EcoForge: Emissions Pathway Forecasting for Local Authorities

An online platform that forecasts a local authority's emissions pathway to 2040, so officers can compare interventions and fund the ones that move the number.
Technology No. 45015

Background

Every local authority working towards net zero faces the same question: which emissions intervention is worth funding? Before committing spend, a council needs to know which candidates will actually move its emissions, and by how much, using numbers it can defend.

EcoForge began as research at the University of Sheffield into how the region can most effectively navigate its way to net zero. It is built on the Regional Emissions Budgeting Framework (REBF), developed with the South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre. The councils doing this work need answers in an afternoon, not a research cycle.

About EcoForge

EcoForge is a web-based platform that forecasts a local authority's emissions pathway to 2040. It sizes the prize, not the price: it models the reduction each intervention delivers, the tonnes side of a business case, while costings stay with the council's own finance team.

A forecast takes three steps:

  1. Pick your authority and a sector: transport, stationary energy, waste, or agriculture, forestry and land use.
  2. Set a cut and a base year. A scenario is one intervention: a percentage reduction against a baseline year you choose.
  3. Put the candidates side by side. Overlay up to three scenarios against business as usual, on screen and in a PDF you can take into the room.

Every figure is built on published open-access official statistics and traces back to source data for the selected authority. Coverage currently includes Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.

Features

  • Authority-level forecasts to 2040, by sector, for the authority you select.
  • Up to three scenarios per forecast, overlaid against business as usual to show which intervention pulls furthest away.
  • Target-driven pathways (Tier Two): set a target and receive ranked combinations of area-level reductions that reach it.
  • Exportable PDF reports for stakeholder and committee meetings.
  • Transparent sourcing: every figure is built on published open-access official statistics and traces back to its source data.
  • Team access: shared access for the named users within the licensed authority.

Example uses

  • Strategy teams needing defensible emissions numbers for a climate strategy or its refresh.
  • Officers preparing business cases who need the emissions side of an intervention quantified.
  • Authorities exploring interventions before committing spend, comparing candidates side by side.
  • Authorities building a complete climate strategy that needs defined pathways rather than single interventions.


Tier Comparison

TIER ONE: PREDICT IMPACTS. £1,500 per authority per year.

Run up to three scenarios against business as usual to see the impact of a specific intervention.

  • EcoForge's proprietary forecasting engine
  • Save up to three forecasts
  • Visual pathway charts to 2040
  • Exportable PDF for stakeholder meetings
  • Built on published open-access official statistics
  • Every figure traces back to source data for your authority
  • Up to 10 users per authority

Best for: strategy teams needing defensible emissions numbers; officers preparing business cases; authorities exploring interventions before committing spend.



TIER TWO: CHART A COURSE. £6,500 per authority per year.

Set your target, and EcoForge returns the combinations of area-level reductions that reach it.

Everything in Tier One, plus:

  • Unlimited saved forecasts (compare three at a time)
  • Target-driven pathway generation
  • Recommended combinations of reductions
  • Annual review of assumptions
  • Optional workshop add-on

Best for: authorities building a complete climate strategy; teams needing defined pathways rather than individual interventions.

Further Information

rebf-ecoforge.chptrs.tech

Enquiries

[email protected]

Platform built by ∞CHPTRS (Infinite Chapters Ltd): https://chptrs.tech

Data Attribution Notice: Contains public sector information: © Crown 2026 copyright Defra & DESNZ via naei.energysecurity.gov.uk licenced under the Open Government Licence (OGL).

  • expand_more mode_edit Authors (2)
    Vania Sena
    Dr Ling Min Tan
  • expand_more cloud_download Supporting documents (1)
    Product brochure
    EcoForge: Emissions Pathway Forecasting for Local Authorities.pdf
    DOWNLOAD
    Additional files may be available once you've completed the transaction for this product. If you've already done so, please log into your account and visit My account / Downloads section to view them.
EcoForge Subscription, Tier One or Tier Two
One year's access for one local authority, for up to 10 users. Emissions forecasts to 2040, built on published open-access official statistics, with every figure traced to source data. Tier One (£1,500/yr): save up to three forecasts of specific interventions against business as usual, with visual pathway charts and an exportable PDF report. Tier Two (£6,500/yr): everything in Tier One, plus unlimited saved forecasts and target-driven pathways: set your target and EcoForge recommends the combinations of reductions that reach it, with an annual review of assumptions.

Expires on : 1 year

Options available:
From £1,500.00 excl. VAT