Within DHI, we continuously strive to conduct our operations in an environmentally sound manner. We actively seek to avoid or reduce any waste and minimise our carbon footprint through our operations and water usage. Parts of our operations are more energy-intensive than others, e.g. the use of diesel fuel for our fleet of marine vessels. When available, in future, we are open to new technologies to decrease these harmful substances.  

We are committed to working towards reaching net zero by 2025 for our scope 1 and 2 emissions (market-based).  

Water consumption  

DHI is in the business of protecting and managing water environments and ecosystems, and that is why being prudent in the way we use water is second nature to us.  

 

Each DHI office is responsible for monitoring usage and ensuring functioning utilities infrastructure. These offices are typically not water intensive as consumption is limited to restrooms and kitchen/canteen facilities.  

 

In addition to business offices, DHI operates ballast water test facilities and laboratories in Denmark. The ballast water test facility conducts biological evaluations of maritime technologies and other technical equipment. These test facilities are using freshwater and seawater for tests, and this consumption is not comparable to other businesses of DHI, including FTE-comparable.  

 

For 2022, our total water consumption excluding test facilities amounted to 6.3 mega litres, approximately at the same level as the year before (2021: 6.4 mega litres). This equates to a water intensity of 6,198 litres per FTE for the year (2021: 6,196 litres per FTE).  

 

Going forward, we will continue to monitor our water footprint and work towards reductions.  

Our energy use and carbon footprint

DHI has committed to working towards reaching net zero by 2025 related to sources that are owned or controlled by DHI, namely within scope 1 and scope 2. Our scope 1 emissions stem from our owned assets such as fuel for our fleet of marine vessels and cars, whereas scope 2 emissions relate to energy purchases, with considerable energy used to power our servers, IT equipment and test facilities.

During 2022, we have worked to reduce our CO2 emissions and we have invested in offset programmes.

Our carbon footprint (scope 1 and 2 market-based) amounted to 1,153 MtCO2e, significantly lower than the year before (2021: 1,707 MtCO2e). The reduction is mainly due to Danish Renewable Energy Certificates covering the electricity consumption at the DHI headquarters in Denmark. We are aware that certificates are merely a guarantee that green electricity is produced corresponding to the agreed amount, however, currently this is considered the best alternative for DHI at this time. Our carbon footprint (scope 1 and 2 location-based) was 1,262 MtCO2e, which is approximately at the same level as the year before (2021: 1,225 MtCO2e), amounting to 1.2 MtCO2e per FTE (2021: 1.2 MtCO2e per FTE).

We will continue to implement energy savings to reduce emission and costs and furthermore investigate additional options for residual emissions, e.g., through verified carbon offsetting programmes.

As expected, our scope 3 emissions from air travel increased in 2022 compared to 2021, as many countries returned to a normality following the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, emissions from air travel increased from 250 MtCO2e in 2021 to 977 MtCO2e in 2022. For 2023, we expect this increase to continue. However, we will initiate plans to reduce it in the future.

DHI’s net zero commitment is confirmed, and in the coming years, we will work to continuously reduce our consumption of energy and water. As a company working with water contributing to solving the world’s water challenges and protecting water-related ecosystems, our aim is to invest in our own services and especially the method for blue carbon looks like a promising method to achieve net zero.

We will improve the data collection and tracking of emissions, including the continuance of internal initiatives to reduce our emissions. We will also establish formalised roles and responsibilities to undertake the global energy audit needed for all our offices, focusing on scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. In the future, we also have an ambition to complete a scope 3 mapping to understand our full footprint.