Tracking
A running figure by week or month, refreshed as feeds arrive, for managing energy and spotting faults.
Provisional by design: estimates, late invoices and missing factors are still moving.Software · emissions tracking, cited
Carbon emissions tracking software: what real-time means, and when a figure stops moving
Carbon emissions tracking software turns activity data into emissions as it arrives, so the position is visible through the year rather than once.
UK reporting still closes a period on a factor set published once a year, and this page sets out the tests that follow, then lists 60 vendors in their own words; this site has tested none and ranks none.
What tracking software does
Five jobs, from feed to closed figure
Carbon emissions tracking software keeps a running greenhouse gas figure up to date as the underlying data comes in.
It does five jobs: it ingests activity data, converts it with emission factors, flags what is missing or odd, closes periods, and hands the closed figures to reporting.
The calculation underneath is the same as in carbon accounting software: activity multiplied by a factor, organised by scope under the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard.
What “tracking” adds is cadence, and cadence raises three questions the annual inventory never had to answer.
Which factor does a reading taken today use, when does a figure stop moving, and what does the dashboard show when the data is missing?
- 1
Ingest
Meter readings, invoices, fuel cards, telematics and spend, on a schedule, each line with its source record.
- 2
Convert
Activity × the factor for that activity, jurisdiction and activity year, with the factor version stored.
- 3
Flag
A quiet meter, a reading out of pattern, a factor DESNZ left blank — shown as gaps, not zeros.
- 4
Close
Lock a month, quarter or year so the figure stops moving; later changes become recorded recalculations.
- 5
Report
The closed year as SECR lines, UK SRS S2 metrics or an ESOS total — views of the same data.
Continuous tracking, annual reporting
One stream of data, two different clocks
No UK reporting regime sets a tracking frequency; each sets a reporting period instead.
SECR asks for at least one ratio expressing the company’s “annual emissions”, under ¶17 and ¶20G of Schedule 7, with the prior year beside it under ¶18, ¶18A and ¶20H.
UK SRS S1 ¶64 requires sustainability disclosures to cover the same reporting period as the related financial statements, and to be published at the same time, under the standard.
So tracking is a management view, and its value is measured by how cleanly a month or a quarter rolls up into the closed year.
Read the reporting periods, regime by regime
The same meter data can sit inside four different periods, and a tracking product has to cut it four ways without re-keying.
| Regime and status | Period | Where it is set |
|---|---|---|
| SECR · in force | The financial year the report covers (directors’ report, or an LLP’s energy and carbon report) | SI 2008/410 Sch 7 Parts 7 and 7A |
| UK SRS S1 and S2 · comply or explain for listed companies in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22 for periods from 1 January 2027; voluntary for everyone else | The same reporting period as the financial statements | UK SRS S1 ¶64; FCA PS26/19 |
| ESOS Phase 4 · in force | 12 consecutive months that include 31 December 2026 and end on or before 5 December 2027 | SI 2014/1643 reg 22(5) |
| UK ETS installations · in force | The calendar scheme year, reported and verified by 31 March | DESNZ, Participating in the UK ETS |
Nothing in UK SRS is mandatory for listed companies under PS26/19: the duty is to disclose or explain what is missing, why and what is planned.
The standards themselves are set out on UK SRS S1 and S2.
Same
activity data
activity data
Reporting
A closed figure for the regime’s period, on the factor set for the activity year, with the prior year beside it.
Final by design: a change after closing is a recalculation, recorded and explained.What “real-time” really means
Real-time activity, annual factors
“Real-time” emissions tracking usually means real-time activity data multiplied by a factor that changes once a year.
DESNZ says at ¶1.10 of its 2026 methodology paper that the 2026 factors are for activity data falling entirely or mostly within 2026, with the next publication in June 2027.
So a reading taken this afternoon is converted with this year’s set, and the emissions figure moves only because the kilowatt-hours moved.
NESO’s Carbon Intensity API does publish Great Britain’s grid intensity by half hour, forecast and actual, but that is an operational number for timing demand, not the factor for location-based Scope 2.
Read the detailed guidance and references
UK SRS S2 requires location-based Scope 2 under ¶29(a)(v) and ¶B30 of the standard, prescribes no factors at ¶B29, and asks for changes in measurement approach to be disclosed.
For UK activity the DESNZ set is the one the government describes as relevant to SECR, and it is the figure a reader can reproduce.
The GHG Protocol’s own technical assistance on recalculation says Scope 2 electricity factors should correspond to the relevant year.
Hourly matching of electricity use to certificates was proposed for the market-based method, and the GHG Protocol’s summary of feedback of 29 July 2026 reported low support as proposed and further work, so it is not a requirement today.
A product that shows live grid intensity is useful for moving load to cleaner hours; ask that it keeps that number apart from the reported one.
How the annual sets work, year by year, is on GHG conversion factors, and the two Scope 2 methods on Scope 2 emissions.
Meter data
Half-hourlyWhere a site has an interval meter; bills are usually monthlyGB grid intensity
Half-hourlyNESO forecast and actual, gCO2/kWh — not the reporting factorDESNZ factor set
Once a yearFor activity mostly within that year; next publication June 2027Hourly matching
Not adoptedGHG Protocol: low support as proposed, further work, 29 July 2026Meter, invoice, fuel-card and telematics feeds
Where the running figure gets its data
Most of the effort in tracking is keeping the feeds running, not calculating.
Interval meters, invoices and landlord recharges give energy by site; fuel cards and telematics give litres and distance by vehicle; the ledger gives spend for the Scope 3 categories that start on a spend basis.
SECR counts transport fuel only for journeys that start, end, or both start and end within the United Kingdom, under ¶20K of Schedule 7, so a telematics feed that cannot tell those apart over-reports.
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, which once set its own annual energy reporting cycle, was revoked from 1 October 2018; what replaced it is set out on carbon reduction commitment software.
The 40,000 kWh disclosure relief runs on “all forms of energy products”, under ¶20 as carried into Part 7A, so the tracking total has to include every fuel, not only the three SECR asks you to report.
Read the detailed guidance and references
The relief is not an exemption: a company consuming 40,000 kWh or less in the period still has to state that the information is not disclosed for that reason, under ¶15(5) or ¶20D(7).
ESOS works in energy units rather than emissions, and its tooling questions are on ESOS software.
Ask which feeds the vendor connects to directly, which arrive by upload, and who on your side owns each one; that answer sets the first year’s workload more than any feature.
| Feed | What it gives | What to test |
|---|---|---|
| Interval meters | kWh by half hour or day, by site | A quiet meter shows as a gap; the source reading is kept |
| Utility invoices | kWh and cost by billing period, including estimates | Estimated bills flagged and replaced when actuals arrive |
| Fuel cards | Litres by vehicle and date | Fuel type mapped to the right factor; card and fleet list reconciled |
| Telematics | Distance and journeys by vehicle | Journeys split by the SECR UK test; distance not double-counted with fuel |
| Ledger and purchasing | Spend by category | Spend-based lines labelled as such, by category |
The factor year
The factor arrives after the data
A tracking product is converting this year’s readings before, or soon after, this year’s factors exist.
DESNZ published the 2026 set on 11 June 2026, part-way through the year it describes, through the government conversion factors collection.
So January to May readings were either held on a provisional factor or converted with last year’s, and either way the tracking figure should restate when the year’s set lands.
The calculator beside this shows the same electricity on the 2025 and 2026 sets, which is the size of the movement a dashboard can show with no change in use.
Read the detailed guidance and references
- 1 January 202601
Activity year begins
Readings arrive; the 2026 set does not yet exist, so any figure is provisional. - 11 June 202602
2026 set published
For activity data falling entirely or mostly within 2026. - July 202603
Flat file reissued
Values shown as 0 where no data were available are restored to blank; the full set was not revised. - June 202704
Next set expected
DESNZ’s stated next publication; it does not replace the 2026 set for 2026 activity.
A reporter closing a 2026 financial year in spring 2027 still uses the 2026 set, because the rule follows the activity year, not the filing date.
Provisional conversion is a choice for each product; ask what factor it uses before the year’s set is published, and whether it restates automatically and visibly.
Same kWh, two factor sets
2025 factor set · 0.17700 kgCO2e/kWh17.7 tCO2e
2026 factor set · 0.13096 kgCO2e/kWh13.1 tCO2e
A company that changed nothing sees 26.0% less on this line because the factor moved.
DESNZ attributes most of the fall to grid decarbonisation and 6 to 7 percentage points to methodology.
Factors: DESNZ 2026 methodology paper, Table 9 · 2026 major changes report.
Generated electricity is Scope 2; transmission and distribution losses are Scope 3. With losses selected, the illustration uses the printed consumed total in DESNZ Table 9, spanning both scopes. It is not your SECR figure; nothing is stored or sent.
When the factor moves
The 2026 electricity factor, and a step on every dashboard
A tracking chart that crosses from the 2025 to the 2026 set will show electricity emissions falling with no change in use.
The UK electricity factor fell by about 26%, mostly grid decarbonisation according to DESNZ, with 6 to 7 percentage points from a change of methodology.
DESNZ’s major changes report explains that the data lag was cut from two years to one, so the change spans two years of grid data, and there is no 2024 data year at all.
A product that stores the factor version on every figure can show how much of a fall is the factor and how much is the company; one that does not cannot.
UK SRS S2 ¶29(a)(iii) asks for changes in measurement approach and the reasons, and SECR keeps the prior year beside this one, so the split matters in the report as well as on the dashboard.
| UK electricity, kgCO2e per kWh | 2025 set (data year 2023) | 2026 set (data year 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Generated | 0.17700 | 0.13096 |
| Transmission and distribution losses | 0.01853 | 0.01299 |
| Consumed (includes losses) | 0.19553 | 0.14396 |
Missing data
A blank is not a zero
The commonest silent error in a running figure is an empty value read as zero.
DESNZ made it in its own 2026 flat file: some values that should have been left blank where no data were available were shown as 0, and in July 2026 it republished the file to restore the blanks, according to its publication page.
The affected factors related to well-to-tank emissions from certain hybrid, CNG and LPG cars and to hotel stays in certain countries, and the full-set workbook, which had them blank, was not revised.
A tracking product that imported the June flat file and turned blanks into zeros would have under-counted those lines without any warning.
Read the detailed guidance and references
The GHG Protocol’s completeness principle asks a company to account for every source in the boundary and to disclose and justify any exclusion.
The same Standard calls a minimum-emissions threshold “a predefined and accepted negative bias”, which is what a zero standing in for a gap becomes.
The test is simple: stop one feed on a demonstration and see whether the month shows a gap, an estimate labelled as one, or a quietly lower figure.
Four kinds of emptyExplore
Module 01 / 04
True zero
The site was closed or the meter recorded no use; a zero with its evidence.
Module 02 / 04
Missing reading
The feed stopped; the period is incomplete until it is filled or estimated.
Module 03 / 04
Estimate
An estimated bill or an extrapolation, labelled with its method and replaced by actuals.
Module 04 / 04
Unavailable factor
DESNZ has no value for the activity; the line needs another factor, not 0.
Closing a period
How a figure stops moving
A tracking figure is useful because it moves; a reported figure is useful because it does not.
Closing a period is the step that turns one into the other, and it is the capability to test hardest.
The GHG Protocol’s 2019 Inventory Guidance lists the triggers for recalculation — significant changes in structure, in calculation methodology, and significant errors — and sets no figure for “significant”: the company determines its own threshold.
SECR keeps the prior year beside the current one, so a closed year has to stay reproducible after the next one opens.
Read the detailed guidance and references
The Corporate Standard asks for consistent methods over time and a clear audit trail, which a product meets only if a locked period survives a factor update or a corrected meter.
Where a closed figure does change, the change should show as a restated value beside the disclosed one, which is how SECR reporting software should handle a corrected meter too.
Month-end close beside the financial close is good practice rather than a legal duty; no UK regime requires emissions to be closed monthly.
- 1
Cut-off
Set the date after which late invoices and readings go to the next period or to a recorded adjustment.
- 2
Fill or flag
Every gap is filled with actuals, estimated with a method, or left visibly open.
- 3
Confirm factors
Each line carries the factor set for its activity year, with the version stored.
- 4
Review and lock
A named reviewer signs off; the period is locked against edits.
- 5
Recalculate, never overwrite
A later correction sits beside the original with its reason.
Tracking is not reduction
Seeing the figure is not the same as moving it
Tracking makes emissions visible; it does not by itself reduce them.
The government’s evaluation of SECR and its 2026 post-implementation review report that 79% of compliers disclosed data they would not otherwise have published and 56% reported better tracking of energy efficiency projects.
Only 25% said SECR led to a reduction in energy use, and 26% to a reduction in emissions, on their own account.
SECR itself requires no target and no transition plan, so any reduction is the company’s decision, not the software’s output.
Read the detailed guidance and references
The post-implementation review recommends retaining SECR with amendments and lists five areas for a planned consultation, none of them decided.
A tracking product earns its keep when the running figure reaches someone who can act on it: a site manager who sees a meter out of pattern, or a fleet manager who sees fuel per kilometre rise.
What SECR requires a company to disclose, line by line, is on SECR reporting requirements.
Disclosed data they otherwise would not have
79%SECR compliers, DESNZ surveyBetter tracking of efficiency projects
56%SECR compliers, DESNZ surveySaid SECR led to less energy use
25%Self-reported, not measuredSaid SECR led to lower emissions
26%Self-reported, not measuredA different product category
Pollutant and permit monitoring is not corporate carbon tracking
Searches for emissions monitoring software also reach a separate market: monitoring that a permit or a monitoring plan requires at a regulated site.
A UK ETS installation submits a verified emissions report for the previous calendar year by 31 March and surrenders allowances by 30 April, according to DESNZ’s Participating in the UK ETS.
Medium combustion plant in England and Wales carries emission limit values for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and dust under Schedule 25A of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016.
Those duties attach to a site and its permit, not to a company’s inventory, and the software that serves them is bought against the permit’s conditions.
Read the detailed guidance and references
The Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 extend to England and Wales only, under regulation 1(2); Scotland and Northern Ireland use their own instruments.
The Pollution Inventory rests on a notice power: regulation 61 lets the regulator require information by notice, and treats compiling an inventory of emissions as one of its functions.
The UK ETS excess emissions penalty is £100 multiplied by an inflation factor for each allowance not surrendered, under article 52 of the Order.
A company with a permitted site may need both: the site’s monitoring for the regulator, and the site’s energy in the corporate inventory for SECR or UK SRS.
The UK ETS cycle is set out on UK ETS reporting requirements, and site permits on environmental permitting and air emissions.
Monitoring set by a permitExplore
Module 01 / 04
UK ETS installations
A verified emissions report for the calendar year by 31 March, under a permit.
Module 02 / 04
Ultra-small emitters
No permit, but they must still monitor and notify the regulator above the threshold.
Module 03 / 04
Medium combustion plant
Emission limit values for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and dust.
Module 04 / 04
Pollution Inventory
Reporting by regulation 61 notice to Part A(1) permit holders, among others.
The tests before you sign
Eight questions, each tied to its provision
Each question beside this names the provision it comes from and what a passing answer looks like.
Run them on your own data, because a demonstration dataset never has a quiet meter, an estimated bill or a blank factor.
The wider capability list, from boundary to export, is on carbon reporting software, and the GHG Protocol mechanics on GHG reporting software.
This site has tested no products
Nothing on this page is a rating, ranking or recommendation of any product.
Tracking demo questions · tick the ones you need
The pass tests are our reading of the cited provisions.
Nothing you tick is stored or sent.
The vendors
60 vendors that track and account for emissions, in their own words
Every vendor this site files under carbon accounting, alphabetically, which ranks nothing, each linked to its own site and to its profile here.
The registry covers 73 vendors across all categories, read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026; the filter narrows this list.
60 vendors · carbon accounting
“Altruistiq helps companies with complex value chains go faster and further on sustainability”
“Intelligent AI that measures, reduces, and reports Scope 1–3 and LCA emissions in line with CDP, SBTi, CSRD, and CBAM requirements”
“Benchmark Gensuite is a unified EHS management software platform built on a single architecture—connecting safety, environmental compliance, and operational risk across every site”
“Our software provides companies and financial institutions with precise accounting of the emissions caused by making, shipping and using critical commodities and products around the globe”
“Measure, reduce, and report your Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions”
“The professional benchmarking and reporting platform built for sustainability consultants, SMEs, and the platforms that serve them”
“Coolset gives supply chain and ESG teams the structure, automation and guidance to meet complex compliance requirements like EUDR, PPWR and CSRD, and manage Scope 1-3 emissions”
“One AI-enabled EHS software platform to drive performance across employee health, safety, quality, environmental, and sustainability”
“Cozero helps enterprises steer decarbonization with the same rigor as financial performance, from data collection to investment decisions and regulatory disclosure”
“Dcycle is an ESG software platform founded in 2020 that helps companies collect, manage, and govern sustainability and non-financial data”
Diginex describes carbon accounting, sustainability reporting, supply chain, human rights monitoring and ESG investor intelligence for asset managers, banks and companies.
Diligent’s carbon accounting page describes a solution that “automatically collates your data and produces up to 80 different pre-configured audit-ready reports”.
Ecologi describes itself as a B Corp-certified climate action platform.
EcoOnline sells software to manage EHS and compliance.
“The Emitwise platform is now part of Green Project, where the team continues to build and deliver end-to-end decarbonization solutions”
“Enablon is Wolters Kluwer’s integrated software platform for environment, health and safety, PSM, and enterprise oversight, with ESG capabilities embedded as part of a broader risk approach”
“Collect, analyze, and report sustainability, financial, and risk KPIs with 10+ software modules – individually or in line with official standards”
“Manage safety, compliance, ESG, sustainability and operational risk from a platform built to keep programs reliable across sites, teams and operational change”
“The climate management platform built on AI, backed by dedicated sustainability experts”
“Measure, report, and reduce your company's emissions on one audit-ready sustainability management platform”
IBM describes Envizi as a “compliance ready solution for ESG data”.
“Ideagen Carbon Accounting is an AI-powered solution designed to address complex multi-region ESG reporting challenges in carbon accounting”
“Bring safety, environment, and quality workflows into one connected platform”
IsoMetrix sells software to “manage their environmental, health, safety, sustainability, and social risks”.
“Makersite’s Product Lifecycle Intelligence software brings together your cost, environment, compliance, and risk data in one place”
“Manglai is a platform to manage all of your environmental impact”
“Measurabl makes subjective sustainability data objective”
Microsoft Sustainability Manager
“Track and reduce your environmental impact using data and AI”
A carbon management platform that, in Novisto’s words, “simplifies the collection, calculation, and reporting of corporate carbon footprints”.
“Net Zero Now exists to provide a simple, credible and affordable route to Net Zero for SMEs and to celebrate and promote those that achieve this vitally important goal”
“Normative is a carbon accounting platform that helps companies calculate, report, and reduce Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions using 349,000 verified emission factors”
“Novata is a sustainability data management platform built for private market investors, deal teams, banks, and companies that need a scalable way to collect, manage, and act on sustainability data”
“One digital solution for sustainability planning, data management, reporting, analysis and action - built for enterprise”
“Our platform empowers organizations to accurately measure and manage scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions with direct and actionable information”
Oracle Fusion Cloud Sustainability
“Oracle Fusion Cloud Sustainability is a new offering to capture environmental, social, and governance data for any kind of activity that has a sustainability impact”
“osapiens is the AI platform for compliance and supplier intelligence to help companies manage risk and become more resilient”
Persefoni describes software and AI tools to manage an organisation’s “sustainability data, disclosures, and performance”.
“Your certified software for reliable emissions intelligence to measure, report and reduce your carbon footprint”
“We guide businesses in understanding their emissions, empower them to develop carbon reduction plans, and supporting them on their journey to net zero”
Position Green describes “a sustainability reporting and management platform that combines powerful software with expert advisory services”.
“Pulsora is an AI-powered sustainability and carbon management platform that automates data collection, measurement, and reporting workflows for sustainability teams”
“Digitally handle occupational safety, quality, sustainability, and environmental management”
“It leverages the full power of the Salesforce ecosystem by pulling an organization’s sustainability data into one place and creating actionable insights to guide strategic decisions”
“Measure your full carbon footprint, build your net zero strategy and develop in-house expertise with a single partner”
SAP Sustainability Footprint Management
“Decarbonize your value chain and calculate your corporate and product carbon footprint at scale with ERP-centric, AI-enabled carbon management”
“Seedling is an all-in-one carbon accounting and Net Zero planning platform for businesses of up to 2000 FTEs”
ServiceNow Operational Sustainability Management
“ServiceNow Operational Sustainability Management helps organizations manage, visualize, and report on sustainability efforts and risks across environmental, social, and governance (ESG) programs”
“SimaPro is life cycle assessment software that helps organizations measure, analyze, and reduce environmental impacts using robust datasets, scientific methods, and transparent modeling”
SINAI describes “audit-grade Scope 1–3 accounting, automated compliance reporting, complete supply chain visibility” and decarbonisation planning for global enterprises.
“Small99 Hero creates a pathway to net zero for you based on your industry, outlining how long your Net Zero journey will take and how much it will cost”
“Sphera unifies risk, safety and sustainability into a single enterprise-wide view — connecting intelligence across operations, products and supply chains”
“Sweep's AI turns sustainability data into measurable business performance”
“Manage sustainability metrics intelligently in medium-sized businesses - through automated processes, AI-powered carbon accounting, and audit-proof ESG reports”
“Terrascope is an enterprise carbon management and decarbonisation platform for companies with complex supply chains”
“Trace combines AI-powered software with expert advisory support to help organisations meet their mandatory climate and sustainability reporting obligations, efficiently and with confidence”
“Unravel Carbon is the climate platform helping companies with global supply chains make data-driven decisions”
“Carbon accounting is often the first step companies take toward climate disclosure, compliance, and action—and with Watershed, it’s part of your complete enterprise sustainability platform”
Workday (supplier sustainability)
“Turn sustainable sourcing into a competitive advantage with Workday supplier sustainability solutions”
“Workiva Carbon is an end-to-end carbon accounting software solution that enables organizations to measure, manage, collaborate on, and report emissions data”
“Carbon management software with experts built in, so you can move from measurement to action without spreadsheets or one-off consulting projects”
Alphabetical, which ranks nothing. Each description is the vendor’s own words from its own site, read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026; prices appear only where the vendor publishes one. No product here has been tested by this site.
The registry records what each vendor says it does; it does not record how often a product refreshes its figures, so ask that as the first demonstration question.
Small businesses and spreadsheets
When tracking is more than you need
A business with a handful of meters and one fleet can usually track monthly in a spreadsheet with the published factors.
SECR reaches an unquoted company only if it is large, which means exceeding two of £36m turnover, £18m balance sheet and 250 employees, judged over two consecutive years after the first, under ¶20B of Schedule 7.
The spreadsheet stops coping when the year’s factor set must not overwrite last year’s, when feeds arrive faster than anyone can paste them, and when a closed period must stay closed.
The worksheet beside this compares a platform quote you hold with the hours the current process takes.
Platform against the way you work now
Current process £0 a year · quote £0 a year
Fill in all three to see the break-even hours.
Arithmetic on your own inputs.
The quote’s implementation, uplift and exit terms are in the three-year worksheet on the carbon reporting software page.
Nothing is stored or sent.
Choosing without a ranking
“Best” is a question about your data and your periods
There is no best emissions tracking product in general; the useful question is which one passes the tests your feeds and your reporting periods impose.
- 01 / Feeds01
List your data sources
Meters, invoices, fuel cards, telematics and spend, with an owner for each. - 02 / Periods02
Name every period you report
Financial year, the UK SRS period, an ESOS reference period, a scheme year. - 03 / Gaps03
Break a feed on purpose
A missing reading and a blank factor must show as gaps. - 04 / Factors04
Cross a factor year
Readings either side of a new set, with the version stored on each. - 05 / Close05
Lock, then correct
Close a period, change an input, and see the original survive beside the correction.
Comparisons that rank for these searches are often written by a vendor that appears in its own table; read who wrote a list before you read its order.
The wider ESG reporting market, and why its published comparisons score the wrong regulations, is on the ESG software comparison.
Frequently asked
Carbon emissions tracking software, answered
What is carbon emissions tracking software?
Software that turns energy, fuel and other activity data into emissions as the data arrives, so a company can see its position through the year rather than once a year.
The reported figure is still a closed period: SECR asks for the financial year, UK SRS for the same period as the financial statements, each on the DESNZ factor set for the activity year.
What is the best carbon tracking software?
This site has tested no products and names no best.
Ask which product passes tests drawn from your own duties: the factor year stored on every figure, gaps shown as gaps, a period that can be closed, transport journeys split by the UK test, and an all-energy total.
Run them on your own data.
Can emissions tracking be real-time?
The activity can be: a half-hourly meter or a telematics feed arrives within the day.
The reporting factor cannot: DESNZ publishes one set a year, for activity falling entirely or mostly within that year.
NESO publishes a half-hourly grid intensity for Great Britain, but that is an operational number, not the factor for SECR or location-based Scope 2.
What is the difference between emissions tracking software and reporting software?
Tracking refreshes a running figure through the year; reporting produces the closed figures and disclosures a regime asks for.
Most products sell both.
A tracking view is provisional until the period is closed, and a closed figure should then change only by recorded recalculation.
What is emissions management software?
Usually tracking plus planning: a running inventory with targets, projects and a trajectory.
Measurement is not reduction, and the target-setting is the company’s own decision; SECR, for example, requires no target at all.
Which carbon monitoring software do I need for SECR?
SECR asks for annual figures: energy in kWh, emissions from gas, electricity and transport fuel, at least one intensity ratio, the methodology, the principal efficiency measures and the prior year.
Monitoring through the year helps, but only the closed year is reported, and a quoted or large company with 40,000 kWh or less may say so instead.
Is emissions monitoring software the same as continuous emissions monitoring at a permitted site?
No. A UK ETS installation submits a verified emissions report for the calendar year by 31 March, and permitted plant can carry emission limit values for pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and dust.
That is monitoring set by a permit or a monitoring plan, a different product category from a corporate carbon inventory.
How often should a company track its emissions?
No UK reporting regime sets a tracking frequency; they set reporting periods.
Monthly is common because bills and meter data arrive monthly, and the real test is whether a month can be closed and reconciled to the year without re-keying.
Does tracking emissions reduce them?
Not by itself.
In DESNZ’s survey of SECR compliers, 56% reported better tracking of energy efficiency projects, while 25% said SECR led to a reduction in energy use and 26% to a reduction in emissions. These are self-reported answers, not measured savings.
Can tracking software use live grid intensity for my reported Scope 2?
Not for UK SRS S2 or SECR location-based figures in the ordinary way: UK SRS S2 requires location-based Scope 2 and prescribes no factors, and the DESNZ factor for the activity year is the UK set relevant to SECR.
GHG Protocol consulted on hourly matching for the market-based method; as at 29 July 2026 it reported low support and called for further work.
What integrations should carbon tracking software have?
Meter data, utility invoices, fuel cards, telematics, and the ledger for spend.
Ask which arrive by direct connection and which by upload, who owns each feed on your side, and whether every line keeps its source record.
Does a small business need tracking software?
Often not.
An unquoted company is in SECR only if it is large, which means exceeding two of £36m turnover, £18m balance sheet and 250 employees, judged over two consecutive years after the first.
A small business with a few meters and one fleet can usually track monthly in a spreadsheet with the published factors.
Is CRC monitoring software still needed?
No. The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme was revoked from 1 October 2018 and closed after the 2018–19 compliance year.
SECR took on the reporting role for companies.
Has this site tested any emissions tracking software?
No. This page is built from the DESNZ factor rules, the GHG Protocol, SECR, UK SRS, ESOS and the UK ETS, each cited to its provision, and the vendor list quotes only what each vendor says about itself.
Sources
Primary sources
Every test on this page traces to the provision listed here.
Vendor descriptions are cited on each vendor’s profile to the vendor’s own page.
Checked against 23 sources fromDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroNESOGHG Protocol (WRI, WBCSD)GHG Protocollegislation.gov.ukGOV.UK (DESNZ, Defra)
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGovernment conversion factors for company reporting
One factor set a year, relevant to SECR; used for other purposes at the user’s own risk.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2026
Published 11 June 2026; the July 2026 flat-file reissue that restored blanks shown as 0.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero2026 GHG conversion factors methodology paper, ¶1.10, ¶1.13, ¶3.8 and Table 9
The activity-year rule, the electricity methodology change and the electricity factors.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero2026 GHG conversion factors: major changes report
The data lag cut from two years to one, so the 2026 change spans two years of grid data.
- NESOCarbon Intensity API
Half-hourly forecast and actual GB grid intensity — an operational number, not the reporting factor.
- GHG Protocol (WRI, WBCSD)A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard — Chapters 1 and 3
Completeness, consistency, transparency and accuracy; the consolidation approaches.
- GHG ProtocolScope 1 & 2 GHG Inventory Guidance (2019)
Recalculation triggers; the company sets its own significance threshold.
- GHG ProtocolTechnical assistance: when to recalculate base-year emissions
No set significance threshold; Scope 2 factors should correspond to the relevant year.
- GHG ProtocolScope 2 public consultation: summary of feedback (29 July 2026)
Low support for hourly matching as proposed; further work called for.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410, Schedule 7 Parts 7 and 7A, including ¶¶17, 20, 20D, 20G, 20H and 20K
The SECR lines, the all-energy definition, transport journeys and comparatives.
- GOV.UK (DESNZ, Defra)Environmental Reporting Guidelines, including SECR requirements
The government’s SECR guidance.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroStreamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting regulations: evaluation (29 January 2026)
What compliers said SECR did, and did not, change.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero2026 post-implementation review of the SECR regulations
Retain with amendments; five areas for a planned consultation, none decided.
- legislation.gov.ukCRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (Revocation and Savings) Order 2018 (SI 2018/841)
The CRC scheme, revoked from 1 October 2018.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S1 General Requirements (PDF), ¶20 and ¶64
Same reporting entity and same reporting period as the financial statements.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures (PDF), ¶29(a), ¶B29, ¶B30
Location-based Scope 2; no prescribed factors; changes in measurement approach.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19 — final rules on UK SRS reporting by listed companies
Comply or explain for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
- legislation.gov.ukESOS Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1643), regulation 22(5)
The Phase 4 reference period of 12 consecutive months.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroParticipating in the UK ETS
Verified emissions report by 31 March; ultra-small emitters still monitor.
- legislation.gov.ukGreenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020 (SI 2020/1265), article 52
The excess emissions penalty.
- legislation.gov.ukEnvironmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, regulation 1(2)
England and Wales only.
- legislation.gov.ukEnvironmental Permitting Regulations 2016, regulation 61
The notice power behind Pollution Inventory reporting.
- legislation.gov.ukEnvironmental Permitting Regulations 2016, Schedule 25A
Medium combustion plant limit values for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and dust.
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