> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.salvidia.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Carbon accounting in 10 minutes

> A fast, practical introduction to carbon accounting and how it connects to your work in Salvidia.

Carbon accounting is the process of **measuring the greenhouse gas emissions** associated with your organisation, events, or products, so you can:

* Understand your impact
* Make better decisions
* Track progress over time

This page gives you a **practical, non-academic overview** so you can use Salvidia confidently, even if you’re not a climate nerd.

***

## The basic idea

At its core, carbon accounting is just:

> **Activity data × Emission factor = Emissions (tCO₂e)**

* **Activity data** – what actually happened
  * kWh of electricity
  * Litres of fuel
  * Kilometres travelled
  * Tonnes of waste
  * Dollars spent on certain purchases

* **Emission factor** – “how polluting” that activity is
  * e.g. *0.8 kg CO₂e per kWh* of electricity
  * *2.7 kg CO₂e per litre* of diesel

* **Emissions** – the result, usually in
  * **kg CO₂e** (kilograms of CO₂-equivalent) or
  * **tCO₂e** (tonnes of CO₂-equivalent)

Salvidia takes care of **storing factors and doing the maths**. You focus on getting the **best activity data** you reasonably can.

***

## Why carbon accounting matters

Carbon accounting:

* Makes climate impact **visible and quantifiable**
* Lets you compare **years, sites, events, products**
* Underpins **targets, strategies, and “net zero” claims**
* Provides numbers you can use in **reports, tenders, and conversations**

Without it, you’re guessing.

With it, you can answer questions like:

* “Where do most of our emissions actually come from?”
* “Which projects will make the biggest dent?”
* “How are we tracking vs last year?”

***

## Key concepts (without the jargon)

### 1. Scopes 1, 2, and 3

You’ll see these everywhere.

* **Scope 1** – direct emissions you control
  * Company vehicles, onsite fuel, refrigerant leaks

* **Scope 2** – purchased energy
  * Mainly electricity, sometimes steam / heat / cooling

* **Scope 3** – everything else in your value chain
  * Purchased goods and services
  * Business travel and commuting
  * Waste, freight, use of products, etc.

Scopes are just a way of **grouping responsibility and sources**, not separate worlds.

For a deeper dive, see **[Scopes 1, 2, and 3 explained](/guides/scopes-1-2-and-3-explained)**.

***

### 2. Activity-based vs spend-based data

There are two main ways to measure:

* **Activity-based** (preferred where possible)
  * kWh of electricity
  * Litres of fuel
  * Tonnes of waste
  * Flight distance or class

* **Spend-based** (when you don’t have activity)
  * Use **money spent** as a proxy (e.g. \$ on marketing, IT, catering)
  * Apply “per dollar” emission factors

Salvidia supports both. In general:

* Use **activity-based** where you have good data.
* Use **spend-based** to fill gaps or for broad categories.

See **[Activity-based vs spend-based](/guides/activity-based-vs-spend-based)** for more detail.

***

### 3. “Good enough” data vs perfect data

You almost never start with perfect data.

Think in layers:

<Columns>
  <Column>
    <Card title="Level 1 – Rough baseline">
      High-level estimates and spend-based factors to understand the big picture.
    </Card>
  </Column>

  <Column>
    <Card title="Level 2 – Better coverage">
      More activity data, better separation of categories, improved factors.
    </Card>
  </Column>

  <Column>
    <Card title="Level 3 – High quality">
      Good evidence, detailed activity data, consistent year-on-year.
    </Card>
  </Column>
</Columns>

The important thing is to **be transparent** about what you did and to **get better each cycle**.

***

## The carbon accounting process (in practice)

Here’s what a typical cycle looks like, whether you’re measuring an organisation, event, or product.

<Steps>
  <Step title="1. Define your boundary">
    Decide what you’re including:

    <ul>
      <li>For organisations: which entities, sites, and scopes?</li>
      <li>For events: which days, venues, suppliers, and travel?</li>
      <li>For products: which life cycle stages and components?</li>
    </ul>
  </Step>

  <Step title="2. Collect activity data">
    Gather the data you already have:

    <ul>
      <li>Utility bills, fuel reports, travel records, finance exports</li>
      <li>Supplier data, waste contractor reports, internal logs</li>
    </ul>

    Don’t wait for perfection – start with what’s available.
  </Step>

  <Step title="3. Map data to categories">
    In Salvidia, add data to the relevant tables:

    <ul>
      <li>Energy and utilities</li>
      <li>Travel and transport</li>
      <li>Purchases and services</li>
      <li>Waste and materials</li>
    </ul>

    This is where you turn messy real-world data into a structured footprint.
  </Step>

  <Step title="4. Apply emission factors">
    Salvidia applies appropriate emission factors behind the scenes.\
    You’ll see:

    <ul>
      <li>Emissions per line item</li>
      <li>Totals by category and scope</li>
    </ul>
  </Step>

  <Step title="5. Review and refine">
    Check for:

    <ul>
      <li>Obvious gaps (e.g. electricity missing for a major site)</li>
      <li>Outliers (numbers that don’t make sense)</li>
    </ul>

    Fill gaps with estimates where necessary and note assumptions.
  </Step>

  <Step title="6. Use the insight">
    Turn the numbers into decisions:

    <ul>
      <li>Identify hotspots</li>
      <li>Pick reduction projects</li>
      <li>Prepare reports, targets, and communications</li>
    </ul>
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## What kind of data will I actually need?

You don’t need to know every detail now, but at a high level:

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Organisations">
    Common data for an organisation assessment includes:

    <ul>
      <li>Electricity and gas bills</li>
      <li>Fuel for company vehicles and equipment</li>
      <li>Business travel (flights, hotels, car hire)</li>
      <li>Employee commuting estimates</li>
      <li>Key purchased goods and services (from finance systems)</li>
      <li>Waste and recycling data</li>
    </ul>

    See **[Organisation data you’ll need](/platform/org-data-youll-need)** for more detail.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Events">
    Common data for an event assessment includes:

    <ul>
      <li>Venue energy use (or estimates)</li>
      <li>Generator fuel for temporary power</li>
      <li>Attendee and exhibitor travel patterns</li>
      <li>Catering (meals, food types, drinks)</li>
      <li>Waste and recycling volumes</li>
    </ul>

    See **[Event data you’ll need](/platform/event-data-youll-need)** for more detail.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Products">
    For a product assessment, you’ll often need:

    <ul>
      <li>Material inputs and weights</li>
      <li>Manufacturing processes and energy use</li>
      <li>Packaging components</li>
      <li>Distribution distances and modes</li>
      <li>Use-phase assumptions</li>
      <li>End-of-life pathways (recycling, landfill, etc.)</li>
    </ul>

    See **[Product data you’ll need](/platform/product-data-youll-need)** for more detail.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

***

## How Salvidia fits into this

You can do carbon accounting with spreadsheets and PDFs, but it quickly becomes:

* Hard to repeat
* Hard to QA
* Hard to share across a team

Salvidia helps by:

* Providing **structured tables** for the data you need
* Handling **factors and calculations** consistently
* Surfacing **dashboards and exports** you can drop into reports and decks
* Making it easier to **repeat and improve** each year or event

***

## If you only remember three things

<Columns>
  <Column>
    <Card title="1. It’s just data × factors">
      Carbon accounting is not magic. It’s structured data plus reasonable emission factors.
    </Card>
  </Column>

  <Column>
    <Card title="2. Start imperfect, improve later">
      A rough but honest baseline now is better than a perfect footprint never.
    </Card>
  </Column>

  <Column>
    <Card title="3. The value is in decisions">
      The point isn’t just a number, it’s what you do with it: priorities, projects, and progress.
    </Card>
  </Column>
</Columns>

***

## Where to go next

* Deep dive into **[Scopes 1, 2, and 3 explained](/guides/scopes-1-2-and-3-explained)**
* Learn how to **[set organisational boundaries](/guides/organisational-boundaries)**
* Or, if you’re ready, **[create your first assessment](/start-here/create-first-assessment)** in Salvidia.