Cleaning-up carbon emissions data

We are excited to announce a new data project working with Lowr. We want to find the most credible and user-friendly carbon emissions data, as part of our #PlanetData mission. The data will be used in their app to help people calculate their own emissions and hopefully reduce them! The first step in this partnership is to help them find credible emissions factors for travel. Then we will put it all in one place in a useable, accessible format.

Carbon data is murky

Since Open Innovations’ inception, we have focused on the challenges that face us all. One of those challenges is climate change, which is why we have decided to work with Lowr. They are committed to helping organisations become more sustainable and reduce their emissions. They came to us because they couldn’t easily find reliable data on carbon emissions in a usable format. In a world threatened by climate change, we think the lack of clarity and accessibility on emissions is unacceptable. We want to do something about it.

Our initial research shows that finding data on emissions is much more complicated than it should be. Governments and organisations have been calculating greenhouse gas emissions since the 80s, but carbon data is murky. What is available is scarcely available programmatically, easily or in a standardised format that a company like Lowr could use. When you scratch the surface, much of the data is locked behind the walls of academic institutions. It’s kept in separate and inaccessible data silos. It may not have much substance behind it at all. This is surprising because we are in the middle of a climate emergency. Net zero is a must and carbon emissions data should be openly and easily available.

1. Is the data from Department for Energy Security and Net Zero a good set to use?
2. Has anyone made an open-source database of emissions data that we could use under an open license?
3. What advice would you give us to expand this work and create a way for people to contribute?