To assess your Corporate Carbon Footprint, you’ll need an emission factor associated with each of your activities. Best practices take many criteria into account, such as:
The reliability of the creator of the emission factor
The technical correlation between the activity related to the emission factor and your activity
The temporal correlation between the activity related to the emission factor and your activity
The geographical correlation between the activity related to the emission factor and your activity
The coverage of the sample studied to create the emission factor
Other diverse criteria (the global warming potential version used, source consistency, granularity of emissions across gases…)
Deciding which trade off is optimal can be a complex task, which is why we built our algorithm to automatically assign an emission factor to your Activity Data Sources. This trade off is based on our experience with corporate carbon footprints, and the relative strengths and limitations of each emission factor source.
In the table below you will find the main emission factor sources you will encounter in Cozero, along with a few details on why we choose to use them.
Emission factor source & brief description | Main uses | Strengths | Additional considerations |
IEA(International Energy Agency)
An autonomous intergovernmental organization that provides data, analysis, and policy recommendations for energy-related issues.
| • Upstream electricity and electricity losses for energy related activities • Country specific grid mixes | • Comprehensive energy coverage of all major energy sectors
• Annually updated data
• Highly regarded for its data quality | • Data gaps for emerging economies |
EXIOBASE
A global multi-regional database that tracks economic activities and their environmental impacts across industries and countries. | • Spend-based emission factors for a wide range of sectors | • Data at consistent level of detail in terms of sectors, products, emissions and resources • Includes >40 countries, 160 industry sectors and 200 product categories
| • Limited temporal coverage due to infrequent data updates |
DEFRA(UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs)
Provides greenhouse gas emission factors for reporting purposes in the UK. | • Emission factors for various sectors (incl. fuels, travel & transportation, waste management, refrigerant gases and production materials) • If there are gaps in the data provided by the IEA: upstream emission factors and T&D losses for energy related activities • Conversion factors (net and gross value if applicable)
| • High data reliability that is regularly updated • Wide coverage in terms of sectors → energy use, water consumption, waste disposal, recycling and transport activities.
| • Primary focus on the UK |
Agribalyse
French database providing lifecycle assessment data for agricultural and food products. | • Weight-based emission factors for agricultural products and ready-to-eat foods | • High specificity for food and agriculture • Wide product coverage allowing for detailed comparisons | • Limited to France • No fixed, regular pattern for data updates
• Emission factors encompass activities only from cradle to gate
|
World Bank
Provides global data on energy, emissions, and economic factors for development studies. | • Emission factors linked to electricity losses in renewable energy | • Comprehensive global coverage | • Lower granularity for specific and emerging technologies |
ADEME(Agency for the Environment & Energy Management)
French public agency that provides support and tools for environmental protection and energy management in France. | • High level emission factors, covering a wide array across many types of units and activities
| • High quality and reliable data • Coverage of various sectors
| • Primarily relevant for France |
CBAM(Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism)
EU policy tool that assigns carbon emission costs to imported goods. The European Commission publishes emission factors providing the necessary metrics for compliance and environmental integrity.
| • Emission factors for materials & manufacturing components affected by CBAM regulation | • Reliable and comprehensive data for key sectors that fall under CBAM reporting • High granularity for high-emission sectors | • Limited to sectors relevant for CBAM reporting • Default values are generally higher than supplier specific data • Boundaries of activities are different from most other sources. For purchased goods, CBAM considers embodied emissions whereas most sources consider cradle-to-gate emissions. |
Eaternity
LCA-database on food items curated by universities and research institutes in Switzerland. | • Weight-based emissions factors for food ingredients and finished foods | • Large and comprehensive including more than 550 core ingredients • High granularity within food and agriculture sector | • Focused on European data • Often relies on generalized assumptions |
AIB(Association of Issuing Bodies)
European organization that manages and promotes the use of energy attribute certificates to track the production and consumption of renewable energy in Europe. | • Country residual mix emission factors for the market-based method of energy accounting
| • Annually updated data • Reliable data quality | • Focus on Europe • Data is typically aggregated on a national level. |
EPA(Environmental Protection Agency)
United States government agency that provides emission factors for organizational greenhouse gas reporting in the United States. | • Primarily spend-based emission factors for manufacturing & industry • Weight-based emission factors for refrigerants and coolants | • Usually updated annually • High reliability and credibility | • Primarily US-focused • Occasional gaps in data for certain years |
GLEC(Global Logistics Emissions Council)
Aims to develop and promote a standardised approach for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions from logistics and supply chain emissions. | • Direct and upstream emission factors for freight transport by road, rail, air and sea | • Tailored for the logistics industry • Global applicability • Alignment with global standards → GHG Protocol, CDP reporting, ISO 14083, Global Green Freight Action Plan | • No fixed update schedule • Limited data for emerging technologies |
Supplier data
Emission factors and data provided directly by suppliers. | • Custom emission factors for company-specific activities and products | • High specificity and granularity | • Variable quality • May lack 3rd-party verification • Requires supplier engagement |
Ecoinvent
Non-profit association that provides a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database supporting various types of sustainability assessments. | • Highly specific emission factors for a range of sectors covering industries, infrastructure, services and natural resources | • Global coverage • High granularity and reliability | • Limited free emission factors available per customer; additional access requires a license purchase. |