To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what methodology is used by her Department to account for its carbon emissions. (140782)

Communities and Local Government calculates its carbon emissions from buildings by establishing energy consumption in kilowatt hours, through either automated meter reads, manual meter reads or utility billing information. The resultant energy consumption figures are then multiplied by the relevant carbon emission factors.

All carbon conversion factors are provided by the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs, and the resultant emissions data are submitted to the Sustainable Development Commission as part of the Sustainable Development in Government Report. Last year’s report is available on the Sustainable Development Commission’s Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) Report 2006 website:

http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/sdig2006/.