Carbon Footprint

A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases released, directly or indirectly, by an organisation, a product or an activity over a given period. It is expressed in tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e), so that gases such as methane or nitrous oxide can be added to carbon dioxide in a single figure.

What the term covers

A footprint is not a single measurement but an inventory. Each source of emissions is listed, quantified and converted into CO2e. Most companies follow the scope logic of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol:

• Scope 1: direct emissions from sources the company owns or controls, such as the fuel burnt by its own vehicles.
• Scope 2: indirect emissions from the electricity it buys, including the power used to charge electric vehicles.
• Scope 3: all other indirect emissions in the value chain, such as business travel in private cars, subcontracted transport or the manufacturing of purchased vehicles.

Company cars and vans therefore sit mainly in scopes 1 and 2, while journeys made with employees' own vehicles or by carriers fall into scope 3. The fleet carbon footprint entry details this perimeter for a vehicle fleet.

How it is calculated

The principle is simple: activity data multiplied by an emission factor. For a fleet, the most reliable activity data is the energy actually consumed, litres of fuel or kilowatt-hours of electricity, rather than an estimate based on distance. When consumption is not known, kilometres driven by vehicle category can be used, at the cost of precision.

Emission factors come from official databases published by public agencies. They differ by fuel, by country electricity mix and by whether they include upstream emissions such as extraction and refining. The method chosen should be documented so that results remain comparable from one year to the next.

Why it matters for a company fleet

• Reporting: large companies must disclose climate data, notably under the CSRD directive, and their customers increasingly ask suppliers for the same figures.
• Decision-making: a footprint broken down by vehicle, site or department shows where reduction efforts will have the most effect.
• Cost control: emissions and fuel spend move together, so lowering one usually lowers the other.

Reduction then comes from a few proven levers: fewer kilometres through better planning, smoother driving, right-sizing vehicles and switching suitable vehicles to lower-carbon energies as part of the fleet's energy transition.

How Dadycar helps

Dadycar is a French fleet management software that gathers the data a footprint calculation needs. Fuel consumption tracking records energy use per vehicle, telematics records trips and mileage, and the cost allocation and ESG module breaks costs and emissions down by site, department or vehicle. Reports can be exported for CSR reporting, and the AI agent Donna answers questions about the fleet in plain language. Data is hosted in France, with OVHcloud.

FAQ

What is the difference between a carbon footprint and CO2 emissions?
CO2 emissions count a single gas. A carbon footprint adds all greenhouse gases, converted into CO2 equivalent, and covers indirect sources as well as direct ones.

Are electric vehicles counted in a fleet's carbon footprint?
Yes. They have no tailpipe emissions, but the electricity used to charge them is counted in scope 2, and their manufacturing can be counted in scope 3.

How often should a fleet footprint be updated?
At least once a year for reporting. Monthly monitoring makes it possible to check that reduction actions actually work.