You already count the fuel you burn in Scope 1 and the electricity you buy in Scope 2. But before you use fuels, someone must get them out of the ground. Then they are refined and brought to you. Some electricity is also lost in the grid. The GHG Protocol puts these emissions in Scope 3 category 3. In this way, no part of your energy use is counted twice or left out.
- Scope 3 category 3, fuel- and energy-related activities: emissions from making and delivering your fuels and energy that are not in Scopes 1 and 2.
- Who it matters for: companies that use a lot of energy and have large Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
- Methods: supplier-specific data or average emission factors per unit of energy.
- Reduction: use less energy, switch to cleaner sources and invest in your own renewable energy.
What does category 3 include?
Category 3 covers all emissions from making the fuels and energy that your company bought and used. It includes only those that are not in Scope 1 or Scope 2.
As a reminder:
- Scope 1 covers emissions from fuels burnt in sources that your company owns or controls, such as company cars and coal boilers.
- Scope 2 covers emissions from the fuels burnt to make the electricity, steam, heat or cooling that your company pays for.
So category 3 of Scope 3 covers emissions from these activities:
- Purchased fuels: all emissions from getting, refining and transporting the fuel you buy, up to the filling station. Examples are coal mining, oil drilling, refining and gas pipelines.
- Purchased electricity and heat: emissions from getting, making and transporting the fuels that power plants burn. They make the electricity, steam, heat or cooling that you buy.
- Grid losses (transmission and distribution losses): emissions from making the energy that is lost in the grid before it reaches you.
For which companies does category 3 matter?
This category matters most for companies that use a lot of energy. In these companies, Scopes 1 and 2 are a large part of the total corporate carbon footprint.
Calculation methods
You can calculate category 3 emissions with two methods:
- Supplier-specific method: you collect data from your suppliers on the emissions of the fuel or energy that your company uses.
- Average-data method: you estimate emissions with average emission factors per unit of energy, for example kg CO₂e per kWh.
Where do you find the data for this category?
The data for category 3 comes from suppliers or from databases of emission factors. You need two types of data.
Primary, supplier-specific data:
- company-specific data on upstream emissions, for example from coal mining or from gas pipelines;
- a factor for grid losses in your own grid;
- company-specific data on the energy you buy, with the emission factor of the plant that made it.
Secondary, estimated data:
- national average data on upstream emissions, for example from life cycle inventory databases;
- a national average factor for grid losses;
- national average data on the energy you buy.
What are the main challenges in category 3?
The main challenge in this category is to find the right data. Grid losses are hard to calculate. They change with the type of fuel and the way it is supplied.
How to reduce emissions in Scope 3 category 3?
These steps help you cut emissions in category 3:
- Use less energy.
- Change your energy source, for example to sources with lower emissions.
- Invest in your own generation, especially from renewable energy sources.
