What is Scope 2 emissions?

Every time you flip a light switch at work, turn on a computer, or run the air conditioning, you're creating emissions. But here's the interesting part - those emissions aren't happening in your building. They're happening somewhere else entirely.

Scope 2 emissions come from the electricity your organisation uses. While your office or facility isn't directly burning fossil fuels to create this electricity, power stations often are. The emissions from generating that electricity get counted as part of your organisation's footprint because you're the one using the power. Think of it like this: you're not cooking the meal, but you ordered it, so the ingredients used become part of your sustainability impact.

For most organisations, Scope 2 is primarily about electricity. Unless you're purchasing steam, heating, or cooling services from external providers (which applies to relatively few organisations), your Scope 2 story is straightforward - it's the emissions from generating the electricity that powers your operations.

Here's something interesting about electricity: where it comes from matters as much as how much you use. The same office building could have very different emissions depending on whether it's powered by renewable energy or coal-fired power stations. This connection between your electricity use and the broader energy system is what makes Scope 2 both straightforward to understand and full of possibilities.

What makes Scope 2 particularly interesting is that it sits between direct control and indirect influence. You can't control how electricity is generated, but the choices you make about energy use become part of your emissions story.

Understanding Scope 2 helps complete the picture of emissions connected to your day-to-day operations. Combined with Scope 1, these represent the emissions most closely tied to what happens within your organisation's walls. But the emissions story doesn't end there. The largest portion of most organisations' footprints comes from Scope 3 - all the indirect emissions from your value chain, from suppliers to customers.