Why Businesses Should Measure Their Carbon Handprint
While cutting carbon emissions is essential, businesses should look beyond their carbon footprint reduction to track their carbon handprint—the positive climate impact they enable through their actions, technologies, and investments. As businesses across Ireland, the UK, and beyond step up their climate commitments, most are focused on reducing their carbon footprint—the measure of emissions they are responsible for creating.
In the race to net zero, businesses should not only be asking:
"How much harm am I reducing?"
They should also be asking:
"How much good am I creating?"
What is a Carbon Handprint?
A carbon handprint measures the emission reductions a company enables beyond its own operations. It captures the positive, indirect climate benefits driven by a company’s products, services, projects, or influence.
For example:
Installing solar panels reduces a business’s own emissions (carbon footprint reduction).
Exporting clean energy or participating in a cVPP helps reduce fossil fuel dependence across the grid (carbon handprint impact).
Why It Matters
Carbon handprints reflect a business’s contribution to global climate solutions, not just its internal sustainability.
They help companies engage customers, employees, and supply chains in the transition to clean energy.
They support stronger environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting and corporate storytelling.
The Carbon Handprint of Solar, Batteries, and cVPPs
For the month of June we are focussing on energy here at Techies Go Green and its carbon handprint potential. For companies investing in solar, battery storage, and community virtual power plant (cVPP) projects, carbon handprint accounting offers an essential, yet often overlooked, opportunity to showcase leadership, influence wider change, and unlock new value.
1. Solar Installations: Beyond On-Site Savings
When a business installs solar panels:
Footprint benefit: It reduces its own grid electricity consumption, typically lowering emissions.
Handprint benefit: Surplus solar energy exported to the grid displaces fossil fuel generation, enabling other grid users to consume greener electricity.
Businesses can calculate how much exported clean energy offsets emissions for others—this is their carbon handprint.
2. Battery Storage: Enabling Grid Flexibility
When businesses install batteries:
Footprint benefit: Batteries help reduce the company’s energy bills and grid consumption at peak times.
Handprint benefit: Smart batteries can support grid stability, allow more renewable energy to be integrated, and reduce the need for carbon-intensive backup power plants.
Participation in flexibility markets and demand-side response programs provides measurable carbon handprint contributions by helping the grid rely less on fossil fuels.
3. Community Virtual Power Plants (cVPPs): Shared Climate Impact
When businesses join or lead a cVPP:
Footprint benefit: They gain cost savings and resilience by sharing energy with their local network.
Handprint benefit: They enable more distributed renewable energy, reduce local grid congestion, and help others in the community decarbonise faster.
The collective emissions avoided by the cVPP can be measured and proportionally attributed to each participating member’s handprint.
Why Businesses Should Start Measuring Their Handprint
Stronger Climate Leadership: Businesses that measure both their footprint and handprint can demonstrate a more holistic, credible climate strategy. This goes beyond risk management—it’s about showing how the company actively contributes to positive climate outcomes.
Enhanced Brand and Market Value: Customers, investors, and regulators increasingly value companies that drive broader climate benefits, not just those who minimise their own emissions. Handprint measurement helps tell this story with impact.
Improved ESG Reporting: Including carbon handprint data strengthens sustainability reports and aligns with emerging international standards that emphasise positive impact, such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Science Based Targets for Net-Zero.
Engaging Employees and Communities: Businesses that measure and communicate their handprint can better involve employees, supply chain partners, and local communities in shared climate action, increasing participation and support.
How You Can Start Measuring Your Company Carbon Handprint
Identify Positive Impact Activities: Focus on projects that enable emissions reductions outside the business, such as exporting renewable electricity, participating in cVPPs, and supporting flexibility markets.
Quantify Avoided Emissions: Use industry-standard emission factors to calculate how much CO₂ has been avoided thanks to your clean energy exports or flexibility services.
Share and Communicate Results: Report your carbon handprint alongside your footprint in ESG disclosures, marketing materials, and stakeholder reports.
Collaborate with Experts: Work with carbon accounting consultants, energy providers, or cVPP operators to ensure accurate, credible measurement.