current consumption with a hypothetical ‘green’ consumption, enabling them to identify areas where they can make changes to reduce their impact on the environment.
Hellocarbo is a free carbon footprinting software that allows companies to estimate their carbon emissions based on their website URL. Its calculations are based on the sector of activity, the size of the company, the turnover it generates, etc. Its method of calculation remains approximate and does not allow for a precise carbon footprint assessment.
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What are the limitations of free carbon footprint software?
There is a whole range of free carbon footprint tools on the market, each offering different functions.
What’s more, while these tools are effective for measuring and reducing a carbon footprint on an individual scale, they remain limited for companies that have to cover an extremely wide range of data. The involvement of a carbon consultant remains essential for implementing effective strategies within a company.
Functionality
These free programmes are designed to analyse the environmental impact of different activities, but they generally only provide an overview. They are not as comprehensive or detailed as paid softwares. It can therefore be difficult to obtain an accurate assessment of a company’s overall carbon footprint.
The history of free carbon footprint software
Without historical data, free carbon footprint software does not allow companies to track the evolution of their emissions. Paid solutions, on the other hand, offer the possibility of keeping historical carbon footprints, making it easier to identify areas for improvement year after year.
Granularity
The granularity of the information provided by free software is often limited, as it only calculates a tiny proportion of the company’s carbon emissions. The simplified carbon footprint assessments generated by free softwares only take certain activities into account. Paid software can cover all scopes (1, 2 and 3).
Carbon footprint software compliance
Non-financial reporting, particularly environmental reporting, is playing an increasingly important role in decision-making, differentiation and employer branding.
The D-Carbonize tool
Unlike free carbon footprint software, D-Carbonize simplifies the collection of all data relating to scope 1, 2 and 3 and to all of a company's emissions. The result is accurate, reliable and comprehensive. It enables companies to make strategic choices sustainably and responsibly.
The D-Carbonize tool is suitable for all corporate structures, as it allows greenhouse gas emissions to be broken down by site, entity or country. It can also be used to track greenhouse gas emissions by product or service. This flexibility is not possible with free solutions.
When using D-Carbonize within your company, you can be supported by carbon experts. Their role is to help your company in the collection and analysis of data. This is done to put in place an appropriate strategy aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Explore the concept of carbon footprint in depth by clicking, or read our comprehensive overview of carbon footprint calculators. Reduce your company's carbon footprint by booking a demo with the D-Carbonize experts.
