Assumptions breakdown
Scope
This study only measures the emissions factor for elements of a trip that is purchased directly from an operator using the carbonscored tool. Any additional activity or services undertaken by a customer outside of the package is out
of scope for this study. This includes transfers to and from international travel, additional meals or activities e.g. hot air ballooning that are purchased locally.
Emissions that aren’t categorised as one of the major emissions areas are considered to have minimal or negligible impact on the overall emissions factor and therefore are not included
There are other potentially significant non-GHG impacts as a result of t he operational delivery of travel products such as ecosystem degradation, resource depletion and other impacts from operating activities outlined in t he portfolio. These impacts are out of scope for this study.
General assumptions
Data
The method used in t his study does not measure GHG emissions, but instead measures the activity that results in emissions. It then provides an estimate of emissions from that activity using relevant coefficients for CO2 and other GHG.
This study accounts for CO2 equivalents (CO2e); relating to the additional climate impacts of non-CO2 gases. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most prevalent GHG, but methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are also harmful to the climate. As such GHG emissions are often reported as CO2-equivalents (CO2e). These emissions are calculated based on the sources of energy consumption using conversion factors advised in the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol.
The data input into t he survey is predominately primary data where accommodation, activity and other suppliers provided specific information as requested.
Where surveys are not fully completed by a supplier, industry averages are used (that are relevant) to provide a value that is as accurate as possible. Any assumptions that are required to fill data gaps, will be detailed against t he specific category to which it relates. This is labelled as secondary data.
Accommodation
For t he purposes of this study, accommodation providers charging >$300 per night will be classified as a 5 star accommodation
Refurbishments are not included in t he reporting and any major works need to be disclosed separately, routine refurbishments which are accounted for in the data provided are included.
Seasonality: consumption will vary by seasons due t o various factors including changing climates and seasonal travel patterns. However, in line with the GHG Protocol, variations in energy consumption and therefore GHG emissions during the year are not taken into consideration. One GHG emissions figure per accommodation is calculated and thus emissions are averaged out over
the 12 month period.
Where hotels provide additional activities or services included in the price of a room, the emissions from these activities are calculated in the total average emissions for a night in that accommodation. Activities t hat are booked in situ by hotel providers and outsourced t o DMCs or other activity providers are not included in t he scope of this work.
The study aims to provide an emissions factor per each night stay in an accommodation, therefore the data will be calculated on a daily basis based on t he average occupancy levels of the accommodation. Where values are provided f or any other time period except a day (e.g. full week or a year) t hose values will be analysed to calculate the daily usage. Once daily usage has been calculated, the average usage per room needs to be calculated by using t he average occupancy
levels provided by each accommodation provider.
The CO2e is calculated based on one night in double occupancy room (while occupied)
If a property has air conditioning, it is assumed that t his service will be used by guests when the rooms are occupied, unless otherwise specified by t he specific accommodation provider
If a property has a heated swimming pool, it is assumed, unless otherwise stated, t hat this f unction is utilised by the property
If Laundry by t he hotel is outsourced we have estimated t he 5.1kg per occupied room (source: Laundry Today). From t his we can estimate t he t otal amount of electricity, gas and oil used t o clean
the laundry so t hat t his is included in t he total calculation (Source: Carbon Trust- Guide to the laundries sector (CTG064). I f laundry is done on site, this should be incorporated into t he fuel and water demands of t he building. For t he purposes of this study, laundry is assumed to be bedding and towels etc. as opposed t o personal laundry requested by customers.
For the purpose of this study we have assumed that all rooms in the property will have the same requirement of resources and therefore the same carbon footprint.
For any reference to diesel fuels, calculations will use Diesel (average biofuel blend) which is classified as standard diesel bought f rom any local filling station (across t he board forecourt fuel typically contains biofuel content), unless otherwise specified.
Water consumption data provided for each accommodation will cover not just water used by the bedrooms, but all water used by the property including water for cooking, cleaning, laundry etc. The water consumption will be divided equally between t he number of rooms each property has in order to account for the total water consumption of guests in a double room.
CO2e relating to water consumption will only cover the usage as described in the survey and does not include t he CO2e required to implement / install the water extraction method
Generators: We will assume all diesel generators produce t he same amount of CO2 per litre of fuel used. It is highly likely that all generators will oxidise the carbon at somewhere near to 99% and therefore the variation between different generators will be very low. Generators naturally have different levels of efficiency based on the quality, age and usage amount, however the this will impact
the kWh per litre of fuel, not t he CO2e per litre of fuel. This is why we have avoided asking the generator type which we expected would reduce the quality of t he responses.
For any accommodation t hat uses boreholes as their primary water source, it is assumed that the borehole is on site, and any fuel used in t hat process is covered by t he fuel consumption specified in the survey.
If the water section of the survey is incomplete, that accommodation will receive a standard score of 0.5kg CO2e per room per day – this is the highest average score and is negligable in relation to t he overall CO2e for t hat property.
If the electricity consumption is unknown and this section is l eft blank, the average CO2e for electricity in that specific country will be applied. The level of consumption designated will be based on their star rating.
If the gas consumption study has been left blank and no response is provided, it is assumed that the accommodation does use gas and assumptions based data will be used to generate a score. If the accommodation completes the section and states hey use 0, gas consumption will not be included.
It is assumed that 50% of emissions come from general spaces in accommodation and 50% from hotel rooms. Although this study was conducted during t he Corona-virus pandemic, and if occupancy levels and data provided is based on this period where occupancy levels are reducing compared to normal, at least 50% of their emissions will be accounted for
Activities
Any activities not booked and offered directly by the carbonscored operator are out of scope for the purposes of this study. Any activity booked in destination or prior to arrival through a different operator are not included in t he overall emissions factor.
Emissions f or activities are on per pax basis
Safari accommodation
Accommodation providers in safari locations include a maximum 2x game drives per day per booking based on double occupancy basis. Each drive is approximately 3 – 3.5 hours and the upper limit (3.5 hours) will be used to calculate the estimated emissions. Game drives vary in length and therefore distance travelled based on the number of sightings and proximity to t he camp these sightings are. The vehicle used is assumed to be a diesel powered Toyota Landcruiser with an average speed of 30-40 mph and therefore a distance of 30 miles has been used to calculate the emissions factor per game drive. This assumptive distance has been quantified using knowledge and experience working from experienced field guides within the safari industry. Game drive vehicles will not be constantly moving for the duration of an activity with several stops taken into consideration for wildlife viewing. If
we assume that roughly 1/3 of t he activity time is spent driving and the rest with a vehicle sat stationary in proximity to wildlife we can assume that an average distance of 30 miles is t ravelled by a game drive vehicle during a safari/game drive activity.
Under t he DEFRA standards, Toyota Landcruisers are categorised under ‘ Dual purpose 4x4s (Diesel)’ and the kg CO2e per game drive will be calculated using 0.020 kg CO2e per kilometre for consistent reporting in kilometres (the distance of 30 miles is converted into 48.28 kilometres). Based on this, the total emissions for 2 game drives is 19.6 kg CO2e.
For all safari lodges it is assumed that t he fuel usage for safari vehicles is included in their total property usage and therefore the game drives are accounted for. Where an accommodation provider has not completed the survey, and is listed as a safari lodge, industry averages will be used and an additional 19.6kg CO2e will be added to the total scores per night
Safari providers may also provide motorised boat trips (depending on location). Unless otherwise stated in the survey, it is assumed that no other activities with associated emissions are provided by the accommodation provider. Game walks and other carbon zero activities are not included.
Urban and beach accommodation
Urban and beach accommodation can offer a wide range of activities, often outsourced to a local supplier or provider. These activities are booked by the customer in the destination and are therefore not considered services offered. Any activities that are booked in the destination by the customer are not included in the total emissions factor as part of t heir stay.
For any meals provided during additional activities, the same assumptions outlined in the ‘ Meals’ section are applied.
Flights
The study includes the influence of radiative forcing RF in air travel emissions (the additional factor of GHG emissions released at high altitude) as per best practices in the industry.
This study uses data provided by DEFRA to generate an emissions factor for flights.
There are widely documented limitations around the data that can be gathered (detail in the assumptions) as there is always a variation between the estimated emissions and actual emissions.
Some of the reasons for this are:
- Climatic conditions may vary, such as headwinds or tailwinds
- Flight distance may vary, due to detours to avoid weather or based on availability to land
- Aircraft may be kept in holding patterns
- The mass of aircraft load may vary between flights
- Emissions at altitude can vary even in a fleet of the same aircraft using the same fuel due to the chemical reactions that are instigated.
- There are also a series of factors that influence per passenger emissions (all of the below can vary within the same flight path):
- The plane type
- The engine type on the plane
- The seating configuration and percentage occupancy of the aircraft
- The freight load; most passenger flights, except short-haul budget carriers also transport freight in the hold of the plane. Freight factors for wide bodied aircraft are typically 15-30%, whilst narrow bodied planes are typically 0-10%. Publicly available industry data on freight load are rare so high level of assumptions are built into the various different models.
Aviation emissions calculators therefore have t o make assumptions about each of t he above factors, which introduce considerable errors and variations between methodologies. There is as yet no internationally agreed and adopted methodology for the calculation of aviation emissions and in the future, new tools e.g. SABRE will be accurate once validated.
The DEFRA methodology publishes a series of emissions factors for short, medium and long haul flights. These figures are derived from a more complex emissions calculation of standard form of which the key underlying assumptions are:
• Fuel burn data are calculated for ‘ typical’ aircraft over illustrative trip distances, and the 2008 revision includes a ‘ significantly wider variety of representative aircraft for domestic, short and long haul flights’.
• Freight load may be treated in one of 2 ways under the DEFRA methodology. First, emissions are allocated in the proportions of the respective weights of passengers and freight, giving a freight load of 28.8% for long-haul, less than 1% f or short haul. A second variant takes into account the additional weight necessary for passenger services (seats, galley etc.) and allocates a lower percentage to freight (11.9% f or long haul).
• Under the DEFRA methodology emissions are allocated per passenger, based on load factors of 66.3, 81.2 and 78.1% for domestic, short-haul and long-haul respectively.
• Seating configurations are based on CAA statistics, supplemented by information from non-UK carriers. These are averaged over the different plane types to give the 3 emissions factors for domestic, short-haul and long-haul.
• Emissions are allocated between economy and premium class on the basis of space allocation.
• A multiplier is not recommended for use in the DEFRA methodology, although the department does apply a multiplier of 2 f or its own internal reporting.
For light aircrafts taken during the trip through small local aviation companies we have had to make the following assumptions in order to calculate a score.
• The typical aircraft used f or these flights is the Cessna Caravan 208.
• The flying speed of these journeys is roughly 186 knots.
• Fuel Consumption for the trip is 189 litres/hour.
Transfers, guided tours and self drive tours
Emissions from transfers will be calculated using the distance travelled and fuel type
All distances travelled (km) will be based on t he ‘ fastest route’ available data as provided on googlemaps.com
For guided tours or self guided tours, it is assumed that guides have full board each day (3x meals) and t he country averages for kg CO2e will be used per night to calculate the total emissions for the guide.
Shared transfers:
Transfers will be calculated per vehicle unless the vehicle is used on a shared basis. (i.e bus, plane, helicopter, ferry, etc). For shared transfers, the CO2e emissions will be calculated per seat.
Private transfers:
Where private transfers are undertaken, the calculation will be based on a return journey rather than a single journey. This is based on the assumption that vehicles commissioned to private transfers will need t o be returned to the original pick up location.
Transfer vehicles:
For the purpose of calculating emissions as a result of transfers, vehicles can either be diesel powered 4x4s or diesel powered minibuses, or petrol powered saloon cars. These vehicle types have been selected based on industry experience and working knowledge of transfer logistics within a safari camp, lodge and hotel environment. An assumption has been made that 75-80% of all road
transfers would be undertaken in either a diesel powered 4×4 or minibus as these will be more accommodating for the transfer of clients and t heir luggage and able to cover a range of road and topography environments. An emissions factor for both vehicle types are included in the index for comparison purposes, and where the exact vehicle and fuel type are known, the relevant emissions factor can be selected.
Under t he DEFRA standards, the ‘ Dual purpose 4x4s (Diesel)’ categorisation will be used for the primary calculation. Under these standards petrol powered Saloon cars would be categorised as ‘Upper Medium (Petrol)’. The difference between the kg CO2e per kilometre for these categories is 0.005kg CO2e.
For minibus travel, the ‘ MPV Vehicles (Diesel)’ categorisation will be used for the calculation.
Food
A 2.57kg CO2e average will be used for t he CO2e factor for each meal provided per person. This is taken from the ‘Carbon Footprint of Food’ 2011 published by the Journal for cleaner production which calculates an average footprint of 7.7kg CO2e for all meals consumed in a day by one person. This is an area of increasing research and will be updated as and when new studies are published.
For the purposes of this study, the following classifications are used for meals:
Responses
All inclusive
Full board
Half board
Breakfast
No meals
Depends on t he booking
The score is calculated per room based on 1.9 occupancy as an average.
Accommodation providers growing food on site, a lower CO2e score will be rewarded. This score will be directly in line with the % of ingredients grown on site, as per the responses in the questionnaire (this does not include livestock)
The lifecycle of producing a meal involves a complex supply chain with various different disparate processes, manufacturers and suppliers, and involves a number of major steps before t he food enters the premises where the meal is constructed. These steps include land use, farming, animal feed, processing, waste disposal, transport, packaging and retail.
There is also a high level of variability in dietary choices of consumers and the data available is not yet sophisticated enough to go to this level of granularity.
Where the food section of the survey is left blank, the most common board option will be selected and it will be assumed that breakfast only is provided
CARBONSCORED 