Emission Factor Databases
An emission factor is a numerical coefficient that specifies the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) released into the atmosphere by a particular process or product. These factors play a crucial role in measuring the greenhouse gas emissions associated with various activities, such as energy consumption, transportation, waste management, water usage, and materials purchase. For example, the UK government's emission factor database (Defra) specifies how traveling 1 kilometer in a standard taxi or how consuming one kWh of electricity corresponds to emitting x kilograms of CO2. These factors are also commonly known as conversion factors, emission intensity, and carbon intensity.
Continia Sustainability provides users with the option to create or import their own emission factors that are specifically tailored to their industry needs or provided by the company's own suppliers. Additionally, the platform includes pre-installed Emission Factor Sets sourced from government and international official sources and contains both widely used global data and country-specific information.
The following default Emission Factor Sets in Continia Sustainability are license-free and provided by official government sources:
| Country | Database | Owner | Emission sources included | Data type included | Latest version | Years included in CS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global | Electric | Various sources | Electricity | Physical | - | 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| Global | Exiobase | Private Consultancy | Fuels, Electricity, Materials and Food, Transport, Waste, Services | Hybrid | EXIOBASE-v4.0-GHG-intensities_20240220 | 2023 |
| Denmark | Klimakompasset1 | Business Authority and Energy Agency | Energy, Fuels, Refrigerants, Materials and Goods, Travels and Transport, Waste, Services | Physical, Monetary | Emissionsfaktorark_2015-2035_2024_v.4 | 2023, 2024, 2025 |
| Europe | AIB | Association of Issuing Bodies | Electricity | Physical | AIB_2023_Residual_Mix_FINALResults09072024 | 2022, 2023 |
| Netherlands | CO2 Emissie Factoren | Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate | Fuels, Energy, Travels and Transport, Refrigerants | Physical | CO2emissiefactoren-2024-2015-dd-20-3-2024 | 2023, 2024 |
| New Zealand | New Zealand summary of emission factors | Governmental | Fuels, Refrigerants, Travels and Transport, Waste, Land use change and Agriculture. | Physical | Measuring_Emissions_Flat_EmissionFactors_2024 | 2023, 2024 |
| New Zealand | Auckland Council Consumption Emission Methodology | Auckland Council | Materials, Transport, Services | Monetary | consumption-emissions-modelling-market-economics-march-2023-dataset | 2023 |
| United Kingdom | Defra2 | Governmental Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs | Fuels, Bioenergy, Electricity, Refrigerants, Vehicles, Travels and Transport, Materials and Goods, Waste and Water | Physical | ghg-conversion-factors-2024_full_set_for_advanced_users | 2023, 2024 |
| United Kingdom | SIC | UK Government | Fuels, Electricity, Water supply, Transport, Materials and Goods, Services | Monetary | UK full dataset 1990 - 2020, including conversion factors by SIC code (last updated January 2024) | 2020 |
| United States | US EPA Supply Chain Emissions | Environment Protection Agency | Fuels, Energy, Materials and Goods, Transport, Services | Monetary | Supply Chain GHG Emission Factors v1.2 NAICS by GHG USD2021 | 2021 |
| United States | US EPA for GHG Inventories | Environment Protection Agency | Fuels, Energy, Transport, Waste, Travel, Refrigerants | Physical | ghg-emission-factors-hub-2024 | 2024 |
- For Klimakompasset, additional setup is required for Waste Disposal Methods, and Material Sources.
- For Defra, additional setup is required for Vehicle Laden Codes, Waste Disposal Methods, and Material Sources.