Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy : default emission factors for local emission inventories : version 2017.
Date: 2017-08-11
Institutions: Joint Research Centre
Subjects: adaptation to climate change, climate change, climate change policy, energy consumption, energy efficiency, energy policy, local authority, reduction of gas emissions, regional authority, research report

Covenant of Mayors for Climate 
and Energy: Default emission 
factors for local emission 
inventories 

Version 2017 

Brigitte Koffi, Alessandro K. Cerutti, 
Marlene Duerr, Andreea Iancu, Albana 
Kona, Greet Janssens-Maenhout 

2017 

EUR 28718 EN 

 
 
 
This publication is a Technical report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and 
knowledge service. It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policymaking process. The 
scientific output expressed does not imply a policy position of the European Commission. Neither the European 
Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that might be made of this 
publication. 

Contact information 
Name: Greet Janssens-Maenhout 
Address: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Directorate Energy, Transport and Climate, Air and Climate 
unit, Via Enrico Fermi 2749,  21027 Ispra (VA), Italy 
Email: greet.maenhout@jrc.ec.europa.eu 
Tel.: +39 0332 78 5831 
Fax: +39 0332 78 5704 

JRC Science Hub 
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc 

JRC107518 

EUR 28718 EN 

PDF 

ISBN 978-92-79-71479-5 

ISSN 1831-9424 

doi:10.2760/290197 

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2017 

© European Union, 2017 

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How to cite this report: Koffi B, Cerutti A.K., Duerr M., Iancu A., Kona A., Janssens-Maenhout G., Covenant of Mayors 
for Climate and Energy: Default emission factors for local emission inventories– Version 2017, EUR 28718 EN, 
Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2017, ISBN 978-92-79-71479-5, doi:10.2760/290197, 
JRC107518. 

All images © European Union 2017 except the image on the front page: © C. Magdelaine, www.notre-planete.info 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table of Content 

Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................. 1 

Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ 2 

Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3 

1. Update of CoM emission factors for the use of fuels and RES ....................................................... 5 

1.1 Updated literature and datasets on LCA emission factors ............................................................. 5 

1.2 

1.3 

1.4 

LCA default emission factors for fossil fuels and renewable energy sources ................. 12 

LCA emission factors for local electricity production from other RES .............................. 13 

Comments and recommendations about CoM standard and LCA emission factors ..... 14 

2. Update of CoM emission factors for indirect emissions from electricity consumption ................ 17 

2.1   NEEFE definition ..................................................................................................................................... 17 

2.2   Previous NEEFE factors........................................................................................................................ 17 

2.3   Updated NEEFE calculation ................................................................................................................ 19 

2.3.1 

Emission factors per MWh of electricity generation (NEEFEp) ....................................................... 19 

2.3.2 

Emission factors per MWh of electricity consumption (NEEFE) ..................................................... 22 

2.4   Updated NEEFE factors ........................................................................................................................ 24 

2.5  Comments and recommendations about CoM NEEFE factors .................................................. 26 

Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 28 

References .......................................................................................................................................... 29 

List of Figures .................................................................................................................................... 32 

List of Tables ..................................................................................................................................... 33 

List of acronyms and abbreviations ................................................................................................... 34 

Annex I - Covenant of Mayors Default Emission Factors - Version 2017 ........................................ 35 

Annex II - Standard versus LCA CoM statistics in EU Member States ............................................ 44 

Annex III - Update of CoM LCA emission factors for the supply chain........................................... 45 

Annex IV - Energy classes and emission factors used for the updates of the NEEFEs ..................... 46 

Annex IV - Continued ........................................................................................................................ 47 

Annex V - Updated NEEFEs: Comparison to CoM  previous values ............................................... 48 

Annex VI - 1990-2013 trends in the EU-28 NEEFEs factors ............................................................ 50 

i 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Acknowledgements 

This technical specification document has been  produced as  part of the  Covenant  of Mayors 
(CoM)  initiative.  Authors  thank  the  Directorate  General  for  Energy  (DG  ENER) of  the 
European Commission for their support to the activities of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in 
the  framework  of  CoM.  We  are  also  especially  grateful  to  Suvi  Monni  (Benviroc,  Finland; 
previously at JRC) and to our JRC colleagues, Marilena Muntean, Monica Crippa, Laura Lonza, 
Giulia Melica, Silvia Rivas Calvete, Paolo Bertoldi, Jean-François Dallemand and Julian Wilson, 
who provided valuable input and suggestions in revising the default emission factors and/or 
reviewing this report. 

Authors 

Brigitte  Koffi,  Alessandro  K.  Cerutti,  Marlene  Duerr,  Andreea  Iancu,  Albana  Kona,  Greet 
Janssens-Maenhout  

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Abstract 

The Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy initiative, hereafter called “Covenant” 
or “CoM”, brings together local and regional authorities voluntarily committing to develop and 
implement  a  Sustainable  Energy  and  Climate  Action  Plan  (SECAP)  containing  measures  to 
reduce their energy (and non-energy) related Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.  

  Within  the  CoM  2010  guidebook  ‘How  to  develop  a  Sustainable  Energy  Action  Plan’ 
(Bertoldi  et  al.,  2010),  Part  II  focuses  on  the  compiling  of  local  GHG emission  inventories  in 
the 28 Member States of the European Union (EU). This technical report provides an update of 
the  CoM  default  emission  factors,  reported  in  Part  II  of  the  CoM  2010  guidebook  and 
information  on  the 
subsequently  revised  (CoM,  2014;  CoM,  2016),  together  with 
methodologies,  assumptions  and  data  sources,  as  well  as  recommendations  for  their 
application to the calculation of CO2 and GHG (CO2, CH4 and N2O) emissions due to local use or 
production of energy (fuel, municipal wastes, renewable energy sources (RES), electricity). As 
for previous versions, the CoM default emission factors - Version 2017 (expressed in tCO2 or 
CO2 equivalent/MWh), to be used to estimate standard direct emissions are the IPCC (2006) 
default factors for stationary combustion for the energy carriers and RES, the most commonly 
used  in  the  European  Union.  The  CoM  default  emission  factors  to  estimate  local  emissions 
using  the  Life  Cycle  Assessment  approach,  which  also  includes  emissions  from  the  entire 
supply  chain,  have  been  updated  using  the  lastest  version  (v3.2)  of  the  European  Life  Cycle 
Database, as well as other Life Cycle databases and literature reviews. For indirect emissions 
from local consumption of electricity, national and EU annual factors have been calculated for 
the 1990 to 2013, using an updated methodological approach and an extended set of energy 
data (IEA, 2016). The GHG emission factors (in tCO2-eq/MWh) have been estimated using the 
100-year  time  horizon  Global  Warming  Potential  factors  from  the  IPCC  Fourth  Assessment 
Report (IPCC, 2007), which are the ones currently recommended to the EU countries for the 
national  inventory  reporting,  in  the  frame  of  the  United  Nations  Framework  Convention  on 
Climate Change. 

Regular updates of CoM default emission factors are foreseen for the future. New CoM 
signatories are therefore recommended to use the latest version of Annex I available from the 
Covenant on-line library1. It is important to note is that the emission factors used to calculate 
emission  inventories  should  be  consistent  for  the  entire  implementation  process  of  the 
SECAP.  In  particular,  since  more  recent  knowledge  and  technologies  can  give  substantial 
changes, it is strongly recommended when opting for the use of CoM default  emission factors, 
not  to  modify  the  ones  applied  to  the  Baseline  Emission  Inventory  during  the  monitoring 
phase,  in  order  to  identify  the  trends  and  changes  in  local  emissions  that  are  due  to  local 
energy  production  and  consumption.  When  selecting  the  CoM  default  emission  factors,  it  is 
also  important  to  ensure  that  they  are  appropriate  to  local  fuel  quality  and  composition.  If 
local authorities prefer to use  emission  factors  that better reflect the  properties of the  fuels 
used in their territory for the calculation and update of their local emission inventories, they 
are welcome to do so, when more country specific or local data are available and reliable.  

1 http://www.eumayors.eu/Library,84.html 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Introduction  

The  Covenant  of  Mayors  for  Climate  and  Energy  initiative  (hereafter  called  “Covenant”  or 
“CoM”) brings together local and regional authorities voluntarily committing to implementing 
a  Sustainable  Energy  and  Climate  Action  Plan  (SECAP)  containing  measures  to  reduce  their 
energy (and non-energy) related  CO2  or Greenhouse  Gas  (GHG) emissions.  Initially, the CoM 
signatories  had  to  submit  a  Sustainable  Energy  Action  Plan  (SEAP)  to  reduce  their  CO2 
emissions by at least 20% by 2020. Since 2015, the signatories committing to the “Covenant of 
Mayors for Climate  and Energy”  have  to  develop  and implement a  SECAP  allowing  reducing 
their  CO2  (or  GHG)  emissions  by  at  least  40%  by  2030.  When  joining  the  Covenant,  local 
authorities have  to  define a  minimum CO2  emission reduction by the  target year,  relative to 
the  emissions  calculated  for  a  baseline  year  (1990  or  the  nearest  following  year  for  which 
reliable  data  are  available),  which  is  set  by  the  signatory.  The  Baseline  Emission  Inventory 
(BEI)  for  the  baseline  year  shows  where  the  local  authority  was  at  the  beginning  and  the 
successive  monitoring  emission  inventories  (MEI)  show  the  progress  towards  the  target. 
Elaborating  these  reference  emission  inventories  is  therefore  of  critical  importance,  as  they 
are  the  instrument  for  the  local  authority  to  measure  the  impact  of  its  actions  related  to 
climate change.  

The  guidebook  ‘How  to  develop  a  Sustainable  Energy  Action  Plan’  (Bertoldi  et  al.,  2010) 
provides  a  flexible  but  coherent  set  of  principles  and  recommendations,  which  allow  local 
authorities  to  develop  a  SEAP  in  a  way  that  suits  their  own  circumstances,  permitting  those 
already engaged in energy and climate action to come on board of the Covenant of Mayors, while 
continuing to follow the approaches they have used before with as little adjustments as possible. 
The  Covenant  of  Mayors  concerns  action  at  local  level,  within  the  competence  of  the  local 
authority.  Therefore,  the  SEAP  should  concentrate  on  measures  aimed  at  reducing  the  CO2 
emissions and final energy consumption by end users (Bertoldi et al., 2010). 

The present report provides an update to the CoM default emission factors, initially published 
in  part  II  of  the  above-mentioned  Guidebook  (which  focuses  on  the  building  of  local  GHG 
emission  inventories)  and  subsequently  updated  in  CoM  reporting  Guidelines  (CoM,  2014; 
CoM, 2016). The CoM default emission factors, which are the ones proposed to calculate the 
local  emission  inventories  in  the  CoM  online  templates,  are  provided  for  both  the  standard 
and LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) approaches. In the standard approach, the emission factors 
are  based  on  the  emissions  released  to  the  atmosphere  in  the  combustion  process.  Such 
emissions  are  based  on  the  carbon  content  of  each  fuel,  when  accounting  for  the  CO2 
emissions only. While CoM commitment generally refers to CO2 emissions, it can also include 
CH4 and N2O emissions. Therefore, both CO2 (expressed in tCO2/MWh) and GHG (expressed in 
tCO2-eq/MWh)  factors  are  provided.  The  GHG  factors  are  calculated  based  on  CH4  and  N2O 
100-year  time  horizon  Global  Warming  Potential  (GWP).  The  LCA  approach  takes  into 
consideration  the  overall  life  cycle  of  each  energy  carrier,  from  the  extraction/production 
process to the delivery to end-users. They have been calculated by adding the emission factors 
due  to  the  supply  chain  to  the  standard  emission  factors.  Only  LCA  GHG  factors  have  been 
calculated because the emissions from the supply chain are usually provided in CO2-eq. 

This new version (2017) of CoM default emission factors includes: 

a)  Emission factors for the consumption of fossil fuels and wastes (non-renewable) 
b)  Emission  factors  for  the  consumption  of  biofuels,  biomass,  solar  thermal  and 

geothermal renewable energy sources (RES) 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
c)  Emission 

factors 
hydroelectric, photovoltaics) 

for 

local  electricity  production 

from  other  RES  (wind, 

d)  National and European Emission Factors for Electricity consumption (NEEFE) 

The  emission  factors  a)  b)  and  c)  can  be  used  by  local  authorities  to  quantify  the  direct 
emissions  due  to  the  consumption  of  the  energy  carriers  and  RES  (standard  approach)  and 
corresponding  supply  chains  (LCA  approach).  They  are  provided  in  this  report  and  in  CoM 
online templates, for the most commonly used energy carriers and RES, in Europe. The NEEFE 
factors  d)  allow  the  estimation  of  the  emissions  from  the  production  of  electricity  that  is 
consumed in the local territory. These emissions are also calculated by both Standard and LCA 
approaches, by applying the relevant  emission factors to all individual energy carriers used in 
the national production of electricity.  

The definitions, methods and data sources applied to the calculation of CoM Default emission 
factors – Version 2017, for the “direct” use of fuels and RES (including the supply chain), and 
for the indirect emissions from electricity consumption are detailed in Chapter 1 and Chapter 
2,  respectively.  The  corresponding  emission  factors  are  provided  in  Annex  I,  as  detailed  in 
Table 1. The specific comments and recommendations when using these factors are provided 
in sections 1.4 and 2.5, respectively. 

Table 1. The CoM default emission factors – Version 2017 provided in Annex I of this report (‘X’ )   

GHG(s) 

Inventory 
approach 

CO2 
(tCO2/MWh) 

CO2, CH4, N2O 
(tCO2-eq/MWh) 

Standard 

X 

Emissions 
from 
consumption/
use of fuels 
and RES  

(Chapter 1 ) 

LCA 

Emissions 
from 
electricity 
consumption  

(Chapter 2) 

Standard 

X 

LCA 

X 

X 

X 

X 

Emission 
factor(s) per 
energy carrier 
or sector2 
One factor for each 
of the most 
commonly used 
fuel or RES  

One factor for each 
of the most 
commonly used 
fuel or RES 

One factor for 
emissions from all 
input energy 
carriers5 consumed 
at national and EU 
levels 

One factor for 
emissions from all 
input energy 
carriers consumed 
at national and EU 
levels 

Coverage  Annex3 

Global 

EU-28 or 
global for 
the supply 
chain 

a) AI.1 
b) AI.2 
c) AI.34 

a) AI.1 
b) AI.2 
c) AI.3 

National 
and EU-28 

d) AI.4.1 
d) AI4.2 

EU-28 or 
global for 
the supply 
chain 

d) AI.4.3 

2 per MWh of fuel, waste, RES or electricity consumed 
3 See core text for the definition of points a, b, c and d 
4 No GHG emission are accounted for in the standard approach for wind, hydroelectric and photovoltaics 
5 No GHG emission is accounted for renewable municipal waste, biofuels and biomass in the calculation of the 
NEEFEs in the case of the standard approach (see section 2.3.1). 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
1. Update of CoM emission factors for the use of fuels and RES 

CoM  default  standard  emission  factors:  The  emissions  taking  place  due  to  consumption  of 
energy  carriers  to  be  reported  in  the  local  inventory  can  be  calculated  using  the  standard 
approach, i.e. by applying IPCC “standard” emission  factors in line with IPCC principles. The 
CoM  default  standard  emission  factors,  which  are  proposed  in  the  menu  of  the  CoM  on-line 
BEI/MEI  templates  for  the  CoM  signatories  using  the  standard  approach  (94%  of  EU-28 
signatories  as  of  September  2016;  Annex  II),  correspond  to  the  IPCC  (2006)  CO2  emission 
factors for stationary combustion of the energy carriers the most commonly used in Europe, 
as  in  CoM  2010  Guidebook  (Bertoldi  et  al.,  2010)  and  CoM  2014  and  2016  guidelines. 
However,  the  GHG  factors,  which  include  the  three  CO2,  CH4  and  N2O  gases,  are  no  longer 
calculated  using  the  100-year  time  horizon  Global  Warming  Potential  factors  from  IPCC 
Second Assessment report (IPCC, 1995), but instead we use those of the Fourth Assessment 
report6 (IPCC, 2007), as these are the ones currently recommended for the national inventory 
reporting, in the frame of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

CoM default LCA emission factors: As with the CoM default standard emission factors, the CoM 
default  LCA  emission  factors  are  proposed  by  default  in  the  CoM  reporting  template  for  the 
CoM signatories using the LCA approach (6% of EU-28 signatories as of September 2016; see 
Annex  II  for  details).  They  are  made  up  of  the  emission  factors  from  fuels  and  RES 
consumption  (i.e.  the  standard  emission  factors),  together  with  the  corresponding  supply 
chains.  The  LCA  factors  for  the  supply  chain,  which  exclude  both  the  capture  of  CO2  in  the 
cultivation of biofuels/biomass raw materials and the CO2 emissions from consumption by the 
end-users,  have  been  revised  by  A.  Cerutti  (2016)  for  the  current  update  of  CoM  default 
emission  factors  (see  Annex  III),  based  on  European  (and  global)  up-to-date  Life  Cycle 
Inventories  (LCIs)  and  an  exhaustive  literature  review,  as  summarized  in  the  1.1  to  1.3 
following sections.  

1.1 Updated literature and datasets on LCA emission factors 
In general, there are three possibilities for choosing a LCA Emission Factor (EF) for an energy 
source:  

a) calculate the EF for the actual example for which it will be applied  
b)  adopt  as  a  proxy  the  EF  of  a  different  case  study  described  in  the  scientific/technical 
literature 
c)  calculate  the  EF  from  the  Life  Cycle  Inventory  of  the  energy  carrier  as  described  in  a 
database  

In  the  case  of  the  Covenant  of  Mayors  initiative,  the  ad-hoc  calculation  of  the  EF  for  each 
energy  technology  for  each  country  is  not  a  viable  solution.  Adopting  EFs  from  a  literature 
case study (case b) is also very critical because case studies published are usually focused on a 
specific,  local  situation  that  can  only  rarely  be  generalised  to  a  country  or  (even  more 
difficult) to Europe. The type of literature that would be useful for adopting generalised EFs is 
review  papers.  Such  papers  usually  contain  several  case  studies  for  a  given  area  or  for  a 
specific technology and their results can be considered of general value. In order to calculate 
the  EF  from  a  LCI  database  (case  c),  it  is  necessary  to  check  the  coherence  of  the  inventory 
with the context in which it would be applied and the dates of validity of the inventory. It is of 

6 GWPCH4 = 25; GWPN2O = 298 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
particular  importance  to  check  that  the  values  reported  are  up-to-date  and  still  match  the 
typical technology used for energy supply. 

  Updated  literature  review:  In  the  preparation  of  the  first  version  of  the  Covenant 
guidebook  (Bertoldi  et  al.,  2010),  the  number  and  the  results  of  review  papers  were  not 
sufficient to determine robust EFs that could usefully be used as general averages or proxies. 
An  extensive  literature  search  for  LCA  reviews  for  energy  production  technologies  was 
conducted  for  the  present  update.  Results  of  the  literature  search  and  reference  values  are 
presented in Table 2 for fossil fuels, waste and renewable energies used for heat generation 
and in Table 3 for electricity production from local renewable sources. The reference values 
found in all case studies show a high range of variability that can be due to several factors. As 
expected,  the  number  of  review  papers  has  increased  a  lot  in  recent  years  but,  with  a 
consequent increase in the variability of the EFs. 

of 

the 

European 

  Updated LCI databases: In 2013-2014, the Joint Research Centre performed a significant 
Cycle 
update 
2015; 
http://eplca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ELCD3/index.xhtml) 
including  the  LCI  of  several  energy 
technologies, making such LCIs more robust than the ones previously recommended by CoM 
reporting  guidelines  (CoM,  2014;  CoM,  2016).  Details  on  LCI  data  available  in  ELCD  v3.2  as 
(http://www.needs-project.org/needswebdb/)  and  Ecoinvent 
well  as 
(http://www.ecoinvent.org/database/ecoinvent-33/ecoinvent-33.html)  databases  used  in 
this report, are reported in Tables 4 to 6. 

the  NEEDS 

Database 

(ELCD, 

Life 

in 

Version  2017  of  CoM  default  emission  factors  provided  in  Annexes  I.1,  I.2  and  I.3  has  been 
defined based on the information reported in Tables 2 to 6. The choice of the recommended 
reference value for each energy carrier was done through a case by case analysis as described 
in the following sub-sections. 

6 

 
 
 
 
  
 
Table  2.  Review  papers  of  case  studies  on  heat  generation  from  different  energy  carriers.  For  each  review  paper  are  reported  the  number  of  case 
studies  considered,  the  minimum  and  the  maximum  LCA  EFs  found  for  the  supply  chain  and,  for  few  cases,  if  a  suggestion  for  a  general  LCA  EF  is 
expressed 

Source 

Reference 

Case 
studies 

Min LCA EF 
[gCO2/kWh] 

Max LCA EF 
[gCO2/kWh] 

Suggested LCA EF or LCA EF 
average [gCO2/kWhe] 

Motor oil 
Motor oil 
Motor oil  
Coal 
Coal 
Coal 
Coal 
Lignite  
Lignite  
Natural Gas 
Natural gas 
Natural gas 
Natural gas 
Waste treatment 
Biomass 
Biomass  
Biomass  
Biomass 
Biomass 
Geothermal1 
Geothermal 
Geothermal  
Solar thermal1 
Solar thermal 

Turconi et al., 2013 
Weisser, 2007 
Ardente et al., 2008 
Evans et al., 2009 
Weisser, 2007 
Ardente et al., 2008 
Turconi et al., 2013 
Turconi et al., 2013 
Weisser, 2007 
Evans et al., 2009 
Weisser, 2007 
Ardente et al., 2008 
Turconi et al., 2013 
Amponsah et al., 2014 
Bhat & Prakash, 2009 
Turconi et al., 2013 
Weisser, 2007 
Muench & Guenther, 2013 
Amponsah et al., 2014 
Amponsah et al., 2014 
Evans et al., 2009 
Asdrubali et al., 2015 
Amponsah et al., 2014 
Bhat & Prakash, 2009 

10 
5 
6 
48 
7 
6 
36 
7 
3 
48 
9 
6 
23 
4 
5 
25 
3 
25 
14 
4 
48 
20 
6 
3 

1 Source of the updated CoM Default LCA Emission factor (Annex I)  

7 

530.0 
500.0 
780.0 
na 
950.0 
900.0 
660.0 
800.0 
800.0 
na 
440.0 
400.0 
380.0 
97.2 
35.0 
8.5 
35.0 
0.5 
25.5 
11.0 
na 
16.9 
36.2 
13.6 

900.0 
1200.0 
900.0 
na 
1250.0 
1200.0 
1050.0 
1300.0 
1700.0 
na 
780.0 
500.0 
1000.0 
1000.0 
178.0 
130.0 
99.0 
5.9 
550.0 
78.0 
na 
142.0 
43.0 
202.0 

Na 
na 
na 
1004.0 
na 
na 
na 
na 
na 
543.0 
na 
na 
na 
na 
na 
na 
na 
2.3 
na 
50.0 
170.0 
33.6 
39.6 
na 

 
 
 
Table 3. Review papers of case studies on electricity generation from local renewable sources. For each review paper are reported the number of case 
studies considered, the minimum and the maximum EFs found and, for few cases, if a suggestion for a general EF is expressed 

Source 

Reference 

Case 
studies 

Min LCA EF 
[gCO2/kWh] 

Max LCA EF 
[gCO2/kWh] 

Suggested LCA EF or LCA EF 
average [gCO2/kWhe] 

Amponsah et al., 2014 
Ardente et al., 2008 
Asdrubali et al., 2015 
Bhat & Prakash, 2009 
Evans et al., 2009 
Kadiyala et al., 2016 
Raadal et al., 2011 
Turconi et al., 2013 
Weisser, 2007 

Hydropower 
Hydropower 
Hydropower 
Hydropower 
Hydropower 
Hydropower 
Hydropower 
Hydropower 
Hydropower 
Solar photovoltaic (PV)1  Amponsah et al., 2014 
Solar PV 
Solar PV 
Solar PV 
Solar PV 
Solar PV 
Solar PV 
Solar PV 
Solar PV (amorphous) 
Solar PV (Mono-
crystalline) 
Solar PV (Poly-
crystalline) 

Ardente et al., 2008 
Asdrubali et al., 2015 
Bhat & Prakash, 2009 
Evans et al., 2009 
Nugent & Sovacool, 2014 
Turconi et al., 2013 
Weisser, 2007 
Sherwani & Usmani, 2010 
Sherwani & Usmani, 2010 

Sherwani & Usmani, 2010 

11 
6 
11 
3 
48 
19 
39 
12 
4 
19 
6 
33 
9 
48 
57 
22 
5 
5 
7 

7 

2.0 
15.0 
2.2 
3.7 
na 
1.2 
0.2 
1.0 
1.0 
9.4 
50.0 
9.4 
53.4 
na 
1.0 
13.0 
43.0 
15.6 
44.0 

9.4 

60.0 
40.0 
74.8 
237.0 
na 
609.2 
152.0 
20.0 
34.0 
300.0 
100.0 
167.0 
210.0 
na 
218.0 
190.0 
73.0 
5.0 
217.0 

104.0 

20.0 
na 
11.6 
na 
41.0 
19.7 
2.9 
na 
na 
30.5 
na 
29.2 
na 
90.0 
49.9 
na 
na 
na 
na 

na 

1 Source of the updated CoM Default LCA Emission factor (Annex I)  

8 

 
 
 
 
 
Table 3 (continued). Review papers of case studies on electricity generation from local renewable sources. For each review paper are reported the 
number of case studies considered, the minimum and the maximum EF found and, for few cases, if a suggestion for a general EF is expressed. 

Source 

Reference 

Case 
studies 

Min LCA EF 
[gCO2/kWh] 

Max LCA EF 
[gCO2/kWh] 

Suggested LCA EF or LCA EF 
average [gCO2/kWhe] 

Windpower 
Windpower 
Windpower 
Windpower 
Windpower 

Windpower 
Windpower 
Windpower 
Windpower  
Windpower (Offshore) 
Windpower (Offshore) 
Windpower (Onshore) 
Windpower (Onshore) 

Asdrubali et al., 2015 
Bertasiene et al., 2015 
Bhat & Prakash, 2009 
Evans et al., 2009 
Lenzen and Munksgaard 
2002 
Raadal et al., 2011 
Turconi et al., 2013 
Weisser, 2007 
Nugent & Sovacool, 2014 
Amponsah et al., 2014 
Arvesen and Hertwich, 2012 
Amponsah et al., 2014 
Arvesen and Hertwich  2012 

20 
34 
10 
48 
72 

63 
22 
8 
39 
5 
13 
14 
44 

6.2 
1.0 
0.4 
na 
7.9 

4.6 
3.0 
8.0 
0.4 
5.3 
7.8 
1.7 
6.6 

46.0 
185.0 
123.7 
na 
123.7 

55.4 
41.0 
30.0 
364.0 
24.0 
33.4 
81.0 
55.6 

9.4 
10.7 
na 
25.0 
na 

18.0 
na 
na 
34.1 
13.0 
16.2 
16.0 
19.5 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 4. Details of LCIs available in ELCD v3.2 for fuels and energy carrier for heat 

Full LCI name 

Proxy 

Location  Reference 

Valid until 

no 

EU-272 

2008 

2015 

year 

yes 

EU-27 

2008 

no 

EU-27 

2008 

2015 

2015 

yes 

EU-27 

2008 

2015 

yes 

EU-27 

2008 

EU-27 

2008 

EU-27 

2008 

2015 

2015 

2015 

EU-27 

2006 

2010 

no 

no 

no 

(pellets)  EU-27 

2006 

2012 

Energy carrier in 
SEAP or SECAP 

Motor Gasoline1 

Anthracite1 

Gas /Diesel oil1 

Gasoline mix (regular) at refinery; from crude oil and bio 
components, fuel supply; production  mix, at refinery;10 ppm 
sulphur, 5.75 wt.% bio components 
Hard coal mix; technology mix; consumption mix, at consumer 

Diesel mix at refinery; from crude oil and bio components, fuel 
supply; production mix, at refinery;10 ppm sulphur, 5.75 wt.% 
bio components 
Hard coal mix; technology mix; consumption mix, at consumer 

Other Bituminous 
Coal1 
Sub-Bituminous Coal1  Hard coal mix; technology mix; consumption mix, at consumer 

Lignite1 

Natural Gas1 

Municipal Wastes1 

Wood 

Lignite mix; technology mix; consumption mix, at consumer 

Natural Gas Mix; technology mix; consumption mix, at consumer; 
onshore and offshore production incl. pipeline and LNG transport 
Waste incineration of municipal solid waste (MSW);average 
European waste-to-energy plant, without collection, transport 
and pre-treatment; at plant 
Heat; residential heating systems from wood pellets, boiler, max. heat 
output 14,9 kW; consumption mix, at consumer; at a temperature level 
of 70°C 

1 Source of the updated CoM Default LCA Emission factor (Annex I)  
2 Croatia excluded but UK included.  

10 

 
 
 
 
 
Table 5. Details of LCIs available in other than ELCD v3.2 database for fuels and energy carrier for heat. 

Energy carrier in 
SEAP or SECAP 

Database 

Full LCI name 

Location  Reference 

year 

Valid 
until 

Peat1 

Ecoinvent 

Peat extraction 

Liquefied Petroleum 
Gases1 
Natural Gas Liquids1  Ecoinvent  

Ecoinvent  

ROW: market for liquefied petroleum gas 

GLO: market for natural gas, liquefied 

Biogas1 

Ecoinvent 

Biogas production from grass 

World 

2015 

World 

2015 

World 

World 

2015 

2015 

Solar thermal 

NEEDS 

Electricity, solar thermal, at solar trough, DNI2000 with storage  Central EU  2007 

Geothermal 

Ecoinvent 

Electricity production, geothermal 

Wood1 

Electricity, at steam turbine (poplar), emission ctrl., Centr. 
EU, alloc. exergy 
1 Source of the updated CoM default LCA Emission factor (Annex I)  

NEEDS  

World 

2015 

Central EU  2007 

Table 6. Details of LCIs available in ELCD v3.2 and NEEDS database for electricity generation from local RES. 

Local RES 

Database 

Full LCI name 

Solar PV (I) 

Solar PV (II) 

Windpower 

Windpower1 

NEEDS 

NEEDS  

NEEDS 

ELCD v3.2 

Hydropower (I) 

ELCD v3.2 

Hydropower (II)1 

ELCD v3.2 

Electricity, PV, ground mounted power plant, c-
Si, thick, Central Europe 
Electricity, PV, ground mounted power plant, c-
Si, low eff., Central EU 
electricity, at offshore wind park 1440MW 

Electricity from wind power, production 
mix, at power plant, AC, < 1kV 
Electricity from hydroelectric power plants, 
production mix, at power plant, AC, < 1kV 
Electricity from hydro power; AC; 
production mix, at power plant;230V 

1 Source of the updated CoM default LCA Emission factor (Annex I)  

11 

Location 

Central EU 

Reference 
year 
2003 

Central EU 

2003 

DK 

EU-27 

EU-27 

EU-27 

.. 

2008 

2015 

2002 

2010 

2008 

2015 

n.a 

n.a 

n.a 

n.a 

n.a. 

n.a 

n.a 

Valid until 

2005 

2005 

.. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
1.2  LCA default emission factors for fossil fuels and renewable energy 
sources 

The  update  of  the  CoM  default  LCA  Emission  Factors  for  fossil  fuels,  municipal  wastes 
and  Renewable  Energy  Sources  (RES)  was  performed  based  on  the  following 
assumptions and considerations (see Annexes I.1 and I.2, respectively):   

  The  ELCD  v3.2  LCIs  for  the  energy  carriers  motor  gasoline,  gas/diesel  oil,  lignite, 
natural  gas  and municipal  wastes (non-biomass fraction)  reflect  the  EU-27 average 
for  the  supply  chains  (they  are  not  proxies,  but  the  LCI  of  the  actual  carrier). 
Although ELCD v3.2 data are valid until 2015, they are considered as the best options 
for the CoM default factors, compared with those available from the literature.  

  LCIs for anthracite, other bituminous coal and sub-bituminous coal are not available 
from  any  database  consulted  nor  in  the  literature  review.  Nevertheless,  ELCD  v3.2 
offers LCIs of similar energy carriers (see Table 4) that can be used as proxies with a 
sufficient data quality and approximation. For liquid gas and peat, we propose to use 
the world average provided in Ecoinvent database for the year 2015 (see Table 5) as 
CoM default value. 

  For  wood,  there  are  two  possible  LCIs  to  be  used:  the  first  from  ELCD  v3.2  which 
refers to the combustion of wood pellet in 2006 in EU-27 Member States (Table 4), 
and the second from the NEEDS database, referring to Central Europe in year 2007 
(Table 5). Although wood pellet is  one  of the  forms the  most  used  for heating  with 
wood, it has a very specific supply chain, including transformation and management 
(which also makes the supply chain emissions very high).  For the LCA-EFs update, it 
is therefore suggested to rather use the LCI for wood from the NEEDS database. For 
municipal waste (biomass fraction) and wood waste, no more recent reference value 
was found for Europe and it is proposed to keep ELCD (2009) as the previous update 
CoM (2014).  

  For  plant  oil,  biodiesel  and  biogasoline  (bioethanol),  no  scientifically  robust 
reference value, in terms of country coverage and technological advancements, was 
found either in the  databases  consulted  or in  the  scientific and technical literature. 
We  therefore  suggest  keeping  conservative  figures,  using  the  same  factors  ELCD 
(2009) as the ones reported in the CoM 2010 guidebook (Bertoldi et al., 2010) and 
CoM  (2014)  update.  For  biogas,  the  world  average  value  from  the  Ecoinvent 
database for 2015 is proposed. 

  LCIs  for  solar  thermal  and  geothermal  technologies  are  not  available  in  ELCD  v3.2, 
whereas  only  one  value  is  available  in  the  NEEDS  database  for  solar  thermal  that 
refers  to  Central  Europe.  On  the  other  hand,  some  information  is  provided  in  the 
literature:  Amponsah  et  al.  (2014)  calculated  a  harmonised  average  of  0.040 
tCO2eq/MWh for solar thermal and 0.050 tCO2-eq/MWh for geothermal. Asdrubali et 
al. (2015) estimated a general average of 0.034 tCO2-eq/MWh for geothermal. It has 
been decided to use Amponsah et al. (2014) values as CoM default factors, because 
they  are  based  on  a  model  that  is  capable  of  including  different  technologies  from 
different countries. 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.3  LCA emission factors for local electricity production from other RES 

Reducing  CO2  emissions  through  the  energy  efficiency  gains  and  reduction  in 
energy consumption is a priority of the Covenant. However other actions to reduce 
CO2  emissions  on  the  supply  side  can  be  also  accounted  for.  If  the  local  authority 
decides  to  include  local  electricity  production7  in  its  inventories,  the  related 
emissions  can  be  estimated  in  the  case  of  plants  combusting  fossil  or  biofuels,  by 
using  the  emission  factors  as  defined  in  section  1.2.  In  the  case  of  local  electricity 
production from other than biomass/biofuels Renewable Energy Sources (RES), the 
emissions  can  be  estimated  by  using  the  specific  emission  factors  provided  in  this 
section.  

Electricity from renewable sources is getting more and more interest because of 
climate  issues.  As  a  consequence,  although  some  technologies  are  quite  young  in 
relation  to  the  fossil  energy  based  technologies,  the  scientific  literature  is  rich  in 
case studies and reviews. Table 3 shows that a significant number of case studies are 
available,  together  with  a  high  range  of  variability:  Emission  factors  range  from 
0.001  to  0.300  tCO2eq/MWh  from  solar  photovoltaic  (PV);  from  0.0004  to  0.364 
tCO2eq/MWh  for  wind  power  and  from  0.0002  to  0.609  tCO2eq/MWh  from 
hydropower.  Because  of  the  continuous  evolution  of  the  technologies  and  the  local 
specificities,  none  of  the  investigated  reviews  proposes  any  general  average  for 
Europe.  Based  on  these  considerations,  the  new  CoM  default  LCA  Emission  Factors 
for local RES production (Annex I.3) were defined as follows: 

  An  LCI  for  Photovoltaics  (PV)  is  not  available  in  the  ELCD  v3.2  database.  There 
are  some  LCIs  in  other  databases,  including  the  NEEDS  database,  but  in  most 
cases they are out of date, or refer to very specific technology, or to a relatively 
small geographical area. Regarding the scientific literature (Table 3), Evans et al. 
(2009) calculated 0.090 tCO2eq/MWh as a general average for solar PV based on 
48 case studies.  More recently, Amponsah et al.  (2014)  suggested  a  harmonized 
approach  for  evaluating  the  life  cycle  emissions  of  RES  and  calculated  a 
harmonised  average  of  0.030  tCO2eq/MWh  for  solar  PV  technologies,  based  on 
19  case  studies.  The  EF  proposed  by  this  latter  work  is  very  close  to  the  one 
proposed one year later by Asdrubali et al.  (2015), who calculated an average of 
0.029 tCO2eq/MWh from  33  case studies.   Considering  the lack  for  LCIs of solar 
PV  representative  for  the  CoM  Countries,  the  harmonised  average  proposed  by 
Amponsah  et  al.  (2014)  is  considered  as  the  best  option  for  the  CoM  updated 
factor for solar PV. 

  LCIs for wind power and hydroelectric power are available in several databases. 
The  ELCD  v3.2  provides  updates  of  both  technologies,  with  robust  averages  for 
all  EU-27.  As  a  consequence,  ELCD  v3.2  wind  power  and  hydropower  (II) 
updated factors were selected (see Table 6). 

7 Energy production is not a mandatory sector in the CoM emission inventories, but is considered for the 
calculation of local emission factors for electricity/heat/cold (see Chapter 2).  

13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
1.4  Comments and recommendations about CoM standard and LCA 

emission factors 

  Choice of the standard (IPCC) or LCA approach 

The CoM initiative allows local authorities to develop a SEAP in a way that suits their own 
circumstances, permitting those already engaged in energy and climate action to come on 
board of the Covenant of Mayors, while continuing to follow the approaches they have used 
before with as little adjustments as possible (Bertoldi et al., 2010). Several reasons may be 
behind the decision of a municipality or region to adopt either the standard or the LCA  
method.  The  different  methodologies  indeed  have  different  aims  and  consequently 
present  different  advantages  and  disadvantages  as  summarised  in  section  3.1  of  CoM 
2010 guidebook and the forthcoming update. The standard approach, which is used by 
94% of the EU-28 signatories representing 90% of the EU-28 signatories’ population as 
of  September  2016  (Table  7)  is  compatible  with  the  country  emission  inventory 
reporting  by  activity  sector  as  specified  by  the  UNFCCC  (United  Nation  Framework 
Convention  on  Climate Change)  and  the EU binding legislation on  climate  and energy8. 
The  internationally  standardised  LCA  method  is  also  used  in  14  EU  Member  States, 
particularly  by  Germany and  Austria, but also  France and Sweden, where  it  is  used by 
more than 20% of the  CoM signatories and/or covered population (see Annex II). This 
approach,  which  was  originally  developed  for  products  environmental  footprints,  is 
particularly  suitable  for  assessing  potential  trade-offs  between  different  types  of 
environmental impacts associated with specific policy and management decisions.  

Table 7 . EU-28 CoM signatories and population in "CoM BEI dataset 2016" (Kona et al., 2016) as 
a function of the inventory approach and the size (in inhabitants) of the local territory 

Inventory 
approach 

Number of 
EU-28 
signatories 

Population covered 
(inh.)  

Percentage 

of signatories 

Percentage of 
population 
covered 

LCA  
<=50000 inh. 
]50000-100000] 
]100000-250000] 
]250000-500000] 
]500000-1M] 
> 1M inh. 

Standard 
<=50000 
]50000-100000] 
]100000-250000] 
]250000-500000] 
]500000-1M] 
> 1M inh. 

LCA 
Standard 
Totals 

314  
270 
15 
15 
6 
5 
3 

4936 
4,472 
224 
139 
62 
25 
14 

             15,481,944  
2,657,936 
1,055,611 
2,247,608 
1,969,895 
3,088,510 
4,462,384 

           142,155,199  
34,578,469 
15,658,202 
22,379,994 
21,540,234 
17,262,694 
30,735,606 

314  
4936 
5250 

             15,481,944  
           142,155,199  
157,637,143 

100% 
86% 
5% 
5% 
2% 
2% 
1% 

100% 
91% 
5% 
3% 
1% 
1% 
0.3% 

6% 
94% 
100% 

100% 
17% 
7% 
15% 
13% 
20% 
29% 

100% 
24% 
11% 
16% 
15% 
12% 
22% 

10% 
90% 
100% 

8 https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/strategies/2030_en 

14 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
Another important aspect to be considered when choosing the inventory approach is the 
availability of data for completing the BEI. The standard one is based on emissions from 
the  energy users and on  the  use of  IPCC  emission  factors that are easily available.  The 
LCA  approach  includes  both  emissions  from  the  user  and  emissions  that  take  place 
outside  the  location  where  the  fuel  is  consumed,  which  can  be  particularly  difficult  to 
ascertain (Cerutti et al., 2013).  

  Use of CoM default emission factors for the “direct” use of fuels and RES 

It is important to note that the CoM default standard and LCA emission factors, which 
are the ones proposed by default for the automatic calculation of the local emissions in 
CoM on-line templates, correspond to the most commonly used energy carrier(s) in EU 
(and  not  a  weighted  factor)  for  the  given  CoM  main  energy  categories,  and  that  they 
refer  to  European  or  global  emission  patterns.  It  is  also  worth  noting  that  they  are 
characteristic of stationary sources. If choosing to report in CO2-eq, emission factors up 
to 3% higher than the values provided in Annex I might be considered for the transport 
sector (e.g., for gasoline), because of higher non CO2 emissions compared to stationary 
sources (see Tables 2.2 and 3.2 of IPCC (2006) guidelines). We also note that it is highly 
recommended  not  to  modify/update  these  CoM  default  emission  factors  during  the 
monitoring  phase  if  they  were  used  for  the  calculation  of  the  Baseline  Emission 
Inventory,  because  it  would  affect  the  understanding  and  monitoring  of  the  impact  of 
local mitigation actions on the resulting changes in local CO2 or GHG emissions.  
Where  local  authorities  prefer  to  use  factors  that  better  reflect  the  properties  and 
mixture  of  the  fuels  used  in  their  territory  when  calculating  their  local  CO2  or  GHG 
emissions, they are welcome to do so as long as such local data are available and reliable. 
In  this  case,  they  must  (recalculate  and)  report  on-line  weighted  emission  factors  that 
allow the automatic calculation of CO2 or CO2-eq emissions, that are as close as possible 
to the ones estimated in their baseline emission inventory and published in their official 
SECAP  document  for  the  different  key  sectors.  They  must  also  update  these  factors 
during  the  monitoring  phase  in  case  of  changes  in  the  composition/properties  of  the 
energy  carriers  consumed  locally.  This  is  particularly  important  for  municipal  wastes, 
for  which  both  the  supply  chain  and  combustion  process  are  often  under  the  direct 
control or responsibility of the municipality. In such cases, it is important to account for 
the changes in the collection, composition (e.g. biomass fraction) and treatment (plant) 
phases of the waste management process. For local authorities willing to look for IPCC 
and  LCA  factors  that  better  reflect  the  fuels  used  in  their  territory  or  more  generally 
interested in gaining further insights into the IPCC and LCA approaches, we refer to the 
IPCC  (2006)  guidelines  (http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/index.html) 
and to the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment (http://eplca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/), 
respectively. 

  Consistency and Use of the updated LCA factors  

The CoM Version 2017 default LCA emission factors have been mainly defined from 
the up-to-date ELCDv3.2 Life Cycle Inventory and a few other european and global LCIs, 
as well as from an exhaustive literature review (see Section 1.1).  For each updated LCI, 
it has been verified that the functional unit in which the life cycle emissions are reported 
was coherent with the previous CoM default LCA factors. The LCA factors for emissions 
from  the  supply  chain  of  Renewable  energy  sources  (liquid  biofuels,  bio  gasoline, 
biodiesels, biogas, wood, solar and geothermal) have been also checked for consistency 

15 

 
 
 
 
against the values reported in the Directive 2009/28/EC on Renewable Energy (Annex 
III).  

When choosing the CoM default LCA factors to be used in the calculation of the local 
emission  inventories,  it  is  important  to  note  that  LCI  values  have  a  period  of  validity. 
Therefore, both the previous (for BEI up to 2007) and present (for BEI from 2008) LCAs 
factors  are  reported  in  Annex  I,  and  show  substantial  differences  for  some  energy 
carriers, notably for coal products and for municipal wastes. For this reason, it is again 
highly recommended not to update the CoM default LCA factors that have been used for 
the  Baseline  Emission  Inventory  during  the  monitoring  phase  (see  also  above  first 
paragraph), even  for a BEI year  after  2008. New CoM  signatories are  recommended  to 
use  the  version  of  the  LCA  factors,  whose  validity  period  (before  or  after  2008)  best 
corresponds to their BEI year. 

  Accounting for biomass and biofuels emissions: about carbon neutrality  

Under  UNFCCC  reporting,  the  key  greenhouse  gases  (CO2,  CH4 and  N2O)  from 
biofuels/biomass  are  reported  in  a  separate  sector,  called  the  AFOLU  (Agriculture, 
Forestry and Other Land Use) sector, where emissions and removals of CO2 are generally 
estimated on the basis of changes in ecosystem carbon stocks (above-ground and below-
ground  biomass,  dead  organic  matter  and  soil  organic  matter).  Net  losses  in  total 
ecosystem carbon stocks are used to estimate CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, and net 
gains  in  total  ecosystem  carbon  stocks  are  used  to  estimate  removal  of  CO2  from  the 
atmosphere. Under the Covenant, emissions from biofuels/biomass are reported under 
the  different  key  activity  sectors  (Buildings,  Transport  and  Others).  A  range  of  direct 
standard  emission  factors  is  therefore  provided  (Annex  I.2)  for  biofuels/biomass,  i.e. 
from 0 (carbon neutrality) to the IPCC (2006) value for Stationary combustion, when not 
accounting for any carbon sink compensation. The term “Carbon neutrality”9 is used in 
this report to mean total compensation of CO2 emissions from end-user consumption by 
the  CO2  removal  by  productive  land.  It  is  important  to  note  that  no  negative  emission 
factors can be applied in the calculation of energy-related emissions from both standard 
and LCA approaches in the frame of the Covenant of Mayors: in case of net CO2 uptake, a 
factor  of  0  has  to  be  applied  instead.  If  biomass/biofuels  are  not  harvested  in  a 
sustainable  manner  (e.g.,  in  case  of  declining  carbon  stocks  in  a  forest),  then  a  CO2 
emission factor that is higher than zero has to be applied, as stipulated in the legend of 
Annex I. We acknowledge that evaluating the carbon balance of the fuels is not an easy 
task,  particularly  because  there  is  still  a  lot  of  scientific  and  political  debate  on  the 
matter  and  no  agreed  binding  criteria  for  sustainability  of  biomass/biofuels  used  for 
energy.  We  refer  to  Part  II  of  the  CoM  guidebook  (Bertoldi  et  al.,  2010)  and  the 
forthcoming update, as well as to the Directive 2009/28/EC on Renewable Energy and 
recommendations 
more 
the 
(https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/renewable-energy/biomass) 
European Commission for further insights into this topic. 

(http://www.biograce.net/home) 

recent 

from 

data 

and 

9  stands for the terms  “Sustainable / non sustainable” as currently reported in the CoM on-line templates   

16 

 
 
 
                                                 
 
2.  Update  of  CoM  emission  factors  for  indirect  emissions  from 
electricity consumption 

2.1   NEEFE definition 

NEEFE  (National  and  European  Emission  Factors  for  Electricity)  are  used  to 
estimate  indirect  CO2  (tCO2/MWh)  or  GHG  (in  tCO2-eq/MWh)  emissions  due  to  local 
consumption of electricity. Depending on the approach followed by the local authority, 
they are calculated by applying the  IPCC “standard” or the LCA emission factors to the 
energy carriers consumed to produce  electricity.  The electricity consumed within  each 
local municipality or region is often not produced within its territory. Keeping in mind 
that the focus of covenant is on the demand side, it is recommended to use a NEEFE as a 
starting point to assess the emissions from local electricity consumption, which can be 
further corrected for the local situation where needed (see section 1.3). These NEEFE for 
end-user electricity consumption are calculated by dividing total national CO2 emissions 
for the different input energy carriers consumed to produce electricity, by the total final 
electricity  consumption.  The  underlying  assumption  of  the  NEEFE  definition  is  that all 
emissions produced nationally have to be allocated to the GWh of electricity consumed 
within  the  country.  Because  it  accounts  for  the  imported  electricity  but  not  for  the 
associated CO2 emissions (which are emitted outside the country), in case of important 
import of electricity, this definition can lead to NEEFE that are significantly lower than 
in  case  of  net 
the  emission  factors  for  electricity  production  and 
loss/exportation (see section 2.3). 

inversely 

While  only  accounting  for  CO2  derived  from  nationally  produced  electricity  is 
meaningful  in  the  frame  of  IPCC  national  reporting  (because  the  emissions  from  the 
imported energy will be reported by another country), it might be debatable in the case 
of CoM, where the focus is on the local consumption side. An alternative approach would 
have been to consider all CO2 indirect emissions due to the local electricity consumption, 
i.e. from electricity production both within and outside the country. This would require  
distinguishing between imported and nationally produced fractions, not only in terms of 
energy  produced  but  also  in  terms  of  associated  emissions.  However,  the  later 
information, which depends on the supplier countrie(s) is generally not available in the 
existing  international  energy  datasets.  In  any  case,  this  would  not  allow  anymore  for 
comparing CoM versus the national and EU CO2/GHG emissions from electricity, nor to 
assess  CoM  contribution  to  the  national/EU  mitigation  efforts.  For  these  different 
reasons, the same NEEFE definition (section 2.1) as in the CoM (2014) previous update 
has been applied. 

2.2   Previous NEEFE factors 

In  the  CoM  2010  guidebook  (Bertoldi  et  al.,  2010),  the  NEEFEs  were  either 
derived from Eurelectric (2005) 2002 energy  data  (17 Member  States) or  provided by 
the national agencies for one specific reference year (for 8 MS). The contribution of the 
supply  chain  to  the  LCA  EFs  was  derived  from  a  first  release  of  the  ELCD  (JRC,  2009) 
European database (Table 8).  

17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 8. Source and Reference year of  the NEEFE factors published in Bertoldi et al. (2010) 

Emission 
approach 

Reference 
year 

EU Member 
State 

IPCC 

2008 

Denmark 

2007 

Germany 

Estonia 

Portugal 

Slovenia 

Slovakia 

Spain 

United 
Kingdom 

2002 

LCA 

2002 

Other 
Countries 
All 27 Member 
States  

Source 

Average of emission factors for 
Eastern and Western Denmark 
including distribution loss of 5 %. 
http://www.energinet.dk 
http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/ 

Personal communication with 
Estonian Environment Information 
Centre 
Personal communication with 
Portuguese Agency for the 
Environment 
Personal communication with 
Environmental Agency of the 
Republic of Slovenia 
Personal communication with 
Slovak Hydro meteorological 
Institute  
Personal communication with 
Ministry of Environment, Spain  
Personal communication with 
Department of Energy and Climate 
Change 
Eurelectric (2005) 

JRC (2009) 

In  a  previous  update  published  in  CoM  reporting  guidelines  (CoM,  2014;  CoM, 
2016),  the  NEEFE were updated up  to 2010 for both  standard and LCA approaches by 
applying  the  variation  (in  percentage)  of  CO2  or  GHG  emissions  from  electricity  in  the 
subsequent years, as derived from 2012 electricity output data per energy carrier of the 
International  Energy  Agency  (IEA,  2012)  to  the  Bertoldi  et  al.  (2010)  values.  The  CoM 
(2014) approach was the following: Trends in the emissions from electricity production 
were  first  calculated  by  aggregating  the  electricity  produced  from  the  63  IEA  energy 
carriers  into  10  main  energy  carrier  classes  and  applying  the  related  IPCC  factors 
(Annex  IV).  The  corresponding  LCA  factors  were  calculated  using  the  ELCD  (2009) 
version  of  the  European  Life  Cycle  Database.  The  NEEFE  were  then  estimated  by  i) 
dividing the total estimated CO2 emissions by the final electricity consumption per year 
and  per  country  and  then  ii)  rescaling  the  values  to  the  Bertoldi  et  al.  (2010)  NEEFE. 
While it was acknowledged that the approach might not be the best from the analytical 
point  of  view  -  because  the  2010  Version  of  the  NEEFEs  were  derived  from  different 
sources  and  possibly  different  approaches  -  it  was  chosen  in  order  to  maintain 

18 

 
 
 
 
 
coherence  with  the  EFs  already  published  and  used  by  CoM  signatories.  However,  the 
following more questionable points have been identified in this previous JRC approach:  
-  The CO2 calculation, based on the share of the contribution of each energy carrier 
to the total electricity produced, accounts for the changes in energy mix but not changes 
in the conversion efficiencies of the plants.  

-  The  CO2  calculation  includes  emissions  from  biofuels,  all  considered  as  100% 

non-carbon neutral.  

-  The  emissions  from  the  63  energy  carrier  classes  were  aggregated  into  the  10 

most common energy carrier classes, which can lead to some lack of accuracy. 
-  The method did not include corrections/updates for the previous years. 

These considerations have led us to look for a revised methodology, which is described 
in section 2.3. 

2.3   Updated NEEFE calculation  

The  JRC  now  proposes  to  provide  an  yearly  update  of  NEEFE  time  series  from  1990 
onwards  based  on  the  same  general  definition  (see  2.1)  of  the  National  and  European 
Emission  Factors  for  Electricity  consumption  used  in  CoM  (2014),  but  using  a  revised 
calculation  approach,  in  order  to  ensure  more  complete,  consistent  and  comparable 
NEEFE trends for the different Member States and for EU. 

The  1990-2013  time-series  of  NEEFE  for  electricity  consumption  provided  in  this  first 
release were calculated in two steps, using the “Extended World Energy Balances” data 
(version  2015)  from  the  International  Energy  Agency  (IEA,  2016),  as  described  in  the 
two following sections.  

2.3.1  Emission factors per MWh of electricity generation (NEEFEp) 
National and European Emission Factors for Electricity production (NEEFEp) were first 
calculated  by  applying  IPCC  and  LCA  emission  factors  to  the  energy  consumed  per 
energy  carrier  (fossil  fuel  and  non-renewable  waste)  in  the  Electricity-only  and  in 
Combined Heat Power (CHP) plants. IEA 2015 national data (energy carriers consumed, 
electricity  produced  per  energy  carrier)  for  all  individual  IEA  original  energy  carriers 
(see Annex IV) were used and both the main activity producers and auto-producers have 
been included in the calculation. The energy input in CHP plants has been corrected for 
the fraction used to produce heat, considering an energy conversion efficiency of 0.9 for 
heat,  as  recommended  in  section  3.5.1  of  CoM  guidebook  (Bertoldi  et  al.,  2010).  This 
fixed-heat-efficiency approach is also the one that was used by IEA for several editions 
of its World Energy Outlook (see IEA (2014) for more details).  
The  IPCC  approach  in  which  only  CO2  emissions  from  fossil  fuel  and  non-renewable 
(municipal  and  industry)  wastes  are  included  (except  hydro  pumped  storage)  in  the 
energy  sector  has  been  applied  to  calculate  the  national  and  EU-28  emissions  from 
electricity generation (in tCO2 and in tCO2-eq). This approach is also the one applied in 
the  frame  of  UNFCCC  (United  Nation  Framework  Convention  on  Climate  Change) 
reporting,  in  which  all  biomass/biofuels  derived  emissions  are  reported  separately,  in 
the AFOLU sector. Using this approach therefore allows for a direct comparison between 
CoM and EU-28 CO2 emissions and facilitates the assessment of the contribution of CoM 
to  EU  emission  reductions  in  the  electricity  sector.  On  the  other  hand,  it  also  tends  to 
under-estimate  electricity-related  emissions  in  CoM  local  inventories,  in  which 

19 

 
 
 
emissions  should  be  reported  in  each  emitting  sector  (Energy  production,  Building, 
Transport). 

In order to quantify the potential contribution of biofuels to CO2 emissions from 
national electricity production, emissions from all fuels has been estimated for the years 
1990  and  2013,  assuming  no  carbon  sink  compensation  in  the  biofuels/biomass 
production  chain,  i.e.,  applying  IPCC  (2006)  default  emission  factors  for  Stationary 
Combustion  to  all  energy  carriers  including  biofuels.  Table  9  shows  that,  except  for 
Sweden  and  Finland,  the  CO2  emissions  from  biofuels/biomass  would  represent  less 
than  30%  of  the  total  CO2  emissions  from  national  electricity  production  in  2013.  The 
estimated contribution of biofuels/biomass to CO2 emissions from electricity production 
at  EU-28  level  is  below  10%,  but  shows  an  increase  from  1.0%  to  9.9%  from  1990  to 
2013. Because the share of biofuels/biomass generally increased since 1990, the general 
declining  trend  of  the  NEEFEp  is  slightly  less  pronounced  when  the  emissions  from 
biofuels  are  included  (Figure  1).  However,  this  result  is  also  due  to  the  assumption  of 
carbon non-neutrality.  

Figure  1.  1990  to  2013  trends  in  the  EU-28  Emission  factor  for  Electricity  Production 
(tCO2/MWh). Red line: current study, using IPCC (2006) default approach and emission factors; 
Black  line:  also  including  emissions  from  biofuels  and  biomass,  assuming  non  carbon  neutral 
process; Black dots : EFs values provided for some specific years in IEA (2014) documentation 
based  on  default  methods  and  emission  factors  from  the  Revised  1996  IPCC  Guidelines  (IPCC, 
1997).  

20 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table  9.  1990  and  2013  NEEFEp  for  electricity  production,  as  calculated  when  excluding  (A) 
and accounting for (B) emissions from biofuels/biomass (assuming non carbon neutral process). 

Country / EU 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovak Republic 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
UK 
EU-28 

A  

tCO2/
MWh 

0.242 
0.357 
0.800 
0.385 
0.847 
0.756 
0.685 
0.965 
0.191 
0.108 
0.624 
1.005 
0.502 
0.750 
0.579 
0.119 
0.160 
2.772 
1.609 
0.616 
1.027 
0.527 
0.902 
0.395 
0.437 
0.436 
0.011 
0.686 
0.505 

1990 

2013 

B. 

(B-A/B) 

A.  

B.  

 (B-A/B) 

tCO2/
MWh 

0.256 
0.365 
0.800 
0.386 
0.847 
0.756 
0.695 
0.965 
0.259 
0.111 
0.627 
1.005 
0.503 
0.750 
0.579 
0.119 
0.160 
2.854 
1.6098 
0.632 
1.028 
0.549 
0.903 
0.395 
0.437 
0.438 
0.017 
0.687 
0.510 

(%) 

5.5% 
2.2% 
0.0% 
0.3% 
0.0% 
0.0% 
1.4% 
0.0% 
26.3% 
2.1% 
0.5% 
0.0% 
0.2% 
0.0% 
0.0% 
0.0% 
0.0% 
2.9% 
0.0% 
2.5% 
0.1% 
4.0% 
0.1% 
0.0% 
0.0% 
0.6% 
35.3% 
0.2% 
1.0% 

tCO2/
MWh 

tCO2/
MWh 

0.165 
0.196 
0.506 
0.231 
0.646 
0.515 
0.300 
1.016 
0.174 
0.064 
0.484 
0.646 
0.292 
0.435 
0.342 
0.128 
0.216 
0.306 
0.731 
0.451 
0.766 
0.281 
0.348 
0.175 
0.318 
0.247 
0.013 
0.459 
0.336 

0.222 
0.250 
0.507 
0.240 
0.649 
0.545 
0.358 
1.040 
0.269 
0.076 
0.532 
0.649 
0.352 
0.452 
0.394 
0.182 
0.278 
0.339 
0.732 
0.512 
0.811 
0.332 
0.351 
0.219 
0.328 
0.265 
0.054 
0.503 
0.373 

(%) 

25.7% 
21.6% 
0.2% 
3.7% 
0.5% 
5.5% 
16.2% 
2.3% 
35.3% 
15.2% 
9.0% 
0.5% 
17.0% 
3.8% 
13.2% 
29.7% 
22.2% 
9.7% 
0.1% 
11.9% 
5.5% 
15.4% 
0.9% 
20.1% 
3.0% 
6.8% 
76.7% 
8.7% 
9.9% 

Indeed, although the share of biofuels/biomass in the electricity production at EU level 
is expected to increase with time, the associated emissions should theoretically follow a 
less pronounced increasing trend, as sustainable production solutions are developed. As 
an example, the 2013 maximum potential contribution of biofuels calculated for Finland 
(35%)  and  Sweden  (77%)  are  very  likely  over-estimated  (Table  9),  considering  that  a 
significant fraction of the biofuel/biomass consumed in these countries is assumed to be 
already  sustainable  (both  countries  reported  net  removals  of  CO2  from  forest  land  in 
their 2016 submissions to the UNFCCC). The fact that emissions from biofuels/biomass 
and their reporting at national level are subject to large uncertainties is an even greater 
justification for strictly applying the UNFCCC approach when calculating the NEEFEs, i.e. 
only accounting for  CO2/GHG emissions from fossil fuel and non-renewable (municipal 
and industry) wastes. 

21 

 
 
 
 
 
 
2.3.2  Emission factors per MWh of electricity consumption (NEEFE)  

Likewise Bertoldi  et al. (2010)  and  CoM (2014)  update, the  1990-2013 national 
emission  factors  from  end-user  consumption  (NEEFE)  are  calculated  by  dividing  the 
total  national  CO2  emissions  from  electricity  production  from  all  input  energy  carriers 
by the total final electricity consumption.  

In the case of a “closed system”  (without import or export of electricity), where 
Electricity consumed equals Electricity produced minus the losses in the grid, the NEEFE 
definition  (section  2.1)  logically  leads  to  higher  values  compared  to  NEEFEp,  by 
allocating the  grid  losses  to the  consumer. In  case of net  export  of electricity, both the 
losses in the national grid and the emissions related to the exported electricity (even if 
consumed  outside  the  country)  are  accounted  for.  Inversely,  for  countries  with  higher 
consumed than produced GWh (net import of electricity), the derived NEEFE calculated 
is  smaller  than  the  NEEFEp  factor,  because  it  accounts  for  the  imported  electricity  but 
not for the associated CO2 emissions (which are emitted outside the country).  

In  case  of  important  import  or  export  of  electricity,  this  definition  can  lead  to 
NEEFE  that  are  significantly  different  to  the  NEEFEp  factor,  as  illustrated  for  the  year 
2013 in Table 10 (see notably Estonia, Lithuania and Luxembourg).  

At  EU-28 level, a  ratio of 0.86 is  obtained  between  the  consumed and produced 
electricity, due a net electricity export and/or losses of 14% of the electricity produced, 
leading to higher emission factors for NEEFE (Figure 2) than for NEEFEp (Figure 1). 

Figure 2. 1990 to 2013  in the EU-28 Emission factor for Electricity Consumption (tCO2/MWh). 
Red line: current study, using the IPCC (2006) default approach and emission factors. Black line: 
also  including  emissions  from  biofuels  and  biomass,  assuming  they  were  produced  through  a 
non-carbon neutral process. Purple star: Bertoldi et al. (2010) 2002 value for EU-27. 

22 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table  10.  Electricity  output  and  Final  Electricity  Consumption  (GWh)  in  2013  (IEA,  2016). 
Higher  produced  than  consumed  electricity  leads  to  higher  NEEFE  than  NEEFEp  factors  and 
inversely 

Country / EU 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Rep. 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovak Republic 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
EU-28 

Electricity 
production 
(E.Prod) 

Final 
Electricity 
Consumption 
(E.Cons.) 

E. Cons./E. Prod. (%) 

= NEEFEp/NEEFE 

98% 
99% 
64% 
113% 
91% 
66% 
91% 
51% 
112% 
78% 
83% 
85% 
115% 
94% 
100% 
106% 
213% 
337% 
84% 
105% 
76% 
90% 
69% 
88% 
80% 
83% 
82% 
89% 
86% 

64539 
82113 
43069 
13326 
4290 
86160 
34749 
13275 
71251 
567366 
627374 
57114 
30273 
25777 
287909 
6209 
4214 
1849 
2254 
100875 
163999 
50534 
58536 
28514 
15793 
279275 
153031 
356256 
3229924 

62951 
80999 
27537 
15075 
3922 
56701 
31487 
6821 
79932 
440789 
518182 
48800 
34862 
24205 
287450 
6577 
8957 
6231 
1891 
106191 
124081 
45265 
40635 
25089 
12592 
232051 
125039 
317358 
2771672 

23 

 
 
  
 
 
2.4   Updated NEEFE factors 

Covenant  default  NEEFE “National and European Emission Factors for Electricity 
Consumption”– Version 2017 are provided in Annex I.4.  

  The  NEEFE  using  the  IPCC  approach  and  accounting  for  CO2  (tCO2/MWh) 
emissions are provided in Table AI.4.1. The NEEFE factors, including CO2, CH4 and N2O 
emissions expressed in tCO2-eq/MWh are provided in Table AI4.2. 

  The  NEEFE    using  the  LCA  approach  (Table  AI.4.3)  were  obtained  applying  the 
LCA  emission  factors  of  Annex  IV  to  the  IEA  input  energy  carriers.  For  the  fuels  not 
documented in Annex I, supply chain factors (provided in Annex III) of fuels belonging to 
similar energy categories were applied.  

  The  plots  of  the  national  NEEFE  time-series  using  the  IPCC  approach  and 
accounting for CO2 (tCO2/MWh) are also provided in Annex VI. The values in Bertoldi et 
al.  (2010)  values  available  for  one  reference  year  per  country,  for  25  out  of  the  28 
Member States (Annex V) are also reported on the plots.  

  The 1990-2013 NEEFE absolute and mean annual changes are given in Table 11.  
As expected, a general decrease in NEEFE is obtained over the 1990-2013 period for 
most countries (except for Latvia and Sweden) for both IPCC and LCA approaches, and 
for both CO2 only and the sum of the 3 GHG (CO2, CH4 and N2O) possibly included in CoM 
inventories. This results in a mean annual decrease of 0.9%/year (IPCC) and 0.8%/year 
(LCA)  at  EU-28  level.  The  most  pronounced  1990  to  2013  decreases  are  obtained  for 
Malta  (4.7%/year  and  5%/year),  Romania  (2.5%/year  and  2.9%/year),  Greece 
(2.0%/year and 2.1%/year), and Estonia (2%/year in both cases). 

Comparison  to  Bertoldi  et  al.  (2010):    CoM  Version  2017  NEEFEs  are  compared  to 
Bertoldi  et  al.  (2010)  values  in  Annex  V  (Table  V.2).  A  difference  of  +6%  is  obtained 
between our EU-28 results and the Bertoldi et al. (2010) EU-27 value for the year 2002 
(Table V.1). At national scale, Version 2017 of CoM IPCC-based NEEFEs are generally in 
good agreement with Bertoldi  et al. (2010)  values,  except  for  Estonia (+111%), France 
(+70%), Sweden (+39%) and Slovenia (-22%). For Estonia and Slovenia, it could be that 
the  2007  national  electricity  consumption  versus  production  ratios  applied  in  the 
current  study  (0.56  and  0.88  respectively),  based  on  IEA  (2016)  energy  data,  are 
significantly different to the ones used by the national agencies, which are not available 
(NEEFE are referred to as “personal communication” in Bertoldi et al. (2010) for these 
countries).  Another  explanation  could  be  discrepancies  between  the  emission  factors 
respectively  applied to  the  main energy carriers. For France  and Sweden, the  absolute 
differences  are  indeed  very  small  (0.04  tCO2/MWh  and  0.01  tCO2/MWh,  respectively) 
given the low  NEEFE  values  (see  Annex V)  due  the high share  of nuclear (France) and 
biomass  (Sweden)  used  for  the  production  of  electricity  in  these  countries.  Our 
calculations  also  reveal  that  the  NEEFE  excluding  biofuels  emissions  are  closer  to  the 
2010 CoM guidebook values (see for instance Figure 2 for EU-28) indicating that most of 
the  NEEFE factors reported in the  2010 Guidebook were  very  likely  calculated by also 
excluding  emission  from  biofuels/biomass,  in  line  with  the  IPCC  reporting  principles. 
Most  of  the  updated  LCA-based  NEEFE  values  (20  out  of  25)  are  lower  than  the  ones 
reported  in  CoM  2010  guidebook,  resulting  in  an  EU-28  European  Emission  Factor  for 
Electricity Consumption that is 8% lower than the Bertoldi et al. (2010) value for EU-27. 
Identifying the reasons for all individual differences would require further case-to-case 
analyses, as they are the result of a combination of between different data sources and 

24 

 
 
   
methodologies in Bertoldi et al.  (2010) and improved knowledge, data and  methods in 
the present study.   

Table  11.  1990  to  2013  changes  in  NEEFE  factor  for  electricity  consumption.  1990  to  2013 
changes in NEEFE factor for electricity consumption 

Country / EU 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovak Republic 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
EU-28 

1990-2013 absolute 
change 
(tCO2 or tCO2eq/MWh) 
LCA 
IPCC 
tCO2/MWh 
tCO2eq/MWh 
-0.11 
-0.24 
-0.17 
-0.05 
-0.23 
-0.19 
-0.30 
-0.46 
-0.02 
-0.07 
-0.16 
-0.47 
-0.20 
-0.44 
-0.23 
0.03 
-0.28 
-0.33 
-1.07 
-0.17 
-0.42 
-0.32 
-0.57 
-0.23 
-0.19 
-0.23 
0.00 
-0.28 
-0.21 

-0.10 
-0.22 
-0.11 
-0.06 
-0.26 
-0.16 
-0.28 
-0.44 
-0.01 
-0.07 
-0.12 
-0.48 
-0.17 
-0.45 
-0.23 
0.07 
-0.31 
-0.32 
-1.15 
-0.18 
-0.41 
-0.34 
-0.57 
-0.22 
-0.19 
-0.21 
0.02 
-0.26 
-0.20 

1990-2013 mean annual 
change 
(%) 

IPCC 
tCO2/MWh 
-0.5% 
-1.0% 
-0.7% 
-0.2% 
-1.0% 
-0.8% 
-1.3% 
-2.0% 
-0.1% 
-0.3% 
-0.7% 
-2.0% 
-0.9% 
-1.9% 
-1.0% 
0.1% 
-1.2% 
-1.4% 
-4.7% 
-0.8% 
-1.8% 
-1.4% 
-2.5% 
-1.0% 
-0.8% 
-1.0% 
0.0% 
-1.2% 
-0.9% 

LCA 
tCO2eq/MWh 

-0.4% 
-1.0% 
-0.5% 
-0.3% 
-1.1% 
-0.7% 
-1.2% 
-1.9% 
-0.1% 
-0.3% 
-0.5% 
-2.1% 
-0.7% 
-1.9% 
-1.0% 
0.3% 
-1.4% 
-1.4% 
-5.0% 
-0.8% 
-1.8% 
-1.5% 
-2.5% 
-1.0% 
-0.8% 
-0.9% 
0.1% 
-1.1% 
-0.8% 

25 

 
 
 
 
 
 
2.5  Comments and recommendations about CoM NEEFE factors 

  Consistency and Use of the updated NEEFE factors 

Given  that  the  electricity  consumed  within  each  local  municipality  is  generally  not 
produced within its territory, the CoM signatories are recommended to use the National 
or  European  Emission  Factor  for  Electricity  consumption  NEEFE  as  a  starting  point  to 
assess the emissions  from local electricity consumption, further  corrected  if applicable 
for local electricity production (see section 1.3).  

For the time being, as with the other CoM default Emission factors provided in Annex I, 
the general rule of the Covenant of Mayors is still to use the same NEEFE emission factor 
in  the  monitoring  phase  than  the  one  used  in  the  Baseline  Emission  Inventory.  The 
benefit  of  using  a  constant  NEEFE  is  that  the  trend  in  the  local  authority’s  emissions 
from  electricity  consumption  will  be  solely  driven  by  local  consumption  and,  if 
applicable, local electricity production (see section 1.3). This helps understand the trend 
and  changes  in  emissions  from  local  energy  consumption,  which  is  the  scope  of  the 
Covenant (see Part II of the CoM 2010 Guidebook). This is of particular importance for 
the NEEFE, which fluctuates considerably from year to year due to the heating/cooling 
demand,  availability  of  renewable  energies,  energy  market  situation,  import/export  of 
energy  and  so  on.  For  this  reason,  we  also  recommend  checking  the  inter-annual 
variabilility of the NEEFE value around the BEI year (see Annex VI). In the case of high 
fluctuation,  it  is  suggested  to  apply  a  more  representative  value,  e.g.  an  average  value 
over a 3-yrs (BEI year +/- 1) or 5-yrs(BEI year +/-2) period.  

Our calculations show a general decrease in NEEFE over the 1990-2013 period, (except 
for Latvia and Sweden), which is expected to continue over the coming decades, due to 
the projected increase in the production of “carbon free” electricity from RES (Capros et 
al., 2016). At the same time, the latter study also shows that the share of electricity in the 
total  energy  demand  at  EU  level  is  expected  to  increase  by  2030.  Because  a  40% 
minimum  target  was  set  for  all  EU  countries  in  the  context  of  CoM  and  because  some 
countries might experience a high increase in the share of electricity in the total energy 
consumption,  not  accounting  for  the  NEEFE  trend  may  make  it  difficult  for  some 
signatories to reach their overall reduction target. Given that both trends in NEEFE (see 
Table 11 and Annex VI) and in the percentage of electricity in total energy consumption 
are highly country dependent,  how the NEEFE trend should be accounted for or not  in 
future  is  currently  being  analysed  in  the  frame  of  Covenant’s  extension  to  the  2030 
target  year.  In  case  CoM  signatories  already  account  for  the  trend  in  the  NEEFE  when 
calculating  and  implementing  their  emission  reduction  target,  this  has  to  be  explicitly 
specified in their official SE(C)AP document and accounted for in the on-line mitigation 
actions template for each relevant key sector (by applying “Other (national, regional,..)” 
label in the “Origin of action” column).  

26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  Accounting  for  local  production  and  purchase  of  electricity,  including  emissions 

from biomass/biofuels consumption 

While  a  constant  NEEFE  has  to  be  used,  the  local  authority  is  allowed  to  take  into 
consideration  any  changes  in  local  electricity  production.  In  case  of  local  electricity 
production and/or purchase of certified green electricity by the local authority, the local 
emission factor for electricity has to be further assessed from the NEEFE to account for 
local  production  and  purchase  of  electricity  and  related  emissions.  The  calculation 
approach  is  provided  in  Part  II  (paragraph  3.4.4)  of  the  CoM  2010  Guidebook  and  its 
forthcoming update. 

For the reasons discussed in section 2.3.1, the CoM NEEFE default factors – Version 
2017 do not account for emissions from biofuels/biomass consumption. However, when 
correcting the NEEFE for local production and purchase of electricity, it is encouraged to 
also  include  such  emissions.  As  for  the  calculation  of  other  emissions  from  local 
renewable  energy  use,  this  requires  evaluating  the  carbon  neutrality  property  of  the 
fuels consumed in the plants, as discussed in section 1.4.  

It  is  worth  noting  that  how  emissions  from  biomass/biofuels  consumption  are 
accounted for in the context of the Covenant may be revised in the future, as their use in 
increase  and  updated  UNFCCC  related  reporting 
is  also  expected  to 
the  EU 
recommendations are expected by 2019. 

27 

 
 
 
 
Conclusions  

This  document  provides  an  update  of  the  CoM  default  emission  factors  reported  in 
previous  CoM  Guidebook  (Bertoldi  et  al.,  2010)  and  Reporting  Guidelines  (CoM,  2014; 
CoM,  2016)  for  the  28  EU  Member  States,  together  with  information  on  the 
methodologies,  assumptions,  data  sources  and  recommendations  on  the  use  of  these 
factors  (see  notably  sections  1.4  and  2.5).  The  new  CoM  default  emission  factors 
(Version  2017)  provided  in  Annex  I  include  both  “standard”  and  LCA-based  emission 
factors  that  can  be  used  to  estimate  local  emissions  of  CO2  (in  tCO2)  or  GHGs  (sum  of 
CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions expressed in tCO2-eq) due to the direct and indirect (from 
electricity  consumption)  end  use  of  fossil  fuels,  municipal  wastes,  and  renewable 
energies. Because regular (annual for the NEEFE) updates are foreseen, we recommend 
checking  for  the  latest  version  of  Annex  I  in  the  Covenant  website  library10.  It  is  also 
worth  noting  that  how  emissions  from  biomass/biofuels  and  electricity  are  accounted 
for in the frame of the Covenant might be revised in the future, as their use in the EU is 
expected  to  increase  and  updated  UNFCCC  related  reporting  recommendations 
potentially are expected by 2019. 

Because the scope of Covenant is the final energy consumption within the boundaries of 
the local authority and because the current update leads to significant changes in some 
of the default emission factors (see Annexes III and V), it is important not to update the 
CoM default factors during the monitoring phase, if they were selected for the estimation 
of  the  Baseline  emission  inventory,  because  it  would  affect  the  understanding  and 
monitoring  of  the  impact  of  local  mitigation  actions  on  the  resulting  changes  in  local 
GHG emissions. If local authorities prefer to use and update factors that better reflect the 
properties  of  the  fuels  used  in  their  territory  when  elaborating  their  baseline  and 
subsequent emission  inventories, they are welcome  to do so, in case more  country-  or 
local- specific data are available and reliable.  

For  further  guidance  on  the  elaboration  of  local  emission  inventories  in  the  context  of 
the  Covenant,  please  also  refer  to  Part  II  of  CoM  2010  guidebook  and  its  forthcoming 
update (JRC, 2017). 

10 http://www.eumayors.eu/Library,84.html 

28 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
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31 

 
 
 
 
 
List of Figures 

Figure  1.  Trends  in  the  EU-28  Emission  factor  for  Electricity  Production  (tCO2/MWh). 
Red line: this study, using IPCC (2006) default approach and emission factors; Black line: 
also  including  emissions  from  biofuels  and  biomass,  assuming  they  were  produced 
through a non-carbon neutral process; Black dots : EFs values provided for some specific 
years  in  IEA  (2014)  based  on  default  methods  and  emission  factors  from  the  Revised 
1996 IPCC Guidelines (IPCC, 1997).  

Figure 2. Trends in the EU-28 Emission factor for Electricity Consumption (tCO2/MWh). 
Red line: this study, using the IPCC (2006) default approach and emission factors. Black 
line: also including emissions from biofuels and biomass, assuming they were produced 
through a non-carbon neutral process. Purple star : Bertoldi et al. (2010) 2002 value for 
EU-27.  

32 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
List of Tables 

Table  1.  The  CoM  default  emission  factors  – Version  2017  provided  in  Annex  I  of  this 
report (‘X’ ) 

Table  2.  Review  papers  of  case  studies  on  heat  generation  from  different  energy 
carriers. For each review paper are reported the number of case studies considered, the 
minimum and the maximum EFs found and, for few cases, if a suggestion for a general 
EF is expressed 

Table  3.  Review  papers  of  case  studies  on  electricity  generation  from  local  renewable 
sources. For each review paper are reported the number of case studies considered, the 
minimum and the maximum EFs found and, for few cases, if a suggestion for a general 
EF is expressed 

Table 4. Details of LCIs available in ELCD v3.2 for fuels and energy carrier for heat 

Table 5. Details of LCIs available in other than ELCD v3.2 database for fuels and energy 
carrier for heat. 

Table  6.  Details  of  LCIs  available  in  ELCD  v3.2  and  NEEDS  database  for  electricity 
generation from local RES. 

Table 7. EU-28 CoM signatories and population in "CoM BEI dataset 2016" (Kona et al., 
2016) as a function of the inventory approach and the size (in inhabitants) of the local 
territory 

Table  8.  Source  and  Reference  year  of    the  NEEFE  factors  published  in  Bertoldi  et  al. 
(2010) 

Table  9.  1990  and  2013  NEEFEp  for  electricity  production,  as  calculated  when 
excluding  (A)  and  accounting  for  (B)  emissions  from  biofuels/biomass  (assuming  non 
carbon neutral process). 

Table  10.  Electricity  output  and  Final  Electricity  Consumption  (GWh)  in  2013  (IEA, 
2016). Higher produced than consumed electricity leads to higher NEEFE than NEEFEp 
factors and inversely 

Table  11.  1990  to  2013  changes  in  NEEFE  factor  for  electricity  consumption.  1990  to 
2013 changes in NEEFE factor for electricity consumption 

33 

 
 
 
 
 
 
List of acronyms and abbreviations 

European Union 
European Union’s Member States, before adhesion of Croatia 
European Union’s Member States, after adhesion of Croatia (before Brexit) 
Feed stocks 

Combined Heat power Plant 
Carbon dioxide  
Carbon dioxide equivalent  
Covenant of Mayors  
European Emission Factor for Electricity consumption 
Emission Factor 

  Green House Gases  
  Global Warming Potential  

  Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use  
  Base Emission Inventory  
  Brown Coal Briquettes 
  Methane  

AFOLU 
BEI  
BKB 
CH4  
CHP 
CO2 
CO2-eq        
CoM  
EEFE 
EF 
ELCD                European Reference Life Cycle Database 
EU  
EU-27 
EU-28  
FS 
GHG  
GWP  
IEA  
IPCC  
LCA 
LCI 
JRC  
MEI  
MS 
NEEDS 
NEEFE 
NEEFEp 
NGL 
N2O  
PV 
RES 
SBP 
SECAP  
UNFCCC 

International Energy Agency  
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change  
Life Cycle Assessment 
Life Cycle Inventory 
Joint Research Centre  

Special Boiling Point (Industrial) spirit 
Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan 

  Renewable Energy Source 

  Monitoring Emission Inventory 
  Member States 
  New Energy Externalities Developments for Sustainability 
  National and European Emission Factors for Electricity consumption 
  National and European Emission Factors for Electricity production 
  Natural Gas Liquids 
  Nitrous Oxide  
Photovoltaic 

  United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change 

34 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex I - Covenant of Mayors Default Emission Factors - Version 2017 

AI.1. CoM default emission factors for fossil fuels and municipal wastes (non-biomass 
fraction)  

                      Energy carriers1 

SECAP Template 

IPCC denomination 

Natural gas 

Natural gas 

Standard 
(IPCC, 2006) 

LCA2, 4  
up to 
2007 

LCA3, 4 
2008-2015 
(current 
update) 

t CO2
/MWh 

0.202 

t CO2-eq 
/MWh  

t CO2-eq 
/MWh 

t CO2-eq 
/MWh 

0.202 

0.237 

0.240 

Liquid gas 

Liquefied Petroleum 

0.227 

0.227 

n.a. 

0.281a 

Gases 

Natural Gas Liquids 

0.231 

0.231 

n.a. 

0.272a 

Heating Oil 

Gas/Diesel oil 

0.267 

0.268 

0.305 

Diesel 

Gas/Diesel oil 

0.267 

 0.268b 

0.305 

Gasoline 

Motor gasoline 

0.249 

0.250b 

0.307 

Lignite 

Coal 

Lignite 

Anthracite 

0.364 

0.365 

0.375 

0.354 

0.356 

0.393 

Other Bituminous Coal 

0.341 

0.342 

0.380 

Sub-Bituminous Coal 

0.346 

0.348 

0.385 

0.306 

0.306 

0.314 

0.375 

0.370 

0.358 

0.363 

Other non 
renewable 
fuels5 

Peat 

0.382 

0.383 

0.392 

0.390a 

Municipal Wastes 
(non-biomass fraction) 

0.330 

0.337 

0.174 

0. 295 

1Default  energy  carriers  of  CoM  SECAP  on-line  template.  2ELCD  (2009)  and  3ELCD  v3.2  (ELCD,  2015) 
databases, except  aEcoinvent.  bIf choosing to report in CO2-eq, please consider that the emission factors 
for the transport sector are up to 3% higher than the values provided here (e.g., for gasoline), which are 
characteristic for stationary sources. For municipal wastes, the LCA factor is lower than the IPCC (2006) 
factor  because  of  the  emission  savings  allowed  by  the  waste  treatment  (see  Annex  III).  4The  validity 
range applies to the baseline year, i.e. to the year of the so-called Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI). For 
the  subsequent  monitoring  emission  inventories  (MEIs),  the  same  emission  factors  should  be  applied 
(see also section 1.4 for details on the use of local versus  CoM default emission factors).  5Referred to as 
“Other fossil fuels“ in the on-line SEAP template. 

35 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex I - Continued 

AI.2 CoM default Emission factors for renewable energy sources 

                      Renewable energy 

Standard2 
(IPCC, 2006) 

Energy 
classes 1 

IPCC denomination                                

          Carbon neutrality                                                         

LCA3 
up to 
20075 

t CO2-eq 
/MWh 
0.182 a 
0.484 
0.207 a 
0.462 
0.156 a 
0.411 
n.a. 

LCA4 
2008-20155 
(current 
update) 

t CO2-eq 
/MWh 
0.182a 
0.484 
0.207a  
0.462 
0.156a 
0.411 
0.284 b 

t CO2 
/MWh 
0 
0.287 
0 
0.255 
0 
0.255 
0.197 

t CO2-eq 
/MWh 
0.001 
0.302 
0.001 
0.256 
0.001 
0.256 
0.197 

0 

0.007 

0.106 

0.1063 

0 
0.403 
0.403 
0.360 

0.007 
0.410 
0.410 
0.367 

0.013 
0.416 
0.1843 
n.a. 

0.017c 
0.420 
0.1843 
n.a. 

Plant oil 

Other Liquid Biofuels 

Biofuel 

Bio-gasoline 

Other 
biomass 

Biodiesels 

Biogas 

Municipal wastes 
(biom. fraction) 
Wood (/Wood waste) 

(Wood/) Wood waste 
Other primary solid 
biomass 

cn 
ncn  
cn  
ncn  
cn  
ncn  
ncn 

cn 

cn  
ncn  
ncn 
ncn 

0 

0 

n.a. 

Solar 
thermal 
Geothermal 
1Default  energy  carriers  of  CoM  SECAP  on-line  template.  2  Standard  emission  factors  should  be  reported  zero  if  the 
biofuels/biomass meet CO2 neutrality criteria (cn) in terms of CO2 emissions versus CO2 assimilation by plants; For fuels 
that do not meet carbon neutrality criteria (see section 1.4), the ncn (not carbon neutral) IPCC (2006) default emission 
factors  reflecting  the  carbon  content,  potentially  further  corrected  for  the  carbon  assimilation,  should  be  used 
(excluding emissions from the supply chain, which are included in the LCA factor). The sources of LCA values are 3ELCD 
(2009)  and  4ELCD  v3.2  (ELCD,  2015)  databases  except  a)Bertoldi  et  al.  (2010),  b)  Ecoinvent  world  value  for  the  year 
2015, c) NEEDS database and d) Amponsah et al. (2014). 5The validity range applies to the baseline year, i.e. to the year 
of the so-called Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI), whereas for the monitoring emission inventories (MEIs), the same 
emission  factors  should  be  applied  (see  also  section  1.4  for  details  on  the  use  of  local  versus  CoM  default  emission 
factors).  The  LCA  factors  for  emissions  from  plant  oil,  biogasoline  (bioethanol)  and  biogas  have  been  checked  for 
consistency against the values reported in the EU Renewable Energy Directive (see Annex III). 

0.040d 

0.050d 

n.a. 

0 

0 

36 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex I - Continued 

A I.3. CoM default Emission factors for Local electricity production from RES 

Standard 
(IPCC) 

LCA2 
Up to 20074 

LCA3 
2008-20154 
(current 
update) 

t CO2 
/MWh 

t CO2-eq 
/MWh 

t CO2-eq 
/MWh 

t CO2-eq 
/MWh 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0.020-0.050a 

0.007 

0.024b 

0.010 

0.006 

0.030c 

Electricity 
generation RES  
Technology1 

Wind 

Hydroelectric  

Photovoltaics 

LCA data sources: 1RES Technologies as defined in CoM SECAP on-line template; 2ELCD (2009) and 3ELCD v3.2 (ELCD, 
2015)  databases  except:  a)based  on  results  from  one  plant,  operated  in  coastal  areas  with  good  wind  conditions,  b) 
Vasilis et al. (2008) and c) Amponsah et al. (2014). 4The validity range applies to the baseline emission inventory. For 
the subsequent monitoring emission inventories, the same emission factors should be applied (see also section 1.4 for 
details on the use of local versus CoM default emission factors). 

37 

 
 
 
 
Annex I - Continued 
Annex I.4 National and European Emission factors for Electricity consumption (NEEFE) 
AI.4.1: CO2 emission factors from Electricity consumption (standard approach, tCO2/MWh) – 1990 to 2001 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovak Republic 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United-Kingdom 
EU-28 

1990 
0.279 
0.433 
0.956 
0.252 
0.933 
0.977 
0.627 
2.436 
0.176 
0.149 
0.750 
1.228 
0.452 
0.899 
0.575 
0.095 
0.377 
0.417 
1.945 
0.603 
1.435 
0.635 
1.070 
0.431 
0.588 
0.524 
0.014 
0.794 
0.602 

1991 
0.281 
0.416 
0.867 
0.180 
0.925 
1.024 
0.876 
2.092 
0.193 
0.172 
0.753 
1.165 
0.518 
0.902 
0.549 
0.102 
0.413 
0.440 
1.335 
0.592 
1.479 
0.636 
1.105 
0.458 
0.509 
0.518 
0.023 
0.771 
0.595 

1992 
0.221 
0.407 
0.981 
0.332 
0.959 
1.002 
0.695 
2.093 
0.155 
0.134 
0.734 
1.198 
0.599 
0.906 
0.535 
0.085 
0.200 
0.414 
1.227 
0.586 
1.503 
0.733 
1.161 
0.445 
0.601 
0.580 
0.023 
0.759 
0.582 

1993 
0.209 
0.409 
1.008 
0.359 
0.938 
1.052 
0.718 
1.878 
0.193 
0.092 
0.725 
1.180 
0.644 
0.884 
0.516 
0.109 
0.162 
0.404 
1.662 
0.596 
1.474 
0.664 
1.265 
0.470 
0.608 
0.504 
0.025 
0.665 
0.554 

1994 
0.229 
0.424 
0.912 
0.204 
0.936 
1.021 
0.843 
2.032 
0.254 
0.093 
0.729 
1.164 
0.636 
0.879 
0.512 
0.129 
0.166 
0.300 
1.491 
0.585 
1.498 
0.618 
1.280 
0.412 
0.523 
0.492 
0.029 
0.640 
0.550 

38 

1995 
0.248 
0.409 
0.857 
0.237 
0.933 
1.020 
0.706 
2.093 
0.223 
0.107 
0.708 
1.166 
0.635 
0.872 
0.546 
0.117 
0.139 
0.182 
1.255 
0.542 
1.406 
0.673 
1.221 
0.449 
0.538 
0.543 
0.026 
0.606 
0.544 

1996 
0.257 
0.378 
0.799 
0.255 
0.955 
0.992 
1.049 
2.030 
0.299 
0.112 
0.718 
1.022 
0.622 
0.855 
0.524 
0.140 
0.234 
0.150 
1.218 
0.523 
1.361 
0.503 
1.176 
0.400 
0.491 
0.429 
0.053 
0.593 
0.537 

1997 
0.259 
0.349 
0.880 
0.274 
0.973 
0.995 
0.782 
1.897 
0.252 
0.102 
0.685 
0.973 
0.645 
0.840 
0.514 
0.130 
0.141 
0.089 
1.173 
0.496 
1.328 
0.505 
0.954 
0.428 
0.508 
0.475 
0.031 
0.550 
0.511 

1998 
0.228 
0.365 
0.897 
0.337 
0.974 
1.003 
0.668 
1.899 
0.185 
0.138 
0.675 
0.956 
0.659 
0.837 
0.513 
0.125 
0.283 
0.030 
1.155 
0.494 
1.291 
0.555 
0.781 
0.447 
0.537 
0.455 
0.034 
0.555 
0.506 

1999 
0.222 
0.331 
0.833 
0.330 
0.981 
0.958 
0.580 
1.946 
0.185 
0.120 
0.638 
0.967 
0.644 
0.812 
0.493 
0.125 
0.236 
0.032 
1.116 
0.461 
1.296 
0.656 
0.823 
0.422 
0.446 
0.526 
0.032 
0.516 
0.488 

2000 
0.201 
0.329 
0.816 
0.286 
0.952 
1.077 
0.498 
1.841 
0.164 
0.108 
0.641 
1.033 
0.564 
0.758 
0.496 
0.120 
0.178 
0.034 
1.012 
0.442 
1.278 
0.557 
0.893 
0.350 
0.453 
0.517 
0.024 
0.545 
0.486 

2001 
0.200 
0.313 
0.993 
0.363 
0.897 
1.135 
0.557 
1.768 
0.214 
0.096 
0.580 
1.023 
0.561 
0.807 
0.476 
0.123 
0.194 
0.068 
1.260 
0.508 
1.356 
0.562 
0.939 
0.386 
0.501 
0.490 
0.027 
0.567 
0.482 

 
 
 
 
Annex I - Continued 
Annex I.4 National and European Emission factors for Electricity consumption (continued) 
AI.4.1 (continued): CO2 emission factors from Electricity consumption (standard approach, tCO2/MWh) – 2002 to 2013 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovak Republic 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United-Kingdom 
EU-28 

2002 
0.221 
0.304 
0.854 
0.374 
0.854 
1.016 
0.531 
1.656 
0.229 
0.095 
0.642 
0.961 
0.521 
0.733 
0.499 
0.101 
0.174 
0.183 
1.169 
0.468 
1.261 
0.584 
0.863 
0.290 
0.483 
0.519 
0.032 
0.551 
0.486 

2003 
0.255 
0.297 
0.914 
0.408 
0.936 
0.992 
0.686 
1.882 
0.323 
0.097 
0.614 
0.945 
0.551 
0.654 
0.506 
0.096 
0.166 
0.159 
1.184 
0.472 
1.280 
0.461 
0.940 
0.351 
0.440 
0.455 
0.041 
0.588 
0.489 

2004 
0.253 
0.290 
0.913 
0.305 
0.875 
0.975 
0.501 
1.831 
0.272 
0.093 
0.597 
0.937 
0.475 
0.636 
0.501 
0.080 
0.165 
0.185 
1.142 
0.461 
1.234 
0.472 
0.764 
0.300 
0.428 
0.466 
0.026 
0.579 
0.472 

2005 
0.248 
0.302 
0.883 
0.287 
0.880 
0.924 
0.405 
1.808 
0.147 
0.110 
0.594 
0.923 
0.412 
0.621 
0.482 
0.072 
0.181 
0.188 
1.280 
0.440 
1.225 
0.525 
0.751 
0.309 
0.421 
0.480 
0.023 
0.568 
0.466 

2007 
0.213 
0.274 
0.963 
0.335 
0.854 
0.992 
0.506 
1.919 
0.230 
0.104 
0.622 
0.866 
0.437 
0.554 
0.478 
0.075 
0.134 
0.165 
1.268 
0.445 
1.155 
0.383 
0.817 
0.255 
0.433 
0.472 
0.020 
0.593 
0.473 

2006 
0.229 
0.275 
0.854 
0.278 
0.855 
0.903 
0.628 
1.476 
0.259 
0.101 
0.598 
0.849 
0.395 
0.567 
0.481 
0.086 
0.143 
0.183 
1.176 
0.423 
1.209 
0.443 
0.799 
0.287 
0.423 
0.449 
0.024 
0.598 
0.466 
39 

2008 
0.203 
0.260 
0.897 
0.282 
0.840 
0.905 
0.446 
1.671 
0.170 
0.093 
0.585 
0.840 
0.411 
0.532 
0.463 
0.087 
0.124 
0.139 
1.070 
0.439 
1.089 
0.375 
0.795 
0.245 
0.432 
0.402 
0.020 
0.561 
0.443 

2009 
0.187 
0.252 
0.870 
0.241 
0.827 
0.890 
0.467 
1.450 
0.180 
0.097 
0.568 
0.818 
0.341 
0.503 
0.411 
0.085 
0.147 
0.177 
1.091 
0.461 
1.089 
0.396 
0.725 
0.240 
0.471 
0.364 
0.020 
0.520 
0.423 

2010 
0.211 
0.247 
0.915 
0.208 
0.769 
0.878 
0.430 
1.903 
0.221 
0.094 
0.547 
0.775 
0.346 
0.511 
0.405 
0.128 
0.192 
0.168 
1.022 
0.459 
1.033 
0.274 
0.604 
0.224 
0.441 
0.289 
0.029 
0.512 
0.406 

2011 
0.218 
0.221 
1.060 
0.231 
0.773 
0.915 
0.351 
1.878 
0.179 
0.083 
0.556 
0.819 
0.331 
0.473 
0.403 
0.126 
0.134 
0.138 
1.000 
0.428 
1.063 
0.329 
0.724 
0.231 
0.435 
0.354 
0.020 
0.507 
0.416 

2012 
0.183 
0.220 
0.910 
0.214 
0.785 
0.855 
0.254 
1.594 
0.120 
0.086 
0.574 
0.811 
0.334 
0.523 
0.389 
0.078 
0.138 
0.148 
1.032 
0.428 
1.013 
0.363 
0.666 
0.234 
0.418 
0.378 
0.015 
0.554 
0.414 

2013 
0.170 
0.198 
0.791 
0.204 
0.707 
0.783 
0.331 
1.977 
0.155 
0.082 
0.587 
0.757 
0.254 
0.464 
0.343 
0.121 
0.096 
0.091 
0.871 
0.429 
1.013 
0.314 
0.502 
0.199 
0.399 
0.297 
0.015 
0.515 
0.391 

 
 
 
Annex I - Continued 
Annex I.4 National and European Emission factors for Electricity consumption (continued) 
AI.4.2: GHG emission factors from Electricity consumption (standard approach, tCO2-eq/MWh) – 1990 to 2001 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovak Republic 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United-Kingdom 
EU-28 

1990 
0.280 
0.435 
0.960 
0.253 
0.936 
0.981 
0.630 
2.446 
0.177 
0.150 
0.754 
1.234 
0.454 
0.903 
0.577 
0.095 
0.378 
0.417 
1.953 
0.605 
1.442 
0.638 
1.073 
0.432 
0.591 
0.526 
0.014 
0.798 
0.604 

1991 
0.282 
0.417 
0.871 
0.181 
0.928 
1.028 
0.881 
2.101 
0.194 
0.172 
0.756 
1.170 
0.519 
0.905 
0.551 
0.102 
0.414 
0.441 
1.340 
0.593 
1.486 
0.638 
1.109 
0.460 
0.512 
0.520 
0.023 
0.775 
0.597 

1992 
0.222 
0.409 
0.986 
0.333 
0.962 
1.007 
0.698 
2.102 
0.155 
0.135 
0.738 
1.203 
0.602 
0.910 
0.537 
0.085 
0.200 
0.414 
1.232 
0.587 
1.510 
0.736 
1.165 
0.447 
0.603 
0.582 
0.023 
0.762 
0.584 

1993 
0.210 
0.410 
1.012 
0.360 
0.942 
1.057 
0.722 
1.886 
0.194 
0.093 
0.728 
1.185 
0.647 
0.888 
0.517 
0.110 
0.163 
0.404 
1.668 
0.598 
1.481 
0.666 
1.269 
0.472 
0.610 
0.507 
0.025 
0.668 
0.557 

1994 
0.230 
0.426 
0.916 
0.205 
0.939 
1.026 
0.847 
2.041 
0.255 
0.093 
0.732 
1.169 
0.638 
0.882 
0.514 
0.129 
0.166 
0.300 
1.496 
0.587 
1.505 
0.620 
1.284 
0.414 
0.525 
0.494 
0.030 
0.643 
0.552 

40 

1995 
0.249 
0.411 
0.861 
0.238 
0.936 
1.024 
0.710 
2.102 
0.224 
0.107 
0.712 
1.171 
0.637 
0.875 
0.547 
0.117 
0.139 
0.182 
1.259 
0.544 
1.413 
0.676 
1.225 
0.451 
0.540 
0.546 
0.026 
0.609 
0.546 

1996 
0.258 
0.379 
0.802 
0.256 
0.958 
0.996 
1.054 
2.039 
0.300 
0.112 
0.721 
1.026 
0.624 
0.858 
0.525 
0.140 
0.234 
0.150 
1.222 
0.525 
1.367 
0.505 
1.180 
0.401 
0.493 
0.431 
0.053 
0.595 
0.539 

1997 
0.260 
0.350 
0.884 
0.275 
0.977 
0.999 
0.785 
1.905 
0.253 
0.102 
0.688 
0.978 
0.647 
0.843 
0.515 
0.130 
0.142 
0.089 
1.177 
0.497 
1.334 
0.507 
0.957 
0.430 
0.510 
0.477 
0.031 
0.552 
0.513 

1998 
0.229 
0.367 
0.901 
0.338 
0.978 
1.007 
0.671 
1.908 
0.186 
0.139 
0.678 
0.960 
0.662 
0.840 
0.514 
0.125 
0.283 
0.030 
1.159 
0.495 
1.297 
0.557 
0.784 
0.449 
0.539 
0.457 
0.034 
0.557 
0.508 

1999 
0.223 
0.332 
0.837 
0.331 
0.984 
0.962 
0.583 
1.954 
0.186 
0.120 
0.641 
0.971 
0.646 
0.814 
0.495 
0.125 
0.237 
0.033 
1.120 
0.462 
1.302 
0.659 
0.826 
0.424 
0.448 
0.528 
0.032 
0.518 
0.489 

2000 
0.202 
0.330 
0.820 
0.287 
0.955 
1.082 
0.500 
1.849 
0.165 
0.108 
0.644 
1.037 
0.567 
0.761 
0.497 
0.120 
0.178 
0.034 
1.016 
0.443 
1.284 
0.559 
0.897 
0.351 
0.455 
0.519 
0.024 
0.547 
0.488 

2001 
0.201 
0.314 
0.997 
0.365 
0.900 
1.140 
0.560 
1.775 
0.215 
0.097 
0.583 
1.027 
0.563 
0.810 
0.477 
0.124 
0.195 
0.069 
1.265 
0.510 
1.362 
0.564 
0.943 
0.388 
0.504 
0.492 
0.028 
0.569 
0.484 

 
 
 
Annex I - Continued 
Annex I.4 National and European Emission factors for Electricity consumption (continued) 
AI.4.2 (continued): GHG emission factors from Electricity consumption (standard approach, tCO2-eq/MWh) – 2002 to 2013 
2010 
0.212 
0.248 
0.920 
0.209 
0.771 
0.883 
0.433 
1.912 
0.223 
0.095 
0.550 
0.779 
0.348 
0.512 
0.407 
0.128 
0.193 
0.168 
1.026 
0.460 
1.038 
0.275 
0.607 
0.225 
0.444 
0.290 
0.030 
0.514 
0.407 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovak Republic 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United-Kingdom 
EU-28 

2003 
0.255 
0.298 
0.918 
0.409 
0.939 
0.996 
0.689 
1.890 
0.324 
0.098 
0.616 
0.949 
0.553 
0.656 
0.507 
0.096 
0.166 
0.159 
1.188 
0.473 
1.286 
0.463 
0.944 
0.352 
0.442 
0.457 
0.041 
0.590 
0.491 

2005 
0.248 
0.303 
0.887 
0.288 
0.883 
0.928 
0.407 
1.816 
0.147 
0.110 
0.597 
0.927 
0.414 
0.623 
0.484 
0.072 
0.181 
0.188 
1.284 
0.441 
1.231 
0.528 
0.754 
0.310 
0.423 
0.482 
0.023 
0.570 
0.468 

2004 
0.254 
0.291 
0.917 
0.306 
0.877 
0.980 
0.504 
1.839 
0.273 
0.093 
0.599 
0.941 
0.477 
0.638 
0.503 
0.080 
0.166 
0.185 
1.146 
0.463 
1.240 
0.474 
0.767 
0.301 
0.430 
0.468 
0.026 
0.582 
0.474 

2007 
0.214 
0.275 
0.967 
0.336 
0.856 
0.997 
0.509 
1.927 
0.231 
0.104 
0.625 
0.870 
0.438 
0.556 
0.479 
0.075 
0.134 
0.165 
1.272 
0.447 
1.160 
0.384 
0.820 
0.256 
0.435 
0.474 
0.020 
0.595 
0.475 

2009 
0.188 
0.253 
0.874 
0.241 
0.830 
0.894 
0.469 
1.456 
0.181 
0.098 
0.570 
0.821 
0.342 
0.505 
0.413 
0.085 
0.148 
0.178 
1.094 
0.463 
1.094 
0.398 
0.728 
0.241 
0.473 
0.366 
0.020 
0.521 
0.425 

2008 
0.204 
0.261 
0.901 
0.283 
0.843 
0.909 
0.448 
1.678 
0.171 
0.093 
0.588 
0.844 
0.412 
0.534 
0.464 
0.087 
0.124 
0.139 
1.073 
0.441 
1.095 
0.376 
0.798 
0.246 
0.434 
0.404 
0.021 
0.562 
0.445 

2002 
0.222 
0.305 
0.858 
0.376 
0.857 
1.020 
0.533 
1.663 
0.230 
0.095 
0.645 
0.965 
0.522 
0.736 
0.500 
0.101 
0.175 
0.184 
1.173 
0.469 
1.267 
0.587 
0.866 
0.291 
0.485 
0.521 
0.033 
0.553 
0.488 

2006 
0.229 
0.276 
0.858 
0.279 
0.858 
0.907 
0.631 
1.483 
0.260 
0.101 
0.601 
0.852 
0.397 
0.569 
0.482 
0.086 
0.143 
0.184 
1.180 
0.425 
1.214 
0.445 
0.802 
0.289 
0.425 
0.450 
0.025 
0.600 
0.468 
41 

2011 
0.219 
0.221 
1.065 
0.231 
0.775 
0.920 
0.353 
1.887 
0.179 
0.084 
0.559 
0.822 
0.332 
0.475 
0.405 
0.126 
0.134 
0.138 
1.003 
0.430 
1.068 
0.330 
0.727 
0.232 
0.437 
0.355 
0.020 
0.509 
0.418 

2012 
0.184 
0.221 
0.914 
0.214 
0.788 
0.859 
0.255 
1.601 
0.120 
0.087 
0.576 
0.814 
0.335 
0.524 
0.391 
0.078 
0.138 
0.149 
1.035 
0.430 
1.018 
0.365 
0.668 
0.235 
0.420 
0.380 
0.015 
0.556 
0.416 

2013 
0.170 
0.199 
0.795 
0.205 
0.709 
0.787 
0.333 
1.986 
0.156 
0.083 
0.589 
0.760 
0.255 
0.465 
0.344 
0.121 
0.096 
0.091 
0.874 
0.430 
1.017 
0.316 
0.504 
0.199 
0.401 
0.298 
0.016 
0.517 
0.393 

 
 
 
Annex I - Continued 
Annex I.4 National and European Emission factors for Electricity consumption (continued) 
AI.4.3: GHG emission factors from Electricity consumption (LCA approach, tCO2-eq/MWh) – 1990 to 2001 
1997 
0.298 
0.373 
0.913 
0.312 
1.118 
1.036 
0.845 
1.909 
0.295 
0.109 
0.713 
1.025 
0.679 
0.925 
0.593 
0.149 
0.164 
0.094 
1.347 
0.547 
1.387 
0.557 
0.855 
0.459 
0.526 
0.512 
0.039 
0.605 
0.548 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovak Republic 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United-Kingdom 
EU-28 

1991 
0.317 
0.441 
0.855 
0.204 
1.063 
1.060 
0.927 
2.104 
0.234 
0.184 
0.781 
1.227 
0.534 
0.976 
0.626 
0.119 
0.481 
0.449 
1.485 
0.656 
1.545 
0.712 
1.154 
0.489 
0.529 
0.549 
0.028 
0.820 
0.632 

1992 
0.254 
0.414 
0.973 
0.377 
1.101 
1.038 
0.737 
2.107 
0.189 
0.144 
0.762 
1.261 
0.613 
0.979 
0.614 
0.099 
0.232 
0.423 
1.371 
0.651 
1.570 
0.819 
1.105 
0.473 
0.624 
0.617 
0.030 
0.810 
0.617 

1996 
0.300 
0.404 
0.809 
0.295 
1.096 
1.031 
1.124 
2.042 
0.340 
0.120 
0.745 
1.075 
0.651 
0.934 
0.603 
0.158 
0.272 
0.156 
1.398 
0.576 
1.421 
0.553 
1.120 
0.430 
0.512 
0.460 
0.063 
0.646 
0.572 

1995 
0.293 
0.424 
0.852 
0.272 
1.072 
1.060 
0.757 
2.105 
0.267 
0.114 
0.735 
1.225 
0.664 
0.948 
0.626 
0.132 
0.161 
0.187 
1.431 
0.595 
1.468 
0.745 
1.145 
0.482 
0.560 
0.581 
0.033 
0.657 
0.580 

1990 
0.314 
0.459 
0.938 
0.287 
1.072 
1.011 
0.660 
2.452 
0.220 
0.159 
0.782 
1.291 
0.468 
0.971 
0.654 
0.111 
0.441 
0.425 
2.156 
0.665 
1.498 
0.708 
1.097 
0.460 
0.613 
0.555 
0.018 
0.845 
0.639 

1993 
0.248 
0.419 
1.023 
0.413 
1.078 
1.091 
0.763 
1.888 
0.233 
0.099 
0.747 
1.242 
0.659 
0.960 
0.594 
0.125 
0.188 
0.412 
1.852 
0.661 
1.539 
0.737 
1.167 
0.506 
0.632 
0.535 
0.031 
0.716 
0.589 

1994 
0.274 
0.430 
0.910 
0.238 
1.074 
1.061 
0.898 
2.040 
0.299 
0.100 
0.756 
1.223 
0.656 
0.954 
0.589 
0.146 
0.192 
0.305 
1.672 
0.646 
1.564 
0.680 
1.223 
0.445 
0.545 
0.523 
0.037 
0.692 
0.586 

1998 
0.267 
0.394 
0.933 
0.385 
1.119 
1.044 
0.727 
1.915 
0.225 
0.148 
0.703 
1.007 
0.694 
0.924 
0.592 
0.143 
0.327 
0.032 
1.327 
0.540 
1.349 
0.618 
0.722 
0.479 
0.557 
0.490 
0.042 
0.611 
0.544 

1999 
0.262 
0.352 
0.869 
0.377 
1.127 
1.001 
0.637 
1.963 
0.224 
0.128 
0.665 
1.023 
0.679 
0.902 
0.571 
0.144 
0.275 
0.035 
1.282 
0.511 
1.354 
0.733 
0.762 
0.454 
0.463 
0.569 
0.039 
0.574 
0.526 

2000 
0.232 
0.343 
0.852 
0.320 
1.093 
1.123 
0.547 
1.858 
0.205 
0.107 
0.672 
1.094 
0.599 
0.842 
0.575 
0.138 
0.210 
0.037 
1.162 
0.488 
1.336 
0.618 
0.850 
0.375 
0.472 
0.559 
0.034 
0.606 
0.525 

2001 
0.238 
0.327 
1.040 
0.408 
1.030 
1.190 
0.618 
1.787 
0.280 
0.096 
0.607 
1.085 
0.599 
0.897 
0.549 
0.145 
0.233 
0.078 
1.447 
0.569 
1.422 
0.640 
0.876 
0.418 
0.529 
0.536 
0.050 
0.625 
0.523 

42 

 
 
 
Annex I - Continued 
Annex I.4 National and European Emission factors for Electricity consumption (continued) 
AI.6 (continued): GHG emission factors from Electricity consumption (LCA approach, tCO2-eq/MWh) – 2002 to 2013 
2004 
0.287 
0.321 
0.950 
0.340 
1.004 
1.016 
0.562 
1.847 
0.325 
0.096 
0.636 
0.995 
0.529 
0.712 
0.581 
0.100 
0.196 
0.217 
1.312 
0.517 
1.295 
0.527 
0.812 
0.319 
0.449 
0.517 
0.042 
0.650 
0.517 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovak Republic 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United-Kingdom 
EU-28 

2003 
0.289 
0.327 
0.952 
0.455 
1.075 
1.031 
0.753 
1.900 
0.377 
0.100 
0.652 
1.004 
0.593 
0.728 
0.587 
0.116 
0.197 
0.186 
1.359 
0.524 
1.340 
0.512 
0.937 
0.373 
0.461 
0.503 
0.056 
0.655 
0.532 

2005 
0.289 
0.338 
0.920 
0.318 
1.011 
0.964 
0.457 
1.825 
0.191 
0.121 
0.636 
0.981 
0.481 
0.691 
0.560 
0.090 
0.214 
0.221 
1.470 
0.500 
1.289 
0.589 
0.796 
0.327 
0.441 
0.535 
0.039 
0.640 
0.513 

2008 
0.250 
0.300 
0.935 
0.314 
0.966 
0.949 
0.497 
1.685 
0.216 
0.105 
0.641 
0.901 
0.487 
0.601 
0.540 
0.109 
0.149 
0.164 
1.229 
0.502 
1.155 
0.427 
0.839 
0.266 
0.461 
0.456 
0.038 
0.637 
0.494 

2007 
0.257 
0.313 
1.005 
0.376 
0.981 
1.037 
0.562 
1.935 
0.274 
0.116 
0.676 
0.927 
0.506 
0.625 
0.556 
0.093 
0.161 
0.194 
1.456 
0.501 
1.219 
0.434 
0.864 
0.273 
0.453 
0.524 
0.037 
0.669 
0.523 

2002 
0.252 
0.315 
0.892 
0.419 
0.981 
1.059 
0.588 
1.672 
0.276 
0.096 
0.675 
1.021 
0.554 
0.814 
0.576 
0.120 
0.208 
0.215 
1.343 
0.521 
1.320 
0.652 
0.834 
0.310 
0.505 
0.567 
0.043 
0.615 
0.527 

2006 
0.271 
0.310 
0.890 
0.310 
0.982 
0.943 
0.693 
1.491 
0.312 
0.111 
0.644 
0.905 
0.455 
0.636 
0.559 
0.107 
0.170 
0.216 
1.351 
0.484 
1.274 
0.495 
0.846 
0.308 
0.443 
0.500 
0.041 
0.671 
0.514 
43 

2009 
0.235 
0.299 
0.905 
0.270 
0.952 
0.938 
0.523 
1.471 
0.221 
0.110 
0.626 
0.872 
0.411 
0.571 
0.485 
0.107 
0.178 
0.210 
1.253 
0.533 
1.160 
0.452 
0.762 
0.266 
0.499 
0.416 
0.044 
0.597 
0.475 

2010 
0.280 
0.298 
0.967 
0.238 
0.886 
0.940 
0.549 
1.978 
0.310 
0.114 
0.611 
0.828 
0.431 
0.583 
0.489 
0.194 
0.276 
0.205 
1.174 
0.548 
1.120 
0.333 
0.652 
0.270 
0.476 
0.336 
0.089 
0.592 
0.467 

2011 
0.267 
0.263 
1.101 
0.257 
0.891 
0.972 
0.405 
1.922 
0.230 
0.098 
0.618 
0.876 
0.389 
0.537 
0.480 
0.160 
0.166 
0.163 
1.149 
0.496 
1.140 
0.388 
0.760 
0.269 
0.462 
0.403 
0.039 
0.584 
0.469 

2012 
0.235 
0.265 
0.946 
0.240 
0.906 
0.917 
0.301 
1.643 
0.165 
0.098 
0.643 
0.867 
0.388 
0.587 
0.467 
0.115 
0.172 
0.176 
1.187 
0.490 
1.097 
0.423 
0.702 
0.279 
0.444 
0.429 
0.038 
0.627 
0.468 

2013 
0.211 
0.239 
0.824 
0.228 
0.817 
0.850 
0.380 
2.017 
0.206 
0.093 
0.658 
0.810 
0.297 
0.523 
0.424 
0.183 
0.128 
0.108 
1.002 
0.486 
1.090 
0.368 
0.532 
0.241 
0.424 
0.343 
0.038 
0.589 
0.444 

 
 
 
Annex II - Standard versus LCA CoM statistics in EU Member States1    

a)  CoM signatories and covered population in the Member States using the standard 

(IPCC) and LCA approaches  

b) LCA versus Standard ( “IPCC”) approaches in the Member States using both approaches  

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

AT

BE

BG

CY

DE

EL

ES

FR

HU

IT

LT

PL

RO

SE

% LCA signatories

% LCA population

%IPCC signatories

%IPCC population

1 AT: Austria; BE: Belgium; BG: Bulgaria; CY: Cyprus; DE: Germany; EL: Greece; ES: Spain; FR: France; HU: 
Hungary; IT: Italy; LT: Lithuania; PL:Poland; RO: Romania; SE: Sweden. CoM signatories in the 14 other 
Member States only use the standard (IPCC) approach. See also Table 7 of the report for EU-28 statistics 
as a function of the population size of CoM signatory’s territory. 

44 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex III - Update of CoM LCA emission factors for the supply chain1 : Comparison to previous values 
Changes as compared to CoM(2014) version are highlighted in bold; Values from the RED directive 2009 are also reported. 
Main 
categories 

SECAP Template energy carriers 

LCA emission factors for the supply chain (tCO2-eq/MWh) 
Bertoldi et 
al. (2010) 2 

CoM (2014) 
3 

Current 
update4 

2008-20155  Range  

Directive 2009/28/EC on the use of energy from 
renewable sources (RED): Default GHG emission 
factors   

Closest value to CoM current update 
Hydro treated oil from rape seed (0.158) 

0.104 - 0.223 
0.086 - 0.252  Wheat ethanol (process fuel, boiler) : 0.198 
Sunflower biodiesel: 0.148 
0.050 - 0.245 
0.054 - 0.083 

Biogas from municipal waste (0.083) 

Main  classes of 
energy carriers 

Renewable 
energy 

Plant oil 
Biofuel 

Fossil fuels 

Other biomass 

Solar thermal 
Geothermal 
Natural gas 
Liquid gas 
Liquid gas 
Heating Oil 

Diesel 
Gasoline 
Lignite 
Coal 

Most common IPCC energy 
carriers (IPCC name if 
different) 

Other Liquid Biofuels 
Bio-gasoline 
Biodiesels 
Biogas 
Municipal wastes (biomass) 
Wood (/Wood waste) 
(Wood /)Wood waste 
Solar thermal 
Geothermal 

Liquefied Petroleum Gases 
Natural Gas Liquids 
Heating oil (Gas/Diesel oil) 
Gas/Diesel oil 
Motor gasoline 
Lignite 
Anthracite 
Other Bituminous Coal 
Sub-Bituminous Coal 

Other non 
renewable 
fuels6 

Peat 
Municipal Wastes (non-biomass fraction) 

0.182 
0.207 
0.156 
n.a. 
n.a. 
0.002 
n.a. 
n.a. 
n.a. 
0.035 
n.a 
n.a. 
0.038 
0.038 
0.050 
0.011 
0.039 
0.039 
0.039 
n.a. 
0.000 

< 20085 
0.182a 
0.207a 
0.156a 
n.a. 
0.106 
0.013 
-0.226 
n.a. 
n.a. 
0.035 
n.a 
n.a. 
0.038 
0.038 
0.058 
0.011 
0.039 
0.039 
0.039 
0.010 
-0.156 

0.182a 
0.207a 
0.156a 
0.087b 
0.1063 
0.017c 
-0.2263 
0.040c 
0.050c 
0.038 
0.054b 
0.041b 
0.038 
0.038 
0.064 
0.010 
0.014 
0.016 
0.015 
0.007b 
-0.042 

1 Capture of CO2 in the cultivation of biofuels/biomass raw materials and CO2 consumption by end-user are excluded. 2 JRC (2009),  3 ELCD (2009) and 4ELCD v3.2 (ELCD, 2015) 
databases  except a) JRC (2009), b) Ecoinvent, c) Amponsah et al., (2014). 5The validity range applies to the baseline year, i.e. to the year of the so-called Baseline Emission Inventory 
(BEI), whereas for the monitoring emission inventories (MEIs), the same emission factors should be applied. Default ranges and closest values as provided in Directive 2009/28/EC 
are also reported for comparison. For municipal and wood wastes the LCA emissions from the supply chain are negative because of the avoided impact that waste treatment allows. 6 
Referred as “Other fossil fuels“ in the on-line SEAP template.  

45 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex IV - Energy classes and emission factors used for the updates 
of the NEEFEs   

Current update a 

CoM (2014) update c 

Energy 
Classes 

IPCCb 
tCO2/MW
h 

LCA 
tCO2-
eq/MWh 

Coal and 
coal 
products 

0.341 

0.380 

Peat 

0.382 

0.392 

n.a. 
Natural gas 
n.a. 

n.a. 
0.202 
0.264 

n.a. 
0.237 
0.305 

Crude,NGL, 
Feedstocks 

0.264 

0.305 

Oil products 

0.264 

0.305 

Energy Classes (IEA, 
2016) 

IPCCb 
tCO2/M
Wh 
0.354 
Anthracite 
0.341 
Coking coal 
0.341 
Other bituminous coal 
0.346 
Sub-bituminous coal 
0.364 
Lignite 
0.351 
Patent fuel 
0.385 
Coke oven coke 
0.385 
Gas coke 
0.291 
Coal tar 
0.351 
BKB 1 
0.160 
Gas works gas 
0.160 
Coke oven gas 
0.936 
Blast furnace gas 
0.160 
Other recovered gases2 
0.382 
Peat 
0.382 
Peat products3 
0.385 
Oil shale and oil sands4 
0.202 
Natural gas 
0.264 
Crude/NGL/FS if no detail. 
0.264 
Crude oil 
0.231 
Natural gas liquids 
0.264 
Refinery feedstocks 
0.264 
Additives/blending comp.5 
0.264 
Other hydrocarbons6 
0.207 
Refinery gas 
0.222 
Ethane 
0.227 
Liquefied petroleum gases 
0.249 
Motor gasoline excl. biofuels 
0.252 
Aviation gasoline 
Gasoline type jet fuel 
0.257 
Kerosene (jet fuel excl.biofuels)  0.257 
0.259 
Other kerosene 
0.267 
Gas/diesel oil excl. biofuels 
0.279 
Fuel oil7 
0.264 
Naphtha 
0.264 
White spirit & SBP 
0.264 
Lubricants 
0.291 
Bitumen 
0.264 
Paraffin waxes 
0.351 
Petroleum coke 
0.264 
Other oil products6 

IPCCb 
tCO2-
eq/MWh 
0.356 
0.342 
0.342 
0.348 
0.365 
0.353 
0.387 
0.385 
0.292 
0.353 
0.160 
0.160 
0.936 
0.160 
0.383 
0.383 
0.387 
0.202 
0.265 
0.265 
0.231 
0.265 
0.265 
0.265 
0.208 
0.222 
0.227 
0.250 
0.253 
0.258 
0.258 
0.260 
0.268 
0.280 
0.265 
0.265 
0.265 
0.291 
0.265 
0.352 
0.265 

LCAd 
tCO2-
eq/MWh 
0.370 
0.359 
0.358 
0.363 
0.375 
0.370 
0.404 
0.402 
0.309 
0.370 
0.177 
0.177 
0.953 
0.177 
0.390 
0.390 
0.387 
0.240 
0.306 
0.306 
0.272 
0.306 
0.305 
0.305 
0.248 
0.262 
0.281 
0.314 
0.293 
0.298 
0.298 
0.300 
0.306 
0.320 
0.305 
0.305 
0.305 
0.331 
0.305 
0.392 
0.305 

46 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex IV - Continued   

Current update a 

CoM (2014) update c 

Energy Classes (IEA, 
2016) 

Industrial waste 
Municipal waste (renewable) 
Municipal waste (non-renew.) 
Primary solid biofuels8 
Biogases9 
Biogasoline 
Biodiesels 
Other liquid biofuels 
n.spec. pr. biofuels and waste10 
Nuclear 
Hydro 
Geothermal 
Solar photovoltaics 
Solar thermal 
Tide, wave and ocean 
Wind 
Other sources 

 IPCCb  
tCO2/M
Wh 

0.515 
0.000e 
0.330 
0.000 e 
0.000 e 
0.000 e 
0.000 e 
0.000 e 
0.000 e 
0.000 
0.000 
0.000 
0.000 
0.000 
0.000 
0.000 
0.000 

IPCCb  
tCO2-
eq/M
Wh 
0.522 
0.000 e 
0.337 
0.000 e 
0.000 e 
0.000 e 
0.000 e 
0.000e 
0.000 e 
0.000 
0.000 
0.000 
0.000 
0.000 
0.000 
0.000 
0.000 

LCAd 
tCO2-
eq/M
Wh 
0.522 
0.000 e 
0.295 
0.184 
0.284 
0.206 
0.156 
0.182 
0.184 
0.000 
0.000 
0.050 
0.000 
0.040 
0.000 
0.000 
0.000 

Energy 
Classes 

IPCCb 
tCO2/MW
h 

LCA 
tCO2-
eq/MWh 

Biofuels and 
waste 

0.360 

0.174 

Nuclear 
Hydro 
Geotherm. 

0.000 
0.000 
0.000 

0.000 
0.024 
0.000 

Solar, Wind, 
Other 
sources 

0.000 

0.030 

b. 

a.  All  fuel  categories  of  IEA  Extended  energy  balances  are  accounted  for  in  the  new  update  of  the 
National and European Emission factors for Electricity consumption (NEEFE) to calculate CO2/GHG 
emissions  from  electricity  production,  by  applying  the  corresponding  IPCC  (2006)  factors  (Table 
2.2).  Where  different  from  IEA’s  energy  carrier  name/class,  IPCC  default  factors  for  the  following 
IPCC energy classes have been used:  1 Brown Coal Briquettes, 2 Derived gases (e.g. Gas Works Gas), 3 
Peat,  4  Oil  shale  and  Tar  Sands;  5  Lubricants;    6  Other  Petroleum  products,  7  Residual  Fuel  Oil;  8 
Wood/Wood Waste; 9Gas Biomass; 10 Wood/Wood waste 
IPCC (2006) default emission factors for Stationary combustion in the Energy Industries (Table 2.2) 
converted  to  tCO2/MWh.  The  emission  factors  in  tCO2eq/MWh  were  calculated  as  the  sum  of  CO2, 
CH4 and N2O default emission factors, applying the Global Warming Potentials from the IPCC (2017) 
Four Assessment report.  
(2014), 

and 
Monitoring(http://www.covenantofmayors.eu/IMG/pdf/Reporting_Guidelines_SEAP_and
_Monitoring.pdf);  CoM  (2016),  The  Covenant  of  Mayors  for  Climate  and  Energy  Reporting 
Guidelines (http://www.covenantofmayors.eu/IMG/pdf/Covenant_ReportingGuidelines.pdf) 

Sustainable 

Guidelines 

Reporting 

c.  CoM 

Energy 

Action 

Plan 

on 

d.  The current update of LCA-based NEEFE was done applying the LCA emission factors of Annex I (for 
the  current  update)  to  the  corresponding  IEA  (2016)  input  energy  carriers.  For  the  fuels  not 
documented in Annex I, the LCA emission factors (in italic) were calculated based on the emissions 
from the supply chain of fuels belonging to a similar CoM (2014) energy (sub)category. 

e.  Following  the  IPCC  (2006)  guidelines,  the  direct  CO2/GHG  emissions  from  biomass/biofuels 
consumption  are  not  accounted  for  in  the  calculation  of  the  NEEFE.  See  Section  2.3.  for  further 
explanation. 

47 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex V - Updated NEEFEs: Comparison to CoM  previous values 

Table  V.1  National  and  European  Emission  Factors  for  Electricity  (per  MWh  of  electricity) 
consumed (NEEFE) provided in CoM 2010 Guidebook (Bertoldi et al. 2010a). The NEEFEs were 
either derived from Eurelectric (2005)b 2002 energy data (highlighted in bold) or provided by 
the  national  agencies  for  another  reference  year.  The  LCA  factors  were  calculated  by  adding 
emissions from the supply chain as provided in ELCD (2009)c dataset for the year 2002 to the 
standard emissions from fuel combustion. 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovak Republic 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
EU-271 
1 Croatia not included 

Reference 
Year 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2008 
2007 
2002 
2002 
2007 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2007 
2002 
2007 
2007 
2007 
2002 
2007 
2002 

Standard 
tCO2/MWh 

LCA 
tCO2-eq/MWh 

0.209 
0.285 
0.819 
0.874 
0.950 
0.461 
0.908 
0.216 
0.056 
0.624 
1.149 
0.566 
0.732 
0.483 
0.109 
0.153 
0.435 
1.191 
0.369 
0.701 
0.252 
0.557 
0.440 
0.023 
0.543 
0.460 

0.310 
0.402 
0.906 
1.019 
0.802 
0.760 
1.593 
0.418 
0.146 
0.706 
1.167 
0.678 
0.870 
0.708 
0.563 
0.174 
0.716 
1.185 
0.750 
1.084 
0.353 
0.602 
0.639 
0.079 
0.658 
0.578 

a.  Bertoldi, P., Cayuela, D. B., Monni, S., & de Raveschoot, R. P. (2010). How to develop a Sustainable 
Energy Action Plan (SEAP).  Joint Research Centre Scientific and Technical  reports, EUR 24360 
EN,  ISBN 978-92-79-15782-0. 

b.  Eurelectric, 2005. Statistics and prospects for the European electricity sector (1980-1990, 2000-

2020). EURPROG Network of Experts. 

c.  ELCD  (2009).  European  Reference  Life  Cycle  Database  (ELCD).  LCA  data  sets  of  key  energy 
carriers,  materials,  waste  and  transport  services  of  European  scope.  Previously  available  at 
http://lca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/lcainfohub/datasetArea.vm 

48 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
          
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex V – Continued 

Table  V.  2  Difference  (%)  between  the  NEEFEs  Versions  2017  (current  update)  and  2010 
(Bertoldi et al., 2010) a . The 4 highest differences are highlighted in bold.  

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovak Republic 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
EU1 

Reference 
Year 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2008 
2007 
2002 
2002 
2007 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2002 
2007 
2002 
2007 
2007 
2007 
2002 
2007 
2002 

Standard 
tCO2/MWh 

Standard 
tCO2-eq/MWh 

LCA 
tCO2-eq/MWh 

6% 
7% 
4% 
-2% 
7% 
-3% 
111% 
6% 
70% 
-0.3% 
-16% 
-8% 
0% 
3% 
-7% 
14% 
8% 
6% 
4% 
23% 
1% 
-22% 
7% 
39% 
9% 
6% 

6% 
7% 
4% 
-2% 
7% 
-3% 
111% 
6% 
70% 
-0.3% 
-16% 
-8% 
0% 
3% 
-7% 
14% 
7% 
6% 
4% 
23% 
1% 
-22% 
7% 
43% 
9% 
6% 

-19% 
-22% 
-2% 
-4% 
32% 
-35% 
21% 
-34% 
-34% 
-4% 
-13% 
-18% 
-6% 
-19% 
-79% 
20% 
-27% 
11% 
-42% 
-23% 
-23% 
-25% 
-18% 
-46% 
2% 
-9% 

            1 EU-28 (this study; UK included) or EU-27 (Bertoldi et al., 2010; UK incl. but Croatia excluded) 

a.  Bertoldi, P., Cayuela, D. B., Monni, S., & de Raveschoot, R. P. (2010). How to develop a Sustainable 
Energy Action Plan (SEAP).  Joint Research Centre Scientific and Technical reports, EUR 24360 
EN, ISBN 978-92-79-15782-0. 

49 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex VI - 1990-2013 trends in the EU-28 NEEFEs factors 

Figure  IV.1:  CoM  NEEFE  annual  values  Version  2017  (tCO2/MWh)  using  IPCC  (2006)a 
approach and emission factors (red line), as compared to Bertoldi et al. (2010)b values for 
specific years (purple circle = Eurelectric, 2005c; purple star= other source as provided in 
Bertoldi et al., 2010) for 15 EU Member States. 

50 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex VI – continued 

Figure  IV.2:  As  Figure  IV.1  but  for  the  13  additional  Member  States  and  for  the  EU-28 
(current  study)  NEEFE  values  as  compared  to  the  EU-27  2002  value  (Bertoldi  et  al., 
2010)b.   

a. 

IPCC  (2006),  2006  IPCC  Guidelines  for  National  Greenhouse  Gas  Inventories,  Prepared  by  the 
National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme. Eggleston H.S., Buendia L., Miwa K., Ngara T. 
and  Tanabe  K. 
at  http://www.ipcc-
nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/index.html. 

(eds).  Published: 

Japan.  Available 

IGES, 

b.  Bertoldi, P., Cayuela, D. B., Monni, S., & de Raveschoot, R. P. (2010). How to develop a Sustainable 
Energy Action Plan (SEAP).  Joint Research Centre Scientific and Technical reports, EUR 24360 
EN,    ISBN  978-92-79-15782-0.Eurelectric,  2005.  Statistics  and  prospects  for  the  European 
electricity sector (1980-1990, 2000-2020). EURPROG Network of Experts. 

51 

 
 
 
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