Emission factors: what they are and how to choose them
The coefficient that turns consumption into tCO₂e: official sources, annual updates and traceability for a solid report.
The emission factor is the coefficient that converts an activity data point (kWh, litres, kilometres, kilograms) into greenhouse gas emissions. It is the silent gear of every calculation: two companies with the same consumption can declare different emissions only because they use different factors. This is why the choice and traceability of the factors decide the credibility of the report.
Where the factors come from
The main sources are public and updated periodically: the national databases for the electricity grid and fuels (in Italy ISPRA), the European and international factors (European Environment Agency, IEA, DEFRA for many activity categories) and the product-specific factors when available. The rule: official source, declared year, consistent unit.
Why the year counts
The electricity grid factor changes every year with the generation mix: using the wrong factor can shift Scope 2 by double-digit percentages. The same applies to fuels when compositions change. A serious report declares for each item the factor used, the source and the reference year.
Location-based, market-based and contractual factors
For electricity two views coexist: the location-based uses the average grid factor; the market-based uses the factor of your contract, for example zero for supplies with renewable guarantees of origin. Reporting both, as the VSME asks when relevant, gives the complete picture.
How Envify manages them
The platform maintains a library of factors that are up to date and traced by source, year and methodology: every calculation line shows which factor was applied and why. When an interlocutor asks for evidence, the answer is already in the report.
