Transporting people > Vehicles you own > Road

You produce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from this activity if your organization owns vehicles, such as cars, trucks, or buses. This is a Scope 1 (direct) emission.

Enter data about travelling in your organization’s vehicles into Climate Smart to calculate the emissions from your inventory period.

On this page:

• Examples of emission sources
• Prepare the data you need
  • Option 1: Actual consumption (most accurate)
  • Option 2: Estimate by distance (less accurate)
  • Option 3: Estimate by cost (least accurate)
• Find your emissions data
• Enter data into your inventory

Examples of emission sources

Not sure if you should report this emission source? Here are some examples of activities that you should consider tracking in your inventory:

• Teams that travel to worksites or meetings in company-owned cars, trucks, buses, or other vehicles that drive on the road

Prepare the data you need

To get your data ready for Climate Smart, choose one of the following options based on the information that’s available to you. This will be the method you use to calculate the GHGs emitted by your organization.

Remember to collect information for the relevant inventory period.

Option 1: Actual consumption (most accurate)

You’ll get the most accurate results if you enter the actual amount of fuel your vehicles used during the year. This means you’ll need to know:

• Amount of fuel consumed (litres or gallons)
• Type of fuel (for example, gasoline, diesel, or propane)

Note: Different types and sizes of vehicles produce different levels of emissions. For example, a gas truck might emit more GHGs than a hybrid car. Add separate entries to your inventory for each type of vehicle you own.

Option 2: Estimate by distance (less accurate)

If you don’t know how much fuel you used, you can estimate your average emissions based on the following information:

• Distance travelled (kilometres or miles)
• Type of vehicle (for example, a micro car, truck, or bike)

Option 3: Estimate by cost (least accurate)

You can estimate your average emissions based on how much your organization spent on fuel. However, you should only choose this option if you don’t have access to any other information. You’ll need to know:

• City, province/state, and country where fuel was purchased
• Total cost of fuel

Find your emissions data

Not sure where to find the data you need? Try the following suggestions:

Ask your accounting department

Your accounting department might already have the information you need! Ask your accounting team about collecting data for your emissions inventory.

Check your fuel cards and receipts

Your fuel cards and fuel receipts include important information you need for your inventory, such as:

• Cost of the fuel used by your vehicles
• Amount and type of fuel your vehicles needed

If your business has an online account with your fuel provider, you might be able to download a spreadsheet with your fuel usage and cost for each billing period.

Collect vehicle logs

Your vehicle logs and odometer readings can help you find the distance travelled.

Measure distance travelled with the distance calculator

Not sure what the distance was between the origin and destination of a trip? To estimate how far a vehicle travelled, use the distance calculator.

Enter your data into your inventory

When you’re ready to track emissions from this activity, you can start entering the data you’ve collected into Climate Smart.

Note: Lots of trips to enter at once? Try importing your activity data.

Add this activity to your inventory

Before you can enter information about your emissions, you need to add this activity to your inventory. Learn how to add new activities to your inventory.

Add an entry to your inventory

To enter your data into Climate Smart:

1. Choose a calculation method:
   1. If you have your fuel cards or receipts that show how much fuel your vehicles used, select Actual Consumption and enter your information into Climate Smart.
   2. If you don’t have your actual consumption data and need to estimate based on how far your vehicles travelled, select Estimate by Distance and enter your information into Climate Smart.
2. Enter the start and end dates of the activity you’re measuring. These dates usually match your inventory period.
3. Enter the cost of the fuel you purchased (including taxes). If you're estimating this amount, select the checkbox next to Cost is estimate. Tell us if you paid in Canadian Dollars (CAD) or United States Dollars (USD) from Currency the drop-down list.
4. Under Description, tell us:
   • Vehicle model or identifier (for example, company shuttle, Ford truck, etc.)
   • If you combined vehicles into one entry based on fuel type (for example, company-owned diesel cars, company-owned gas trucks, etc.)
5. In the Note box, enter optional information including any details that might be helpful for you (or your Climate Smart Advisor, if applicable) in the future.
6. When you’re done, click ADD ENTRY. Your entry will appear in the table below.