Vodafone Essar announced that its carbon emissions stand at 1.96 million tonnes in financial year 2010-11.

 Its Scope 1 and 2 emissions for 2010/11 were 379,602 tonnes of CO2 which includes data from its network where the company has operational control (sites, switches and data centres) and offices and retail stores.

This will be used as Vodafone Essar’s baseline to compare future energy saving initiatives. It includes emissions from tower companies and shared sites under Scope 3. This emission, along with the emissions from short haul flights, was close to 1.966 million tonnes of CO2.

While Vodafone Essar does not have direct management control over the majority of these emissions the company is working with its suppliers to find low carbon solutions.

Our overall emissions for 2010-11 remain relatively stable from the figures collated in 2009-10; this is despite the growth in our business – 33 percent increase in customers and a 9 percent growth in number of base stations. We’re pleased with the improvements that we’ve made to our energy data collection this year. Now we have a comprehensive and reliable picture of our carbon footprint, giving us a focus for continued improvements,” Vodafone Essar said in its report.

Thanks to the utilization of Non EB Hybrid site savings, Vodafone Essar achieved 54 percent reduction in carbon emissions.

The CO2 emission/month (kg) has come down to 1544 from 2850. The telecom operator reduced the diesel consumption to 572 litre from 1056 liters, Vodafone Essar said in its first-ever sustainability report Footprint 2010-11.