Travel Calculator
The Travel Calculator is a purpose-built form for logging business travel emissions. It handles the complexity of ICAO/DEFRA flight factors, cabin class multipliers and hotel-night factors so data-entry users don't need to know GHG accounting rules.
Opening the calculator
Go to Carbon Tracking → Calculators → Travel Calculator, or use the shortcut on the dashboard.
Flights
Input fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Journey type | One-way or return |
| Origin | IATA airport code or city name (autocomplete) |
| Destination | IATA airport code or city name |
| Passengers | Number of business travellers on this booking |
| Cabin class | Economy / Premium Economy / Business / First |
| Date | Travel date (used to select the correct factor vintage) |
How emissions are calculated
- Great-circle distance is looked up from the IATA routing database
- Uplift factor (1.09) is applied for indirect routing
- Radiative Forcing Index (RFI) multiplier is applied based on DEFRA guidance
- EF is selected by cabin class:
| Cabin | EF multiplier vs Economy |
|---|---|
| Economy | 1× |
| Premium Economy | 1.6× |
| Business | 2.9× |
| First | 4× |
- Result is attributed to Scope 3 Category 6 (Business Travel)
Rail
Input fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Origin | Station name or postcode |
| Destination | Station name or postcode |
| Passengers | Number of travellers |
| Rail type | National rail / Eurostar / Light rail / Metro |
| Country | Used to select grid/network factor |
Rail emissions are attributed to Scope 3 Category 6.
Hotel stays
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Country | Country of hotel |
| Nights | Total nights across all travellers |
| Guests | Number of travellers |
| Rating | 1–5 stars (where available, adjusts EF) |
Hotel emissions are attributed to Scope 3 Category 6.
Road travel
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Vehicle type | Car (petrol/diesel/EV), taxi, van |
| Distance | km or miles |
| Passengers | Divide fleet/taxi cost between travellers |
Road travel is attributed to Scope 3 Category 6 or Scope 1 (company-owned vehicles).
Reviewing and submitting
After filling all legs of a trip, click Calculate. You will see:
- Per-leg tCO₂e breakdown
- Total trip tCO₂e
- Emission factors used (with source and vintage)
Click Submit to create individual emission entries for each leg. All entries are linked to the same Trip ID for easy retrieval.
Bulk travel import
For travel management company (TMC) exports, use batch import with the Scope 3 template. The subcategory column values are:
| Mode | Subcategory code |
|---|---|
| Short-haul flight (< 3,700 km) | flights_short_haul |
| Long-haul flight (≥ 3,700 km) | flights_long_haul |
| International rail | rail_international |
| Domestic rail | rail_domestic |
| Hotel stay | hotel_stay |