Carbon Avoidance vs Offset
MOSS™ avoided carbon emissions
The government’s business 'greening' strategy has added a new category of ‘avoided’ emissions for reused ICT (Information and Communications Technology) equipment, which includes the servers used in CCTV applications. This applies to VMS Co.’s renewed MOSS™ servers, whether purchased or on subscription.
This new avoidance category contributes a significantly larger carbon reductions gain over ‘offsetting’ and shows the government is prioritising the reuse of ICT equipment over new.
How carbon 'avoidance' works
New servers have an embodied product carbon footprint (PCF) attributed at manufacture. By deploying MOSS servers instead of a new ones, integrators and end users avoid any additional PCF allocations from that new manufacture; hence the term ‘carbon avoidance’ - highlighted as an action that prevents greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere in the first place. Indicative carbon avoidance figures allow 70% or more emissions reduction allocations compared to just 4% through recycling.
For reused ICT equipment, such as MOSS™ servers, the values attributed to carbon avoidance are shown in the table below.
Avoided carbon emissions - PCF - Kg CO₂e
| ICT Device type | AVOIDED Emissions | MOSS Emissions | Embodied Emissions |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Workstation |
350 |
150 |
500 |
|
1U Rack Server |
1,800 |
800 |
2,600 |
|
2U Rack Server |
3,000 |
1,300 |
4,300 |
|
4U Rack Server |
5,200 |
2,300 |
7,500 |
How to use avoided emissions in ESG reporting
For Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting, a company states both the new PCF and reused PCF emissions figures for like-for-like ICT equipment separately, rather than stating the calculated final figure.
Example: Where a company was procuring 50x 2U servers.
- The baseline PCF for 50x new 2U rack servers at 4,300 Kg CO₂e each = 215,000 Kg CO₂e
- The carbon avoidance PCF for 'like-for-like' MOSS 2U rack servers is 50x 3,000 kg CO₂e = 150,000 kg CO₂e
The baseline PCF figure of 215,000 Kg CO₂e and the avoided figure of 150,000 kg CO₂e are stated in ESG reporting "when comparing reused servers to newly manufactured alternatives."
The exact PCF figures vary by server build and specification.
Mandatory carbon accounting in ESG reporting
The government is making it mandatory to account for the different emission types in the ESG reporting within a business, separating avoidance from offsetting, and starting with government agencies.
VMS Co applauds the government's new strategy as it actively encourages ICT reuse. It should have a huge, positive, environmental impact, reducing waste, heavy use of natural resources, and unnecessary landfill.