Carbon Hotspotting

Carbon hotspotting refers to identifying the specific parts of your operations, products, or value chain that contribute the most to your overall greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a powerful way to spot where emissions are concentrated—your “hotspots”—so that you can target reductions where they'll have the greatest impact.

In practice, hotspots could include energy intensive stages of your product lifecycle (materials, manufacturing, transport), major cost centers, or operational processes with outsized emissions. Approaches like Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) or specialized software platforms help visualize and analyse these hotspots with precision.

1. What exactly is a carbon hotspot?

It’s an area—like a process, material, or activity—that’s disproportionately responsible for emissions, and thus a key focus for reductions.

2. Why is hotspotting useful for SMEs?

It helps prioritize emissions reduction efforts for maximum impact—saving emissions, resources, and often costs too.

3. Where can hotspots appear in a business?

In manufacturing inputs, logistics, energy use, or Scope 3 areas like supplier operations and product use phases.

4. How do you identify hotspots?

Through LCA methods, emissions breakdowns, spend analysis, or tools that highlight where emissions are highest.

5. What tools help with hotspotting?

Platforms like Arbor offer interactive visual breakdowns of emissions by lifecycle stages or materials.

6. Can hotspots vary between industries?

Absolutely. In procurement, hotspots might be IT hardware or logistics; in manufacturing, it might be raw materials or energy-intensive processes.

7. How can I use hotspot data to reduce emissions?

Focus improvement projects where emissions are highest—e.g., sourcing lower-carbon materials, optimizing transport, or upgrading equipment efficiency.

8. Does hotspotting require detailed data?

The more detailed the data, the more accurate—but even basic energy or spend data can reveal actionable hotspots.

9. Can identifying hotspots also save money?

Yes—it often uncovers inefficiencies (like waste or overuse) that can be corrected to reduce costs and emissions.

10. How does this fit into broader emissions reporting?

Hotspot analysis supports Scope 1, 2, and 3 accounting, helps with regulatory reporting like GHG Protocol, CDP, or CSRD, and gives a clear roadmap for reductions.

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