Exeter College’s carbon emissions

At Exeter College we are tracking our Scope 1 and 2 emissions and taking steps to reduce them. Thanks to the efforts of students, staff and Fellows substantial reductions have been made and we are working hard to make further cuts. The complex process of calculating the College’s Scope 3 emissions is also under way. We will announce our target for achieving net zero carbon once we have a clear idea of the scale of that undertaking and a detailed plan for achieving it.

Below is information about Exeter College’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions for the 12 months from January to December 2021. Figures for 2022 will be published shortly. There is also information about some of Exeter College’s Scope 3 emissions. For information about what we mean by Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions click here.

Scope 1 emissions

Gas

The College’s gas consumption in 2021 was 361,380m3, which produced 735 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) (Government greenhouse gas conversion factors for company reporting, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), June 2020).

In 2019 (which was unaffected by Covid-19 restrictions on movement and advice to ventilate rooms by opening doors and windows) the College’s gas consumption was 389,744m3.

Scope 2 emissions

Electricity

In 2021 the College’s electricity consumption was 1,568,874 KwH. By using electricity generated from renewable sources the College avoided the production of 366 tonnes of CO2e (Government greenhouse gas conversion factors for company reporting, Defra, June 2020).

In 2019 (pre-Covid-19 regulations) the College’s electricity consumption was 1,913,700 KwH.

Scope 3 emissions

Water

In 2021, Exeter College used 20,518m3 of mains water, which created 22 tonnes of CO2e (Government greenhouse gas conversion factors for company reporting, Defra, June 2020).

Student travel – students resident in the UK

In 2021, the majority of our taught students attended College in Trinity and Michaelmas terms, but not Hilary term (due to Covid-19 restrictions). Similarly, the majority of research students chose to stay in Oxford throughout the year. We have assumed that UK students travelled to Oxford by car, with a family member or friend dropping them in Oxford and then making the return trip home. We have therefore assumed that UK students on undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses required four return trips in 2021 (one at the start and one at the end of each term they spent in Oxford) and postgraduate research students made two return trips. For the purposes of estimating the CO2e emissions we assumed that the average return journey was 400 miles, equivalent to driving from Lancaster to Oxford and back. This equates to 174 tonnes of CO2e from our UK students travelling to and from Oxford (University of Oxford Carbon Accounting Tool 2020).

Student travel – students resident overseas

Because of Covid-19 restrictions, the majority of our international students on undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses made two return flights from their home country in 2021 and the majority of postgraduate students taking research degrees made one return flight from their country of origin. For the purposes of estimating CO2e emissions we assumed each student flew from the capital city of their country of residence to London and vice versa for return trips. This equates to 872 tonnes of CO2e from our international students travelling to and from the UK (University of Oxford Carbon Accounting Tool 2020).

Food

The food-based carbon footprint is calculated by broad approximation and more detailed analysis in our upstream supply chain will be carried out in due course. The calculation uses the College’s 2021 catering operations and is based on the equivalent of circa 19,200 day consumers at 5.2Kg/CO2e per day (source: Food in a warming world: the changing foods on the British Plate, WWF, 2018; broadly in line with data from “Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK” by Scarborough P. et al., Nuffield Department of Population Health, Oxford, 2014). This equates to 100 tonnes of CO2e from food in 2021.

Carbon removal

Land

Exeter owns and manages responsibly approximately 12 hectares of woodland and six hectares of grassland including a site of special scientific interest (SSSI). This absorbed approximately 74 tonnes of CO2e in 2021 (University of Oxford Carbon Accounting Tool 2020).

CO2e emitted, avoided or removed for the year 2021

* negative figures represent where CO2e has been removed or avoided

In 2022 Exeter College offset 1,830 tonnes of CO2e using audited and verified carbon offset projects.