The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero wants to upgrade the software system used to generate annual estimates of greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. Currently it says storing, processing and reporting data is done via “a set of XLS files, Access databases & SQL, with other software linking these”.
The system outputs are used by the government to report against its emissions targets, both internal (such as Carbon Budgets) and external (such as the Paris Agreement).
It wants a new software approach which streamlines the system, using standard architecture across all inventory sectors to store, analyse and report emissions.
The £4M procurement includes constructing the new system, “ensuring that the outputs of the new system reproduce the outputs of the existing system, or where differences exist these are understood, documented, and accepted” and aligned with existing IPCC Inventory Guidelines and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) emissions reporting requirements. It will also include an arm’s length ‘digital assurance’ function
Work is due to start on the new system in October.
The current UK National Inventory System is here.