It is important for us to practice what we preach. Hence in 2019, we reduced our CO2 by 78% compared with a typical research/consulting firm, and purchased CO2-offsets for the remaining 5.6 tons (chart above). This 9-page note contains granular data on professional service firms’ emissions and opportunities to reduce them.
Thunder Said Energy’s CO2 emissions were 5.6 tons in 2019. 61% was from air travel, 4% from broader transport. 5% was running computers, 5% was data-servers and 3% was other electricity. 13% was materials, 7% was heating/cooling and 2% was shipping/freight (chart below).
We offset these emissions for just $87, purchasing verified carbon credits at $14.5/ton. Offset costs are low (chart below). More companies may choose to offset.
A typical consultant or industry analyst has a footprint of 25 tons of CO2 each year. Compared with this baseline, we saved 8 tons through a leaner organization, 7.5 tons by minimizing air travel (e.g., video conferences), 3 tons by remote working and 830kg by phasing out printed presentations.
For 2020, we also commit to be CO2-neutral. We would like to thank our clients for their support, as we limit our travel, print fewer materials and grow our organization.