Methods and systems for automating carbon footprinting

Abstract

Methods and systems for automating carbon footprinting are disclosed. In some embodiments, the methods include a plurality of steps. In some embodiments, related to predetermined resources associated with an item from predetermined data sources is obtained. Then, estimated emission factors are calculated for each of the resources. Next, a contributory uncertainty of the data and of the emission factors is determined. Then, a user is guided based on a comparison of the respective contributory uncertainty of data related to the resources or emission factors. Next, both data related to the resources and the estimated emission factors of the resources are utilized to determine a carbon footprint of the item.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions for calculating overall impact of an item, the instructions comprising:
 identifying a number of predetermined resources;   obtaining data related to each of the predetermined resources from an entity's databases;   obtaining an impact coefficient for those predetermined resources for which the impact coefficient is known from an entity's database or from external databases categorizing each of the predetermined resources in a predetermined cluster of similar resources;   obtaining a statistics-based, estimated impact coefficient for each of the predetermined clusters;   for those predetermined resources for which the impact coefficient is not known from an entity's databases or from external databases, calculating an impact coefficient for each predetermined resource based on the statistics-based, estimated impact coefficient for the corresponding predetermined cluster;   identifying a number of the predetermined resources that are associated with an item; and   calculating an overall impact of the item based the data and the estimated impact coefficients for each predetermined resource associated with the item.   
     
     
         4 . The computer readable medium according to  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined resources include a material, energy, activity, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The computer readable medium according to  claim 1 , wherein the item is a product or service. 
     
     
         6 . The computer readable medium according to  claim 1 , wherein the impact coefficient is a carbon emission factor, water quality impact factor, toxicity impact factor, biodiversity impact factor, social impact factor, financial cost and/or benefit impact factor, value chain risk impact factor, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The computer readable medium according to  claim 4 , wherein the impact coefficient is a carbon emission factor, and further comprising:
 calculating a carbon footprint for each of a plurality of an entity's items; and   estimating any portion of the scope  3  emissions for the entity based on the carbon footprint of the plurality of items.