Requirements and guidelines according to the GHG Protocol
Category 2.4 of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol covers emissions from purchased cooling that is used within the operational boundaries of a company. These emissions fall under Scope 2 (indirect emissions) and are caused by the provision of cooling by external suppliers.
Important requirements
Source identification: Companies should identify all sites and processes that purchase cooling from external suppliers.
Consumption measurement: This can be recorded from invoices, energy management systems or consumption reports.
Emission factors: Companies should use the specific emission factors for the cooling supplied or use national averages.
Site-based and market-based reporting: The GHG Protocol distinguishes between site-based (average network values) and market-based (contractually secured) emission factors.
Reporting period: The recorded consumption should be assigned to a consistent reporting period (e.g. calendar year).
Units: Purchased cooling should be documented in megawatt hours (MWh) or gigajoules (GJ).
Recording in NetCero
Follow these steps to record emissions from purchased cooling in NetCero:
Create activity: record all relevant consumption sources (e.g. data centers, refrigerated warehouses) as separate activities.
Assign responsibility: Designate a person responsible for data collection and maintenance.
Assign data entry 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 energy source supplied.
Define your own emission factors: Add company-specific factors if accurate Supplier or contract data is available.
Document cooling consumption: Record consumption directly in the table within the activity - based on measurements or invoices.
Automatic calculation of emissions: NetCero calculates the emissions per activity and integrates them into the overall balance.
Examples of emissions from purchased cooling
Example 1: Data center with district cooling
A data center purchases 20,000 MWh of district cooling annually. If the location-based emission factor for district cooling is 0.15 kg CO2e/kWh, the emissions amount to
20,000,000 kWh x 0.15 kgCO2e/kWh = 3,000,000 kgCO2e (3,000 tCO2e)
Example 2: Supermarket with refrigerated warehouses
A supermarket purchases 10,000 GJ of refrigeration per year for food storage. If the emission factor for this refrigeration is 0.12 kg CO2e/MJ, the emissions amount to
10,000,000 kWh x 0.12 kgCO2e/kWh = 1,200,000 kgCO2e (1,200 tCO2e)
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