CO2-Methodik

What We Calculate

When passengers share a ride to an event instead of each driving their own car, fewer vehicles are on the road. ecoTriver quantifies this benefit with two metrics:

• 1CO2 saved — the emissions avoided because matched passengers did not drive alone.
• 2CO₂ climate contribution — for every shared ride, ecoTriver funds a 3x climate contribution based on actual car emissions through certified climate projects.

Methodology Framework

Our CO2 calculation methodology is being developed in alignment with GCCM007, the Global Carbon Council's Methodology for Private Carpooling for Long-Distance Inter-Urban Travel.

How CO2 Savings Are Calculated

The baseline assumption is simple: without the carpooling platform, each matched passenger would have driven to the event alone in their own car. The emission reduction is the difference.

Emission Factors

Country-specific emission factors are applied where available. For countries without dedicated national emission factor integration, DEFRA conversion factors are used as internationally recognized default, consistent with GHG Protocol guidance.

UBA = German Federal Environment Agency. DEFRA = UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. CO2e includes methane and nitrous oxide alongside CO2. All factors are well-to-wheel (including fuel production). Factors are reviewed annually.

Conservative Assumptions

Where there is uncertainty, we err on the side of understating emission reductions:

• Straight-line distance — haversine distances are 20-40% shorter than actual road routes, reducing our claimed reductions.
• Average fleet factor — includes electric vehicles in the fleet mix, which lowers the average emission factor.
• No access/egress segments — only the main ride distance is counted. Travel to the pickup point and from the drop-off to the final destination is excluded.
• Cancelled rides excluded — only rides with confirmed bookings contribute to impact metrics.

Why Balance.eco

ecoTriver partners with Balance.eco for climate contributions. Balance Units go beyond conventional carbon credits — every unit represents verified carbon removal through nature-based solutions, not avoidance.

• 100-year protection — forests carry a 99-year maintenance contract, aligned with IPCC's GWP metric
• Mandatory biodiversity — native species, genetic diversity, wildlife corridors
• 40% community income — contractual minimum flowing to local communities
• Removal only — no avoidance credits, only verified CO₂ removal through forest growth
• Peer-reviewed — methodology published in the International Journal of Sustainable Energy (Taylor & Francis, 2023)
• S&P Global Registry — every Balance Unit retired on the UK Land Carbon Registry, publicly verifiable

Balance.eco is B Corp certified. Adrian Rimmer, former CEO of the Gold Standard Foundation, sits on Balance's board.

Data Quality & Transparency

All CO2 and distance values are calculated server-side. Users cannot manually set or modify emission data. Key safeguards:

• Distances computed via PostGIS geographic functions — immune to client-side manipulation
• CO2 values derived from validated distance and published emission factors
• Input validation on all ride parameters before processing
• Database constraints enforce data integrity (foreign keys, type constraints)
• All calculation logic and emission factors are version-controlled and auditable

Public Impact Registry

Every emission reduction and climate contribution is recorded in ecoTriver's public Impact Registry. Each certificate has a unique ID, is permanently linked to a specific ride and event, and cannot be modified after issuance.

The registry ensures:

• No double counting — each reduction is assigned to exactly one organizer.
• Full traceability — every number can be traced back to the underlying ride data.
• Public transparency — anyone can verify certificates in the registry.

Limitations & Uncertainty

No emission calculation is exact. We disclose our known uncertainty sources so that our numbers can be assessed in context.

Our reported numbers are more likely to understate than overstate actual emission reductions, due to the systematic conservative bias from haversine distance calculation. Full uncertainty analysis is documented in Section 7A of our methodology document.

Version History

Full Methodology Document

This page provides a summary of our approach. The full methodology document includes detailed formulas, a GCCM007 gap analysis, monitoring plan, and emission factor source documentation.

For the complete methodology document, emission factor sources, or verification inquiries, please contact us at support@ecotriver.com.

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