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AR Carbon Accounting

Click the page icons directly below for source data on each year for a comparison
2021 Visit Data
2022 Data

Overview:

We estimate that the use of AR to remotely resolve technical support issues in 2022 saved approximately
844.47
⁠
kg CO2e. A breakdown of this calculation and how we estimated this is as follows.
CO2e Saved in 2022 with AR
1
Event
Nights
Miles
Carbon Saved (kg CO2e)
Note
1
Remote Training for Junior Engineer
3
539
170.9
Engineer to training venue and back
2
Return Visit Avoided
0
210
48.18
Engineer to customer and back
3
Avoided Instrument Return to Bench
0
52
13.06
Instrument shipped to MAN airport by courier
4
Avoided Instrument Return to Bench
0
326
73.96
Instrument shipped from JFK to manufacturer and back
5
Avoided Instrument Return to Bench
0
575
129.31
Instrument shipped MAN to JFK by air - calculation
www.webcargo.co
⁠
⁠
6
Return Visit Avoided
0
296
67.3
Engineer to customer and back
7
Customer Remote Repair Facilitated
2
602
168.88
Engineer to customer and back
8
Remote Inspection - Avoided On-Site Visit
2
620
172.88
Engineer to customer and back
There are no rows in this table
844.47
Sum
⁠

Calculation Method:

Travel Calculations:

kg CO2e (equivalent of kg CO2) has been calculated using the following formula:
⁠
image.png
⁠
⁠
Where x = The number of miles travelled to site
This assumes an average of 55 miles to the UK gallon of efficiency (our engineers still run diesel so we’ve found this figure to be representative). It then converts to US gallons before using the US EPA’s estimate of 10.18 kg of CO2e per US gallon on diesel:
⁠
Tailpipe Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle | US EPA
⁠

Calculation of Meal Impacts:

Daily Meal:
The impact of additional meals is more complex: Engineers generally eat a take away sandwich when on the road, plus drink and snack. We add that in for every day of travel. A University of Manchester study estimated that the worst sandwich you could buy (an all day breakfast) had a carbon footprint of 1.44 kg CO2e. Since 8.5% of this figure represents packaging, and an additional 4% represents transportation and refrigeration, we think that a figure of 1.5 kg of CO2e per day of travel would be a realistic estimate which covers a sandwich, drink and snack e.g. bag of crisps. So, if a visit takes a single day then we add 1.5kg CO2e, if it takes more than one day (with an overnight stay) then we assume two travel days and add 3kg CO2e.
⁠
What is the environmental impact of your lunch-time sandwich? (manchester.ac.uk)
⁠
⁠
Espinoza-Orias, N., & Azapagic, A. (2018). Understanding the impact on climate change of convenience food: Carbon footprint of sandwiches. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 15, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2017.12.002
⁠
image.png
⁠
⁠
Where y = The the number of commuiting days

Evening Meal:
Any visit with an overnight stay would also include an evening meal. An average figure for evening meals was even more difficult to obtain. We used the following sources to estimate a full meal, including a drink and a starter / dessert might average out at 5 kg CO2e:
⁠
Engineering the low-carbon, cruelty-free, lab-grown hamburger of the future - Simcenter (siemens.com)
⁠
⁠
⁠
Climate change food calculator: What's your diet's carbon footprint? - BBC News
⁠
⁠
⁠
image.png
⁠
⁠
Where z = The the number of overnight stays

Overnight Stay Calculations:

Finally, to estimate the impact of overnight hotel stays by engineers on the road, we also included additional factors which take into account an additional meal and stay. Estimating the impact of hotel stays seems to be highly variable but DEFRA do provide a figure for this within the UK (10.4 kg COe):
⁠
The Carbon Emissions of Staying in a Hotel - Circular Ecology
⁠
from this DEFRA data:
Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
⁠
)

⁠
image.png
⁠
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