- Emission factors are used to calculate the emissions of activity data captured against inventory(ies).
- Emission factors are usually released annually by various reporting bodies.
In New Zealand, this body is the Ministry for the Environment (MFE). - If an emission factor for the activity data being captured is not published by MFE, there are other comparable publishers, e.g.,
UK Government Greenhouse Gas Reporting Conversion Factors (DEFRA),
Australian National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER).
If you need advice, please let us know by emailing [email protected]. - 'Custom' emission factors can also be used, i.e., factors that are requested by yourself from a publisher such as Toitu.
- Users can add new and update existing emission factors as they are released or to coincide with required financial year and/or reporting periods.
- Emission factors and Emission factor groups can be added and/or edited in bulk using the Emission factor Smart Excel Template.
- To find this feature, on the menu bar, select Manage > Emission Factor Management.
Table of Contents
- Emission Factor Management Overview
- Emission Factor Groups
- Emission Factors
- Emission Factor Gases
- Approving Emission Factors
Emission Factor Management Overview
On this page, the user will see a list of all the Emission Factor Groups loaded in CSR.
These can be expanded by clicking on the expand arrow to the left of the Emission Factor Group name. This will show the Emission Factors associated with that group.
Each Emission factor can be expanded to show the Emission Factor Gases breakdown.
Emission Factor Groups
Emission Factor Groups are collections of emission factors used for inventory items. Each group will show current and historic factors (using the effective from and to dates).
Best practice is to name groups in a similar format to the names of the inventory the group is assigned to, e.g., Air Travel - Domestic Average (<1200km) (direct & indirect) (pkm) Defra emission factor group is for the Air Travel - Non NZ Domestic - Business & first (<1200 km) inventory.
Each 'in scope' inventory in CSR MUST be assigned an Emission Factor Group for emissions to be calculated from the uploaded activity data.
The system applies the relevant emission factor to the activity data. This is based on the emission factors Effective From and Effective To dates, i.e., an emission factor of 1.0000 with effective from May 2022 and effective to July 2022 will be applied to the uploaded inventory activity data for June 2022.
Creating an Emission Factor Group
To add an Emission Factor Group:
- Select Add New Emission Factor Group button at the bottom of the Emission Factor Management grid.
- An edit box is displayed at the top of the grid.
- Complete all fields to create an Emission Factor Group:
- Group Name: A descriptive name for the group.
This should also include the unit of measure, i.e., air travel - Domestic (pkm). - Resource Type: The type of resource that will use this emission factor group.
- Category: Allows effective categorisation of your emission factor groups.
- Resource UOM (Unit of Measure): The UoM that is applied to all emission factors, i.e., if L for litres, emission factors for kilolitres MUST be added to this group, not gallons,
This is also the UOM used for activity data collection for the inventory(ies) that the Emission Factor Group is assigned to, i.e., activity data collected must be in the same UOM as above. - Region: Enter the region where the emission factors in this group apply to, i.e., where the emissions occur.
Emission factors can still be used from outside the required region if regional factors do not exist. The factor may be from DEFRA (UK) but if the emissions occur in NZ, this region is used.
- Group Name: A descriptive name for the group.
- Select the Insert button to save the Emission Factor Group.
- Select Cancel to discard the creation of the new Emission Factor Group.
Editing Emission Factor Groups
To edit an existing Emission Factor Group:
- Select the Edit button to the left of the Emission Factor Group ID.
- The edit box is displayed.
- To save any changes, click the Update button.
- To discard changes, click the Cancel button.
Deleting Emission Factor Groups
To delete an existing Emission Factor Group:
- Select the Delete button to the right of the Emission Factor Group UOM.
- Select OK in the pop up to delete the Emission Factor Group.
- Select Cancel to to keep the Emission Factor Group.
! Deleting an Emission Factor Group will remove the group from all inventory using it, and set the associated factor to "Not Assigned".
Reported emissions will be impacted as the factor applied to the inventory will be zero.
Any 'in scope' inventory need an emission factor group to calculate emissions.
Emission Factors
Emission Factors are listed chronologically within each Emission Factor Group.
Each emission factor must always have:
- An Effective From date.
- An Effective To date.
- A value for tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) factor.
- A breakdown of the above value by gases.
Creating an Emission Factor
To add an emission factor:
- Expand the Emission Factor Group and select the Add a new emission factor button at the bottom of the Emission Factor Group grid.
- An edit box is displayed at the top of the grid.
- Complete all fields to create an Emission Factor:
- tCO2e Factor: The tonnes of CO2 equivalent factor to a maximum of 12 decimal places.
- Effective From: The date this emission factor is effective from.
CSR applies emission factors on a monthly basis, i.e., if May 15th is selected, it will assume May 1st. - Effective To: The date this emission factor is effective to.
CSR applies emission factors on a monthly basis, i.e., if May 15th is selected, it will assume May 30th. - Description: Add a description for this Emission Factor.
- Source: Add the source of this emission factor.
If possible, add the page number and table and/or URL to allow other users to easily locate the original information.
- Select the Insert button to save the Emission Factor.
- Select Cancel to discard the creation of the new Emission Factor.
Editing Emission Factors
To edit an emission factor:
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Select the Edit button to the left of the emission factor.
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This opens the edit box at the top of the grid.
- To save any changes, select the Update button.
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To discard changes, select the Cancel button.
Deleting Emission Factors
To delete an Emission Factor:
- Select the Delete button to the right of the Emission Factor Group UoM.
- Select OK in the pop up to delete the Emission Factor.
- Select Cancel to to keep the Emission Factor.
Deleting an Emission Factor will prevent any emissions being calculated for the activity data uploaded against inventory with that Emission Factor Group assigned.
Reported emissions will be impacted as the factor applied to the inventory will be zero.
An 'in scope' inventory needs an emission factor for the time period activity data was upload against to calculate emissions.
Emission Factor Gases
Emission factors require individual gases along with the tCO2e factor.
These are applied to any Business Intelligence (BI) dashboards you have and also to the "Emissions Breakdown by Gas" report.
If the emission factor does not contain the gas breakdown, it is possible that the emissions will be calculated incorrectly.
The sum of all individual gas factors must equal the tCO2e factor.
Good to Know:
- It is possible that from time to time, the gases sum and tCO2e factor vary slightly. This could be down to rounding or an error from the factor provided.
- If an emission factor does not have a gas breakdown specified or that gas category is not available, it is best practice to use add the value to the Other gas field.
- If a user is uploading the emission factors via the Emission Factor Smart Excel Template, it is worth noting that not all gases available through this feature appear in the template. These can be added to the emission factor later as shown below.
Creating Emission Factor Gases
To add an Emission Factor Gas:
- Expand the emission factor and select the Add a new gas button at the bottom of the emission factor grid.
- An edit box is displayed at the top of the grid.
- Complete all the fields to create an Emission Factor Gas.
- Gas: Select the Gas from the Gas drop down for the gas you adding.
- Factor: The amount of tonnes of CO2 equivalent factor this gas represents (to a maximum of 12 decimal places).
- Select the Insert button to save the emission factor gas.
- Select Cancel to discard the creation of the emission factor gas.
Good to Know:
- You can repeat the above steps multiple times until all the required gases as per the emission factor source are added.
- You can add some of the gases in the Emission Factor Smart Excel Template, but not all of them
Editing Emission Factor Gases
To edit an Emission Factor Gas:
- Select the Edit button to the left of the Emission Factor.
- This opens the edit box.
- To save any changes, select the Update button.
- To discard any changes, select the Cancel button.
Deleting Emission Factor Gases
To delete an emission factor:
- Select the Delete button to the right of the Emission Factor Group UOM.
- Select OK in the pop up to delete the emission factor gas.
- Select Cancel to to keep the emission factor gas.
Approving Emission Factors
An optional function that can be selected is to require all emission factors to be approved by a user with the Emission Factor Approver role before they can be assigned to inventory(ies).
To enable this, ensure the setting is checked on the Inventory Settings tab in the Settings and Preferences page.