Researchers show way for whole-life carbon accounting

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Water industry researchers have reported on their development of frameworks which promise to improve the sector’s bid to reduce its carbon output.

The frameworks, developed by UKWIR, build on its earlier guidance on good carbon reporting practice and accounting, with improvements in:

• data attributes such as authorship, and dates (metadata); 

• carbon modelling templates to standardise whole-life carbon assessment;

• defining end of asset life; and

• a common protocol for suppliers’ provision of environmental data relating to their products.

In its report, Supporting whole life carbon reduction, UKWIR has claimed its work has produced “an updated framework to promote greater consistency and transparency in how companies undertake whole-life carbon assessments.” It said its carbon modelling template is designed to “help companies report their capital carbon emissions in accordance with Ofwat’s definitions.”

It also asserted that its common supplier protocol enables companies to encourage suppliers to develop environmental declarations for their products and, in the interim, provide consistent methodology for generating specific emissions data.