Direct Emissions
Direct emissions are greenhouse gases released from sources that are owned or controlled by the reporting organisation. Under the GHG Protocol, they correspond to Scope 1 and include emissions from fuel combustion, company vehicles, industrial processes, and fugitive releases such as refrigerant leaks.
What is Direct Emissions?
Direct emissions — classified as Scope 1 under the GHG Protocol — are greenhouse gases that physically originate from sources within the reporting organisation's boundary. The organisation owns or controls the source, and the emission occurs on its premises or from its equipment.
The four main categories of direct emissions are stationary combustion (natural gas boilers, diesel generators, oil-fired heaters), mobile combustion (company-owned or leased vehicles), process emissions (CO₂ from cement production, N₂O from chemical manufacturing), and fugitive emissions (refrigerant leaks, gas pipeline losses). Each requires different data collection and emission factor approaches.
Direct emissions are the most straightforward category to measure because the underlying data — fuel invoices, gas meter readings, vehicle mileage logs, refrigerant recharge records — is held internally. The DEFRA/DESNZ emission factors provide conversion ratios for all standard UK fuel types and refrigerant gases, making calculation a matter of multiplying activity data by the appropriate factor.
For most service-sector and office-based organisations, direct emissions are a relatively small proportion of the total footprint, dominated by gas heating and company vehicles. For manufacturers, heavy industry, and logistics companies, direct emissions from fuel combustion and industrial processes can represent the majority of total emissions.
Direct emissions are mandatory under every major carbon reporting framework: SECR, the GHG Protocol, CDP, CSRD, ISSB (IFRS S2), SBTi, and PPN 06/21. They are the emissions most directly within an organisation's control and therefore the first priority for reduction actions such as electrification of heating systems, transition to electric vehicles, and process efficiency improvements.
Practical Examples
A logistics company's direct emissions come from diesel combustion in its fleet of 200 trucks — the fuel is burned in vehicles the company owns, making these Scope 1 direct emissions.
A hospital's direct emissions include natural gas for on-site boilers, diesel for backup generators, and fugitive HFC emissions from medical refrigeration — all from sources the hospital controls.
A cement manufacturer's direct emissions include both the CO₂ from burning fossil fuels in its kiln (combustion emissions) and the CO₂ released from the calcination of limestone (process emissions).
How Climatise Helps
Climatise automatically identifies and categorises your direct emission sources from uploaded fuel, gas, and refrigerant data. The platform applies the correct Scope 1 emission factors and flags any missing data that could lead to incomplete direct emissions reporting.
Book a DemoRelated Terms
Frequently Asked Questions
Need help understanding your carbon data?
Climatise turns complex emissions data into clear, useful reports. Book a call and we'll walk you through it.
Book a Demo