For grant and funding applications
The carbon figures your grant application asks for, ready today
The form wants your annual kWh, your current emissions and a carbon baseline, and the deadline is close. Answer a few plain-English questions and you will have every figure, with the working shown, by this afternoon.
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01 · Overview
2025 to 2026 at a glance
Fernhill Studio Ltd · 12 people · Bristol
Total footprint
3.88 tCO₂e
Per employee
0.32 t
Measured data
74%
- Environmental policyIn place
- Code of conductIn place
- Diversity monitoringDeveloping
- Carbon reduction targetNext step
Sound familiar?
The form wants our emissions in tonnes
We know roughly what our energy bills cost. We have no idea how to turn that into a carbon figure an assessor will accept.
The deadline is next week
We found the grant late and there are a dozen other questions to answer. Waiting weeks for a consultant is not an option.
We are not sure what counts as a baseline
The guidance mentions a carbon baseline and projected savings. We need a starting point we can defend, not a number pulled from thin air.
The EDI and environment questions feel vague
Innovate UK and local funders ask about diversity and environmental impact. We do good things, we just have nothing written down to point to.
What carbon information do grant funders ask for?
Most green business grants want three numbers: how much energy you use, what that energy produces in carbon, and how much the project will save. The exact wording varies, but the pattern is consistent across UK schemes.
Nottingham’s Bulwell Business Decarbonisation Grant (£500 to £5,000) is a good example. It asks for annual gas and electricity use in kWh, your tariffs, current emissions in kg or tonnes, and estimated savings with an explanation of how you calculated them.
Local grants change often, so check your Growth Hub and council for what is open near you. Our green business grants guide keeps a running list.
How to get a grant-ready carbon baseline today
A carbon baseline is simply your footprint for a defined 12-month period, so a funder can see where you are starting from. ESG Now works it out from your answers using the GHG Protocol and the UK government’s official conversion factors, often called DEFRA factors.
As a rough example, a 12-person office using 18,000 kWh of electricity a year would produce around 2.4 tonnes of CO2e from electricity alone, using the 2026 UK grid factor of roughly 0.13 kg per kWh. Your report shows that exact calculation, with the factor year matched to your reporting period, so an assessor can follow it line by line.
The footprint covers Scope 1 heating fuels, company vehicles, plant fuel and refrigerant leakage, Scope 2 electricity and EV charging, and Scope 3 water, waste, business travel, courier deliveries and estimates of commuting and homeworking. If you do not have a bill to hand, the questionnaire estimates from your floor area and labels the result clearly.
Answering the environmental and EDI questions
Innovate UK competitions can include questions on equality, diversity and inclusion and on environmental or net zero impact. Specific evidence makes for a stronger answer than good intentions: a policy that is actually used, a figure you measure, a date you review it.
Your report gives you that material. The workforce section records whether you monitor diversity, pay the Real Living Wage, offer training and have a health and safety policy. The environmental section gives you a measured footprint and a prioritised action plan. The report also records whether you have an environmental policy, and the action plan flags it if one is worth adding. Our guides to the Innovate UK EDI question and the net zero question show how to turn that into strong answers.
How long it takes
An office-based SME with no vehicles usually finishes in 20 to 30 minutes. Have a recent electricity and gas bill, or your office size in square metres, plus your bin details and a rough count of work trips. Answers save as you go, so you can stop to dig out a bill and carry on. Your first report is free. Start your report and have your baseline ready before you write a word of the application.
How long will yours take?
Pick the option that sounds most like your business. You will see a realistic time, what to have nearby and a head start on the questions.
Your estimate
About 20 to 30 minutes
Around 50 questions, most of them multiple choice
Still comfortably under half an hour.
You will add your electricity and gas use, plus a quick estimate of your bins. If you do not have the exact figures, the questionnaire works them out from your floor area instead.
Handy to have nearby
- A recent electricity and gas bill (or your office size in square metres)
- How many general waste and recycling bins you have
- Headcount and a rough idea of business trains and flights
- How your team usually gets to work
Missing something? Estimates are fine, and you can come back to any answer later.
Office-based firms usually have clear, low-cost ways to cut their footprint. Your action plan will list them in order.
Start with this profileFirst report free. No card needed.
What you get at the end
Everything is generated from your answers the moment you finish. Download it, share it, and use it wherever someone asks about your ESG.
A shareable ESG report
A professional report covering environmental, social and governance, written in plain English. Ready for investors, customers, grant funders and tenders.
Your carbon footprint
Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions in tCO₂e, calculated with official UK government conversion factors. Every calculation is shown, so anyone can check it.
A private action plan
Where to focus first, prioritised actions and the data gaps worth closing. This one is just for you and your team.
Honest, labelled figures
Every number is marked as measured or estimated, with the method and your answers in the appendix. Readers know exactly what they are looking at.
Helpful guides
- Grants and fundingUK green business grants that ask for a carbon footprint (2026)Most green business grants in the UK are local, part-fund equipment like LEDs, solar and heat pumps, and increasingly ask for your current energy use and carbon footprint. Here are real 2026 examples and how to prepare.Read the guide →
- Grants and fundingHow to show a carbon baseline for a decarbonisation grantA carbon baseline is your annual emissions for a recent 12-month period, worked out from your bills with official UK factors. Here is how to build one a funder will trust.Read the guide →
- Grants and fundingThe kWh, tariff and carbon saving figures grant funders wantFunders want your annual kWh, tariffs, current emissions, projected savings and the method behind them. Here is where each figure comes from, with a worked example you can follow.Read the guide →
- Grants and fundingHow to answer the net zero question in a grant applicationThe net zero question rewards numbers and a believable plan, not big promises. Here is the structure that works, with an example answer you can adapt.Read the guide →
- Grants and fundingInnovate UK: answering the EDI and environmental impact questionsInnovate UK assessors reward specific, measurable evidence on equality, diversity and inclusion and on environmental impact. Here is how to write both answers well, even with a small team.Read the guide →
- Grants and fundingHow to prepare a council green business grant applicationCouncil green grants reward applicants who arrive with bills, quotes and a clear carbon saving. Here is how to prepare, step by step, and what to avoid.Read the guide →
Common questions
What carbon figures do green business grants usually ask for?
Most ask for your annual electricity and gas use in kWh, your current emissions in kg or tonnes of CO2e, and the savings you expect from the project. Always check the guidance for the specific scheme.
Can I use estimates in a grant application?
Often, as long as you are clear about them. The report labels every figure as measured, estimated or a data gap, which is the kind of honesty assessors respond well to. Where a scheme asks for bills, use your actual kWh.
Does the report calculate the savings from my project?
It gives you the baseline you need to show savings against. Your installer or supplier will usually quote the expected kWh saving for the equipment, and you can convert that to carbon using the same factors listed in the report's appendix.
Where do I find green business grants?
Most are run locally by councils, combined authorities and Growth Hubs, and rounds open and close often. Your local Growth Hub is the best starting point. Our guide to green business grants lists current examples.
Your first report is free.
Get your ESG report done today
Answer plain-English questions about how your business runs. You get your carbon footprint, a shareable ESG report and a clear list of next steps.
- First report free
- No card needed
- Saves as you go