by Jbs020209 b3 — February 4, 2009—As US companies prepare for increased pressure under a new presidential administration to improve and report on their sustainability efforts, the number of companies disclosing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) will triple in the next two years, and the number of firms using commercial GHG software will quadruple in the same time period, according to a new study by Groom Energy and Pure Strategies.
Today, an estimated 3,000 companies worldwide track and report GHG emissions. In much the same way that businesses use financial reporting to judge operational performance, many organizations use GHG emissions reporting to measure their sustainability performance. According to the report, this new category is called Enterprise Carbon Accounting (ECA).
Enterprise Carbon Accounting: An Analysis of Organizational-Level Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reporting and a Review of Emerging GHG Software Products, was created as a guide for organizations considering calculating or currently tracking and reporting GHG emissions.
According to the study, the tracking process often begins with the use of spreadsheets to manage data, but as it becomes more comprehensive and complex, companies need to invest in commercial ECA software. Forty vendors were identified in the report along with the top 20 things to consider before purchasing ECA software.
The study identifies software packages from 40 different vendors in four categories: offerings from existing environmental health and safety vendors, new products from larger firms, startup companies, and free tools.
Key findings:
- Organizations expect increased carbon regulation, especially in the US with a new presidential administration;
- Carbon reporting at the organizational level has become mainstream, and participation in voluntary carbon registry programs is expected to triple in 2 years;
- Approximately 3,000 large and small organizations worldwide have calculated carbon emission;
- The market for ECA software is still nascent and an estimated 96 organizations worldwide have deployed a commercial ECA software product;
- Despite the early stage of the current ECA market, 40 vendors offer software products;
- The number of organizations using ECA software is expected to quadruple in the next two years, driven by businesses that have not traditionally invested in environmental software; and
- Organizations evaluating ECA software products in 2009 should consider 20 key software features in their vendor evaluation.
The report is available for $495 per single user and $695 for a company license. To review an abstract of the report or to purchase online, visit the Groom Energy Web site.
