Softwire's Journey to Net Zero with Supercritical
Company Size
11-200
Region
- Europe
Country
- United Kingdom
Product
- Supercritical Carbon Accounting Software
Tech Stack
- Carbon Accounting
- Carbon Removal Technologies
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Environmental Impact Reduction
- Innovation Output
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Data-as-a-Service
Applicable Industries
- Software
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
Use Cases
- Energy Management System
- Regulatory Compliance Monitoring
Services
- Data Science Services
About The Customer
Softwire is a software development company that is committed to doing things well and making a genuine difference. The company is particularly interested in corporate sustainability and has been searching for a truly impactful climate policy. They believe that it can be difficult to identify interventions that will make a significant difference, as opposed to those that only sound good in theory. To address this, Softwire has partnered with Supercritical, a carbon accounting software company, to measure and offset their carbon footprint. The company is committed to reducing their emissions in line with the IPCC pathway to net zero by 2050, i.e. by 90% or more.
The Challenge
Softwire, a software development company, was seeking a truly impactful climate policy. They wanted to identify interventions that would make a significant difference, rather than those that only sounded good in theory. The company recognized the need for carbon dioxide removal at scale to achieve global net zero and neutralize residual emissions that couldn't feasibly be reduced. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that by 2050, we need to be removing 10 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere per year, even if its ambitious emissions reductions targets are met. However, globally, only thousands of tonnes have been removed to date.
The Solution
Softwire partnered with Supercritical, a carbon accounting software company, to measure their 2021 carbon footprint, explore reduction potential, and offset their footprint with 590 tonnes of high-quality, long-term carbon dioxide removal offsets. Supercritical produced a footprint report covering Softwire's emissions in 2021, with a breakdown showing where the emissions came from and recommendations on reductions. Softwire offset their 2021 footprint, plus an additional 5% to account for unmeasured emissions from minor sources that could not be reliably estimated. This brought their total figure to 590 tonnes of CO2e. They purchased only high-quality, long-term carbon removal offsets, at an average price of £170 per tonne of CO2 sequestered, which covered a range of innovative technologies: enhanced weathering, bio-oil sequestration, direct air capture, and biochar.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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