Calculator FAQ
What is the purpose of the Carbon Target and Profit Calculator?
The Carbon Target and Profit Calculator is a tool to help individual companies set a 2020 carbon reduction target and determine potential cost savings if those reductions are achieved. The calculator translates The 3% Solution report’s U.S. economy-wide savings down to an individual company level, taking into account sector-specific opportunities. This tool is not intended to replace customized target assessments for each company, but can serve as an indicator of approximate potential financial savings and carbon reductions that a company like yours could achieve by following the guidance outlined in the report.
How did you split up the sectors and which sector is my company in?
The sectors in the calculator and the report follow GICS codes. GICS stands for Global Industry Classification Standard, an industry taxonomy used by S&P 500 and the global financial community.
Download this Sector Definitions document to determine which sector corresponds to your company. Since companies sometimes span more than one industry the calculator allows users to select multiple sectors.
What if my company’s baseline year for emissions is different than what is available in your list?
For the most accurate results users should provide complete emissions data for a year between 2005 and 2010. Using data for others years will influence the results of the calculation. Note that the calculator results are illustrative and do not represent exact results for a given company.
What does the calculator mean by “expected change in market share?”
“Expected change in market share” means the growth a company expects in comparison to its peers as a percentage. For instance, if Company A and Company B both have 50% of market share in 2005, and Company A expects to capture 60% of the market by 2020, then for the calculator Company A should insert “10%” for expected market share. The calculator adjusts for this additional market share without penalizing the company.
What does PV and NPV mean?
PV stands for Present Value, a concept that discounts the value of future cash flow against the value of having that money today. NPV stands for Net Present Value and represents the present value of the combined costs and savings of cash flows at a certain date and time. The 3% Solution report and the calculator use an 8% discount rate that reflects the average cost of capital for companies.
Why are there two sets of results for “PV Savings?”
There are two results named “PV Savings” but each is for a different timeframe. PV Savings (n-2020) takes into account all of the savings that could be achieved during the timeframe between your base year and 2020, while PV Savings 2020 represents the potential savings that could be achieved in 2020 alone.
How does the calculator attribute cost savings to a company?
The calculator translates The 3% Solution report’s U.S. economy-wide savings down to an individual company level. These results account for average expected opportunities by sector. Note that the calculator results are illustrative and do not represent exact results for a given company.
How can my company start capturing these financial savings?
Introduced in The 3% Solution, the Carbon Productivity Portfolio is meant to be a set of five actions that together create a practical path for companies capturing their share of the available financial savings opportunities found in the report. The first step is setting an ambitious carbon reduction target.