ACE - The Annual Carbon Emissions calculator
We have designed ACE to help you estimate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions arising from your household or business activity, working on the theory that "you cannot manage what you cannot measure".
A New Zealand and Australian version is available. Please ensure you download the version relevant to you. This is important as different data is used in each country.
To download a free copy of
ACE is simple to use. All you have to do is enter activity data into a separate sheet for each month. Results are displayed in:
- Tables and a bar chart of emissions by source each month;
- Graph of cumulative annual emissions
Activities for input into ACE include:
- Electricity usage
- Gas consumption
- Coal consumption
- Petrol consumption
- Diesel consumption
- Waste disposal
- Taxi travel
- Airline travel
- Refrigerant data
Standard emission factors are used to convert activity to emissions. Most emissions factors incorporate non-CO2 gases and hence units are given in terms of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emissions. More information on emission factors and how they are calculated can be found here. This page also has information on other conversion factors used and the assumptions used in the methodology. We recommend that you read it.
It is important to understand the concept of scope when determining your emissions, especially if you plan to report on them publicly. GHG emitting activities fall into one of three scope categories. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of scope feel free to contact us for information.
Once you have measured your emissions you are in a strong position to manage them through reducing them where you can and offsetting some or all of the remainder. There are a number of ways to reduce emissions.
We are happy to help you work through options and identify solutions to suit your situation and objectives. We welcome your feedback on any aspect of ACE.
THe following two pages provide further information on ACE:
Have ACE customised to your requirements
We recognize that "one size doesn't fit all" and that every business will have different circumstances. If you would like the calculator customised to your requirements we would be pleased to undertake this. Popular customisations are listed below. For an estimate on cost contact us.
Personalisations
Have ACE personalised with your logo and other company details.
Activity customisations
Have energy categories added or removed. For example replace coal with kerosene as a fuel or add biomass as a category if you routinely burn woody material (e.g. fireplaces, outdoor burnings, furnaces).
Customise the waste function to more accurately fit your waste profile.
Incorporate different emission factors
Specify the emission factors you would prefer to use and have them set up in ACE. You may consider this for historical analyses pre 2007 where emission factors specific to a certain period exist (e.g. a 2006 analysis).
Multiple year presentations
ACE can be customised to analyse and present data for more than one year to allow year-by-year comparison.
ACE updates
ACE (NZ) was first launched in 2006 and has been updated on the following dates to incorporate new emission factors and added functionality: May 2008, April 2009, March 2010, July 2011.
ACE (Aus) was first launched in 2010. The next scheduled update is planned for late in 2011.