Quantifying Scope 3 Emissions Associated with Employee Travel at Boston University

Boston University Campus Climate Lab Project Spotlight

As part of its Climate Action Plan, Boston University has committed to the goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2040. Employee air travel in particular can account for a large proportion of a university’s Scope 3 emissions, which include emissions from travel by community members to and from campus, waste disposal, purchasing supplies, and dining services.

Boston University Campus Climate Lab research conducted in fall 2020 suggests that employees expect to continue traveling as much as before the pandemic once restrictions are lifted, leading to the recommendation that both offsets and reduction programs will play important roles in BU reaching its net-zero emissions goal.

“The report estimated employee air travel added up to 8,376 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2019. That’s equal to the carbon footprint of about 967 homes’ energy use for one year.” — WBUR EarthWhile

Key Findings

• Flights in the study period emitted a total of 2,368.54 MT CO2, with an average distance flown of 1,245.44 miles.
• On a single-year basis, both the number of flights and the emissions associated with these flights increased from 2017 to 2018 as well as from 2018 to 2019.
• Although travel habits have drastically changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in 79% fewer carbon emissions in 2020, the majority of surveyed faculty and staff stated that they would return to traveling as much as in 2019 once travel restrictions are lifted.

Recommendations

• Mandate more consistent travel logging through the university’s corporate travel platform, increasing the amount of reliable flight data available to researchers and decision-makers.
• Increased promotion of alternate forms of travel (e.g., bus, train, car) for shorter-distance business trips and incentive programs for employees who decrease their flight frequency.
• Encourage the use of teleconferencing, especially with the recent innovations in online communication due to COVID-19.

Student Presentations

• Video (@ 12:20) & slide deck (April 20, 2021)
• Video (@ 9:39) & slide deck (January 29, 2021)

Research Team

• Olivia Henning (Environmental Analysis and Policy, CAS ‘22)
• Lucia Vilallonga (Statistics and Computer Science, CAS ‘22)
• Dr. Jacqueline Ashmore (Executive Director of Institute for Sustainable Energy; Earth & Environment; Mechanical Engineering)

Timing

Awarded Fall 2020. Renewed Spring 2021.