Emission factors

An emission factor converts activity into emissions — kilograms of CO₂e per litre, per kilowatt-hour, per kilometre. Open Factor Library to see every factor ETP calculates with, including its source and the year it applies to.

Where they come from

Published sources, recorded per factor. Australian fuel, electricity and waste factors come from the National Greenhouse Accounts; refrigerant global warming potentials come from IPCC AR5. Every row names its source, so you can cite it in a report rather than take our word for it.

How ETP chooses one

ETP works down a ladder and stops at the first match: a factor your organisation added, then a published factor for your exact region, then the national one, then an international fallback.

If nothing on that ladder matches, ETP does not substitute a default and does not quietly record a zero. It tells you no factor was found and shows you what it searched for. That is deliberate: a wrong number that looks right is worse than a gap you can see.

Provisional factors

Some rows are marked provisional. They are usable and sourced, but not yet final — a derived blend, or a figure awaiting confirmation against a newer publication. Check the flag in the library before quoting a factor in an audited report.

Adding your own

Where no published factor fits — supplier-specific data, or a process unique to your operation — an owner can add an organisation factor from the Factor Library. You supply the value, the unit and the source. It is private to your organisation and it wins over the published one, so record the source properly; future-you will be asked where it came from.

Process Emissions is the one Scope 1 category with no published factor set — it is too industry-specific. If you record process emissions, expect to add your own factors.