How do I calculate emissions from buses my school owns and runs?
Diesel for buses the school owns or leases and runs with its own drivers is Scope 1: multiply litres from fuel invoices by 2.68 kg CO2 per litre. Buses hired with drivers from a contractor are Scope 3, and parents' own trips are student commuting.
Which scope
- School-owned or leased buses with school drivers: Scope 1.
- Buses hired with drivers from a transport contractor: Scope 3, Category 1.
- Private vans or cars arranged by parents: student commuting, outside Scope 1 and 2.
Data to keep
Fuel invoices or fuel card statements per bus, route distance and the number of students on each route.
Per student
Divide by students carried, and report per route to see which routes use the most fuel per child.
Worked example: ten school buses (one month, illustrative inputs)
- Diesel: 3,000 litres x 2.68 = 8,040 kg CO2
- Students carried: 600
- Per student: 8,040 / 600 = 13.4 kg CO2 a month
Litres and student numbers are illustrative.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel invoices and fuel card statements (diesel 2.68 and CNG 2.69 kg CO2, IPCC 2006 defaults) into a fingerprinted Scope 1 record. Hired transport goes to the Scope 3 evidence trail, and distance or tonne-km estimates are labelled as estimates.
Sources: GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults)
Last reviewed 2026-10-21.