Requirements and guidelines according to the GHG Protocol
Category 2.1 of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol covers emissions from purchased electricity used within a company's operational boundaries. These emissions fall under Scope 2 (indirect emissions) and are caused by a company's electricity consumption.
Important requirements
Source identification: Companies should identify all sites and processes that consume electricity.
Consumption measurement: Electricity consumption can be recorded from bills, meters or energy management systems.
Emission factors: Companies should use standardized emission factors for the electricity mix of the respective supplier or national averages.
Site-based and market-based reporting: The GHG Protocol distinguishes between site-based (grid-mix) and market-based (contractually secured) emission factors. If possible, the market-based factor should always be used.
Reporting period: The recorded consumption should be assigned to a consistent reporting period (e.g. calendar year).
Units: Electricity consumption should be documented in kilowatt hours (kWh).
Recording in NetCero
Follow these steps to record emissions from purchased electricity in NetCero:
Create activity: record all relevant electricity consumption sources (e.g. office buildings, production facilities) as separate activities.
Assign responsibility: Designate a person responsible for data collection and maintenance.
Assign recording object: Assign each activity to the correct business unit to ensure clear allocation.
Select emission factors: Users standardized emission factors from the NetCero database, based on the electricity mix used.
Define your own market-based emission factors: Add company-specific factors if accurate Supplier or contract data is available.
To do this, select the "Market-based (energy)" type when creating a new emission factor
Document electricity consumption: Record electricity consumption directly in the table within the activity - based on measurements or invoices.
Automatic emission calculation: NetCero calculates the emissions per activity and integrates them into the overall balance.
Examples of emissions from purchased electricity
Example 1: Office building of a company
A company operates an office building that consumes 500,000 kWh of electricity per year. If the location-based emission factor for the electricity mix is 0.4 kg CO2e/kWh, the emissions amount to
500,000 kWh x 0.4 kgCO2e/kWh = 200,000 kgCO2e (200 tCO2e)
Example 2: Production plant with contractually secured green electricity
A factory uses 1,000,000 kWh of electricity per year. The company has a contract with an electricity supplier that supplies 100% Renewable energy. If the market-based emission factor is 0 kg CO2e/kWh, the result is
1,000,000 kWh x 0 kgCO2e/kWh = 0 kgCO2e
Example 3: Data center with a national average value
A data center consumes 2,000,000 kWh of electricity per year. If the national average value for the electricity mix is 0.45 kg CO2e/kWh, the emissions amount to
2,000,000 kWh x 0.45 kgCO2e/kWh = 900,000 kgCO2e (900 tCO2e)
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