Supply Chain Greenhouse Gas Emission Factors for US Industries and Commodities

Many organizations quantify greenhouse emissions in their value chain. Emissions from purchased goods and services and capital goods, referred to as Scope 3 emissions in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 3 Accounting and Reporting Standard, represent a significant emissions source for many organizations. To assist in quantifying these emissions, we have developed a comprehensive set of supply chain emission factors covering all categories of goods and services in the US economy. These factors are intended for quantifying emissions from purchased goods and services using the spend-based method defined in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions. The factors were prepared using USEEIO models, which are a life cycle models of goods and services in the US economy.

The supply chain emission factors are presented in units of kilogram emissions per US dollar of purchases for a category of goods and services with a defined life cycle scope. Sets of factors covering all sectors of the economy are provided for years from 2010 to 2016 with two levels of sector aggregation. The factors are provided for both industries and commodities, where commodities are equivalent to a category of good or service, and industries are producers of one or more commodities. A set of five data quality scores covering data reliability, temporal, geographical and technological correlation and completeness of data collection is provided along with each factor.

The factors presented are as follows:
1. Supply Chain Emission Factors without Margins: emissions associated with cradle to factory gate
2. Margins of Supply Chain Emission Factors: emissions associated with factory gate to shelf, which includes emissions from transportation, wholesale and retail as well as adjustments for price markups
3. Supply Chain Emission Factors with Margins: emissions associated with cradle to shelf (equal to the sum of the above two factors)

End users of products will likely find the Supply Chain Emission Factors with Margins most appropriate for their use. Organizations purchasing intermediate products at the factory gate will likely find the Supply Chain Emission Factors without Margins to be most appropriate.

See the Executive Summary of the associated report for an example calculation using the factors.

All factors are associated with limitations and variations in underlying data quality. We encourage the reader to carefully read the report to understand the differences across these sets, underlying assumptions in their calculation, their limitations to decide if they are appropriate for their intended use. If the reader deems the factors are appropriate, this report along with the factor data quality scores will aid in selection of factors best fit for their intended use. 

This dataset is associated with the following publication:
Ingwersen, W., and M. Li. Supply Chain Greenhouse Gas Emission Factors for US Industries and Commodities. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, USA, 2020.

Tags: input-output-data, life-cycle-assessment, life-cycle-inventory-data, sustainability
Organization: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency