Thrust Calculator ROI
See how much time and money your team could save with Thrust Calculator.
Scope 3 Category 6 · Business Travel
1
Your current travel programme basics
Tell us about your travel programme and how emissions work is handled today. The calculator will estimate the effort required based on your reporting needs.
Consultants are costed at ~$1,500/day; in-house staff at ~$400/day (fully loaded, including salary, benefits, overheads, and management time).
In-house
Your own staff
Mix
Staff + consultants
Consultants
Outsourced
Based on an average of 200 kgCO2e per booking, using a typical mix of flights, hotel stays and train/car journeys.
50,000 tCO2e
(~250,000 bookings)
2
Compliance & Assurance
Which frameworks require you to report business travel emissions, and do you have external assurance? Each framework adds reporting effort and compliance risk.
Select all that apply. We estimate 3 days/year of reporting effort per framework (data formatting, submission preparation, cross-checks) and assess compliance risk based on whether the framework is mandatory or voluntary.
Regulatory / Mandatory — non-compliance carries penalties
Voluntary / Disclosure — affects investor scoring & tender eligibility
External assurance — whether by an internal audit team or a third-party verifier — typically costs ~$10,000 for the engagement itself, plus 3 days of staff time preparing data and responding to auditor queries. Thrust Carbon produces clean, traceable calculation outputs that make any assurance exercise significantly faster and easier.
Yes
We use external assurance
No
Not currently externally assured
Time spent preparing data packs, responding to auditor queries, and coordinating the assurance engagement. Industry average is 3 days for Scope 3 business travel assurance.
ISO 14083 sets the international standard for quantifying and reporting GHG emissions from transport chains. Without a platform already built to this standard, achieving compliant calculations requires specialist methodology work — typically 3–5 days of consultant time per year. Thrust Carbon is ISO 14083 assured, so this is built in.
Yes
ISO 14083-aligned calculations required
No
Not currently a requirement
3
Data Inputs and Normalisation
Each separate data feed requires manual collection, normalisation, and reconciliation — we estimate 5 days/year per source. Thrust Carbon's 40+ integrations automate this entirely.
Count each Travel Management Company, Online Booking Tool, or direct airline/hotel/rail portal you pull data from. Many organisations use 2–3 TMCs across different regions.
Expense management platforms (Concur, Navan, etc.), corporate card feeds, or reimbursement systems that capture out-of-policy or ad-hoc travel not booked through a TMC.
HR systems, travel policy tools, manual spreadsheets, regional offices submitting data by email, or any other feed that contributes to your travel emissions picture.
Total data sources
4
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and carbon removals are increasingly used to meet net-zero targets. Thrust Carbon's analytics help reduce emissions through better data, meaning you can avoid purchasing these expensive solutions.
No
Not planning to
Yes
Likely to invest
Select the proportion of your programme emissions you expect to cover with SAF or carbon removal purchases.
= 2,500 tCO2e at $150/tonne = $375,000/year
e.g. Watershed, Persefoni, or similar. Thrust Carbon's automated Cat 6 data feed eliminates the manual preparation, cleaning, and reconciliation work otherwise required to get accurate business travel data into your platform.
No
We don't use a generalist platform
Yes
We use Watershed, Persefoni, or similar
Why a business travel specialist matters for Scope 3 Cat 6
Scope 3.6 business travel attracts outsized levels of scrutiny — from auditors, investors, and regulators. For many organisations it is responsible for high levels of spend and a significant proportion of total carbon footprint. We produce data that is accurate, auditable, and specific enough to inform real procurement and policy decisions.
If you use Watershed, Persefoni, or a similar generalist platform, our data feeds in cleanly as a precise Scope 3 Cat 6 input — complementary, not duplicative.
If you use Watershed, Persefoni, or a similar generalist platform, our data feeds in cleanly as a precise Scope 3 Cat 6 input — complementary, not duplicative.
Thrust Calculator ROI — Your Results
Scope 3 Category 6 · Business Travel · thrustcarbon.com
$0
per year
$0
exposure mitigated
$0
per year
Breakdown & Methodology
1
Cost Avoidance — "What would this cost without Thrust Carbon?"
Data collection, normalisation & reconciliation
$0
Report preparation across frameworks
$0
Methodology maintenance and continuous development
$0
Annual audit support
$0
Total implied effort
$0
Work automated by Thrust Carbon
$0
Cost Avoidance Total
$0
2
Risk Reduction — "What are you exposed to without assured data?"
Quantifies the compliance and continuity risks Thrust Carbon mitigates. Thrust Carbon's Compliance Suite tracks obligations across all selected frameworks, reducing the risk of missed deadlines or incorrectly scoped submissions. Staff turnover creates a further risk of lost knowledge — with Thrust Carbon, methodology, data history, and audit trails stay in the platform regardless of personnel changes.
Compliance exposure across selected frameworks
$0
External assurance readiness
$0
Data quality risk reduction
Without proper tools, emissions calculations can have 30–40% error rates (BCG). Thrust Carbon eliminates manual calculation errors through automated, methodology-assured processes. Value included qualitatively — not added to total.
Included
Staff turnover & knowledge continuity
$0
Risk Reduction Total
$0
3
Operational Efficiency — "What does the platform save you day-to-day?"
Additional value over and above the automated work in Lens 1 — split across two areas: data and reporting efficiency gains, and platform intelligence savings.
Data & Reporting Efficiency
Faster reporting cycles
$0
Data source coordination
$0
Supplier & client data requests
$0
Platform Intelligence
Ad-hoc emissions insights
$0
Carbon budget setting & tracking
$0
Net-zero planning (NetZero Forecaster)
$0
Efficiency Gain Total
$0
How we calculate these figures
Built on the Verdantix Verified Value Delivery (VVD) model, this calculator assesses value across three lenses: cost avoidance, risk reduction, and operational efficiency. Rather than asking how large your team is, we estimate the effort implied by your reporting requirements — then show you what that costs and what Thrust Carbon handles as your outsourced sustainability team.
Key assumptions: Consultant rate: $1,500/day. In-house rate: $400/day (fully loaded). Data collection, normalisation & reconciliation: 5 days/year per source. Data source coordination: 1.5 days/year per source. Reporting: 3 days/year per framework. Methodology maintenance & development: 7 days/year (always specialist work). Automation factor: 90% (Nasdaq Metrio / Forrester TEI study). Assurance prep and assurance saving: blended rate (reflects whether work is done in-house or by consultants). Compliance exposure: $5,000/year per mandatory framework, $2,500/year per voluntary. Staff turnover ramp-up: 10 days. Programme-scaled items (small→large): audit support 3–5 days, insights 2–4 days, carbon budgets 2–5 days, net-zero planning 1–2 days, data requests 2–5 days, generalist platform integration saving 2–4 days (blended rate — manual data preparation and reconciliation work). Programme size: 200 kgCO2e per booking (typical mix of flights, hotels and rail/car). SAF/removals cost: $150/tonne. All figures are estimates — actual savings may vary.
Key assumptions: Consultant rate: $1,500/day. In-house rate: $400/day (fully loaded). Data collection, normalisation & reconciliation: 5 days/year per source. Data source coordination: 1.5 days/year per source. Reporting: 3 days/year per framework. Methodology maintenance & development: 7 days/year (always specialist work). Automation factor: 90% (Nasdaq Metrio / Forrester TEI study). Assurance prep and assurance saving: blended rate (reflects whether work is done in-house or by consultants). Compliance exposure: $5,000/year per mandatory framework, $2,500/year per voluntary. Staff turnover ramp-up: 10 days. Programme-scaled items (small→large): audit support 3–5 days, insights 2–4 days, carbon budgets 2–5 days, net-zero planning 1–2 days, data requests 2–5 days, generalist platform integration saving 2–4 days (blended rate — manual data preparation and reconciliation work). Programme size: 200 kgCO2e per booking (typical mix of flights, hotels and rail/car). SAF/removals cost: $150/tonne. All figures are estimates — actual savings may vary.
Looking for travel cost savings too?
This calculator covers the value of carbon measurement, compliance, and reporting for business travel. To see projected savings from behavioural change — nudging travellers toward lower-cost, lower-carbon choices — try the EngageAI ROI Calculator.