# How do I calculate emissions from buses my school owns and runs?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/school-owned-buses-emissions-scope-1

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.

- [Student commuting in Scope 3](https://senseible.earth/answers/student-commuting-scope-3-school)
- [School carbon footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/school-carbon-footprint-how-to-calculate)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Corporate Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard), [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults)](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html)

Last reviewed 2026-10-21.