The guide to calculating Scope 1
Your company's direct emissions, from boilers and company vehicles to refrigerant gases: the formulas, three worked examples and the checklist of documents to gather.
How to calculate Scope 1, in short
Scope 1 covers the emissions released directly from sources your company owns or controls: boilers and generators, company cars and vans, production processes and refrigerant gas leaks.
For fuels, you multiply the quantity consumed, in Smc or litres, by the emission factor of that fuel. For refrigerants, you multiply the kg of gas topped up by its GWP. With indicative values, 18,000 Smc of natural gas comes to about 36 tCO₂e and 4 kg of R-410A to about 8 tCO₂e.
What's in the guide
What Scope 1 is
The four sources of direct emissions and who reports leased vehicles.
The calculation method
The two formulas, for fuels and refrigerants, and the units of measurement to check.
Three practical examples
Office heating, a fleet of vans and an air conditioner top-up, with the numbers worked out.
Document checklist
Bills, fuel cards, fleet records and F-gas reports to gather for the year.
Mistakes to avoid
Estimated readings, misaligned periods, amounts spent instead of litres and forgotten refrigerants.
Scope 1 in the report
Where it appears in VSME disclosure B3 and why banks and clients look at it first.
Frequently asked questions
What does Scope 1 include?
Direct emissions from sources the company owns or controls: stationary combustion in boilers and generators, mobile combustion in company vehicles, process emissions and fugitive emissions of refrigerant gases.
What is the formula for calculating Scope 1?
For fuels, you multiply the quantity consumed by the fuel's emission factor. For refrigerants, you multiply the kg of gas topped up in the systems by its GWP. The result is expressed in tCO₂e.
Are leased cars Scope 1?
Yes, if you use the operational control approach and you manage the vehicles. Employees' own cars used for business trips with mileage reimbursement fall under Scope 3 instead.
Where does Scope 1 go in the VSME report?
In disclosure B3 of the Basic module, together with location-based Scope 2 and total energy consumption. Banks and clients also need the figure to calculate their own Scope 3.