Your Scope 1 emissions are calculated by adding: 

Your Scope 2 emissions are calculated following: 

The dual-reporting method and based on your reported electricity and purchased heat, cooling and steam.

For each energy type that you select, the value that you provide is converted to a standard unit of energy (terajoules or TJ). It is then multiplied by a relevant emission factor to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions from the use of that energy. The results are then aggregated when multiple energy types are entered.

Emission factors

Specific emission factors take into account your location🌎 and the year📅

The platform uses one average factor per country. Some countries, especially large ones, may have different factors within the country, as energy generation profiles can vary greatly within the country. 

💡If you have location-specific emission factors, please send them to emissionfactor@secaro.io and we will apply them to your calculations. We're currently working on improving our factors to take these differences into account.

Secaro utilizes emission factors from many authoritative sources. These sources are collected and curated to make sure they are ready for use within the tool and to make sure the calculations are as accurate as possible. These include:

• National and international agencies

  Where possible, Secaro prioritizes the use of official national government agency emission factors, ensuring alignment with country-specific reporting methodologies. These datasets are typically updated annually and reflect the most accurate country-specific data available. Examples include:

  • US EPA GHG Emission Factor Hub
  • UK DESNZ GHG Conversion Factors
  • Bilans Ademe
  • European Environment Agency
  • National inventory reports and data tables published by the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change

• 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

  The 2006 IPCC Guidelines were developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to provide methodologies and emission factors for estimating national level emissions of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, many of which can be applicable to company-level emissions reporting.

• Ember-Energy

  Ember-Energy is an independent energy think tank that focuses on accelerating the global electricity transition. It provides data and analysis on electricity generation and its associated emissions, with a particular emphasis on transitioning from coal to clean energy sources. As part of its work, Ember-Energy publishes annual well-to-tank emission factors associated with standard electricity for many countries.
  
  As we integrate this data into Secaro, the emission factors undergo a transformation process. This process separates the two key components of each emission factor:
  
  ⚡Direct emissions from electricity generation (e.g., fossil fuel combustion at power stations). This can be thought of as a location-based Scope 2 emission factor.
  
  🛠️Upstream emissions from fuel production and processing (e.g., mining, refining, and transport of fuels). This can be thought of as a Scope 3 factor.
  
  This separation is based on assumptions of electricity generation efficiency per fuel type, derived from IPCC AR5 reports.  

FAQs

• Secaro's estimator provides an indicative figure to help you understand your CO₂e footprint and any change projects you have planned or implemented. The accuracy of these indicative figures depends on the availability of country- and year-specific emission factors and the energy-saving values provided by you.
  
  Where available, the platform uses emission factors that are specific to your location and the year in which an action is targeted/completed. We have collected and curated emission factors by country and location to make the results as accurate as possible. 
  
  In cases where the year/country-specific factors are not available, the platform defaults to:
  📚IPCC 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Volume 2 Energy.
• If you would like to check an emissions factor, use your own, or enter Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions values directly, please email emissionfactor@secaro.io.
   

• Location-based: Calculates emissions using the average energy mix of the grid in your location, based on standard emission factors.

  Market-based: Uses supplier-specific emission factors or renewable energy certificates to reflect your actual energy purchasing decisions.

  Both methods are used to calculate emissions from your reported energy use (primarily Scope 1 and Scope 2).

  In most cases, Scope 1 emissions will be the same under both methods. Differences are typically seen in Scope 2 emissions, depending on your energy sourcing.