The CO2 emissions are under the spotlight with new company data, ongoing regulatory plans, and tangible results in Spanish cities. The game is moving on several fronts: large companies adjusting their footprint, transportation accelerating its decarbonization, and electric mobility consolidating its climate advantage.
At the same time, the EU is fine-tuning its control mechanisms for sectors that were not yet required to monitor or pay for their pollution, while the automotive and battery industries are introducing improvements that reduce their carbon footprint from design and production.
Companies that reduce their CO2 footprint
Alcampo achieved a 9% decrease in CO2 emissions per square meter compared to the previous year, going from 4,43 to 4,01 in a year in which it also added 200 stores and expanded its footprint (customer travel, home delivery, business travel, and corporate fleet).
At the Scope 1 —direct emissions—, the company accounts for natural gas, diesel, the use of its own vehicles, and especially refrigerant gases, which exceed 95% of this scope.
At the Scope 2 —electricity consumed—, emissions have been zero since 2018 when contracting 100% renewable energy, which implies a 100% reduction compared to its base year of 2013.
El Scope 3 —indirect emissions— include water, paper, logistics, waste, travel, last mile, and product marketing, the latter accounting for 86% of the company's total. To address this, Alcampo launched its program in 2023 Alliances for Decarbonization, with climate maturity assessment and annual monitoring of objectives.
Ercros, for its part, communicated a 38% reduction in its GHG emissions (direct and indirect by energy) between 2020 and 2024 and a 9% decrease in its total emissions index, with 8.580 tons of CO2 avoided in 2024 thanks to logistics measures oriented towards the circular economy within its plan of diversification, digitalization and decarbonization.
Transport and logistics: emissions monitoring and results on the ground
The European Commission is considering extending the MRV (monitoring, reporting and verification) medium-sized vessels currently exempt, including fishing vessels between 400 and 4.999 GT, as a preliminary step to their possible entry into European emissions trading (ETS).
The most ambitious scenario of the technical study would add 11,32 million tons of CO2 per year to the MRV coverage; fishing alone would contribute about 2,3 billion tons, placing it among the largest emitting groups currently outside the system.
The estimated administrative cost would be 3.690 euros per year per vessel medium for procedures and verification, with an aggregate impact of 31,5 million euros per year for companies and approximately 252.000 euros for administrations. cost-benefit ratio It would be negative if it remains only in the MRV, although it would improve if the ETS is later activated for these ships.
In regions like Galicia, the measure would apply to deep-sea vessels of 400 GT or more, with special cargo for SMEs. Flexibilities are being considered, such as a single annual report for vessels operating only within the EU. It should be remembered that the MRV is now mandatory for vessels over 5.000 GT, responsible for 85% of the CO2 from international maritime transport.
In logistics, a program report Lean & Green attributes the 82,9% reduction achieved at efficiency measures, with smaller—but significant—contributions from fleet renewal, electrification, and renewables.
The most common actions are: route optimization, efficient driving, improved vehicle performance, load optimization and reorganization of operations, as well as efficiency in controlled temperature and product and packaging improvements.
In the city, Zaragoza quantifies the effect of its public network: with 149 charging points In 37 locations (103 managed by Endesa X Way and 46 by Zunder), 747.963 kWh have been dispensed, equivalent to approximately 4,99 million km electric vehicle tours already 668,2 tons of CO2 avoided compared to diesel, using electricity from 100% certified renewable sources.
The council estimates that this saving is equivalent to annual absorption of 20.248 treesIn their calculations, typical grid electricity would emit 0,283 kg CO2/kWh, but renewable certification allows for zero emissions associated with charging at these points.
Electric mobility and battery footprint: what the data says
Electric vehicles often offset the “CO2 backpack” of its manufacture around 17.000 km of average use, according to analysis by the ICCT. In the case of the new BMW iX3 50 xDrive, the manufacturer estimates the break-even point at around 21.500 km with the European electricity mix, or in 17.500 km if recharged with renewables.
A P3 white paper estimates that the footprint of the battery production can be reduced from approximately 55 kg CO2e/kWh to around 20 kg CO2e/kWh by optimizing processes, supplies and energy used in the factory.
The main focus is on the cathode materials: At the material level, NMC811 is around 38 kg CO2e/kWh compared to 15 kg CO2e/kWh for the LFP (approximately 60% less), although the higher energy density of NMC may balance the results at the cell level. The energy 100% renewable In transformation and supply chain, it additionally reduces the PCF by between 33% and 38% depending on the chemistry.
In the plant, scaling up production reduces consumption per Wh and technologies such as dry coating They can reduce energy by up to 50% compared to the wet process, with the challenge of PTFE binders that currently slightly raise the PCF—a margin that could be corrected with improvements in their manufacturing.
The CO2 incorporated in the machinery production is limited (around 0,2 kg CO2e/kWh considering eight years of operation), and the recycling It provides benefits with highly variable emissions depending on the process, from ~3,6 to 12,8 kg CO2e per kg recovered and recovery rates of 70% to 25%.
With more companies reducing their footprint, regulations that expand CO2 control in transport and electric mobility that gains advantage the cleaner the recharge, the map of the CO2 emissions It shows measurable progress and clear levers: operational efficiency, renewable electricity, rigorous data tracking, and technological improvements throughout the entire value chain.
