Greenhouse gas accounting 2022

As part of a project funded by the National Climate Initiative, Studierendenwerk Bremen has drawn up a greenhouse gas balance for the year 2022 for the first time. Starting with the first balance for 2022, greenhouse gas balances will be prepared annually in future and published on this page.

The greenhouse gas balance of the Studierendenwerk Bremen is prepared according to the specifications of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and with the help of the CO2 calculator of "KlimAktiv gemeinnützige Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Klimaschutzes mbH" (hereinafter: KlimAktiv). This calculator was also developed as part of a project funded by the National Climate Initiative and works on the basis of a factor register containing a large number of emission factors from major databases (e.g. GEMIS, UBA Ecoinstitut, Ifeu and others), as well as factors created/calculated by KlimAktiv.

• 1 Greenhouse Gas Protocol & Scopes

  The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is the world's most widely used standard for accounting companies' greenhouse gas emissions. It divides emissions into Scopes 1, 2 and 3, with Scope 1 covering direct emissions and Scopes 2 and 3 covering indirect emissions. In addition, the accounting takes into account not only the best-known greenhouse gas_CO2, but also other gases, some of which are significantly more harmful to the climate (e.g. methane). The emissions are therefore stated in the unit "_{CO2 equivalents}" (_CO2e). Further information.

• 2 Scope 2 - Method

  The emissions in the Scope 2 area of the Studierendenwerk Bremen are balanced based on location. This means that the emissions are calculated using emission factors that are average for the respective energy source in the German grid. One exception here is the Studierendenwerk's district heating purchases: district heating is a very local energy source whose emission factors vary greatly depending on the district heating network. For this reason, these emissions are balanced on a grid-specific basis.

• 3 First balance sheet year 2022 - Why?

  The reference year 2022 was selected for the initial balance sheet. At the time of preparing the balance sheet, the year 2022 was the best possible compromise between data availability and the informative value of the data. As the effects of the coronavirus pandemic were still noticeable in the canteens and cafeterias, particularly at the beginning of 2022, the emissions from purchased food were not calculated for 2022, but for the period from 1 June 2022 to 31 May 2023.

• 4 Try it out yourself?

  Anyone interested can try out Klimaktiv's CO2 calculator for private individuals at https://klimaktiv.co2-rechner.de/de_DE/ and calculate their own individual GHG footprint anonymously and free of charge.