In Sigma Energy Intelligence, a core set of conversion factors are maintained, ready for use out the box. They are published by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy each year and can be found at the following location (the “full set” versions are used).
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting
The factors are updated around July in each calendar year. These are then updated in Sigma Energy Intelligence with an effective date from the start of the calendar year that they relate.
E.g. the “conversion factors 2019” will be effective from 01/01/2019 to 31/12/2019 and the “conversion factors 2020” will take effect from 01/01/2020. The latest set of factors will prevail until the next version are published by the UK Government. For example, the 2020 factors will remain in effect until around July 2021 when the next set are published.
The following emissions factors are used in Energy Intelligence and are applied to consumption values to produce one of the following emissions figures.
kg CO2
kg CO2e
Kg N20
Kg CH4
As the consumption data in Energy Intelligence is stored at the daily granularity, the effective consumption for each day will be multiplied by the conversion factor in effect that day to derive the emissions value. This means that different conversion factors may be used throughout a reporting period.
The following table provides details of how the conversion factors are sourced for each of the commodities in Sigma.
Commodity | Unit | Source of Emissions Factor |
|---|---|---|
Electricity | kWh | This conversion factor is derived by summing the “uk electricity” conversion factor and the “transmission & distribution” conversion factor together. Tab: UK electricity and Transmission and Distribution Fuel / Field: Electricity generated Tab: Transmission and distribution Fuel / Field: T&D- UK electricity |
Gas | kWh | Tab: Fuels Fuel / Field: Gaseous fuels / Natural gas Based on the gross kWh value |
Water | m3 | Tab: Water Supply Fuel / Field: Water supply Note: only the CO2e factor is available for water. |
Waste | NA | Tab: N/A Fuel / Field: N/A |
Diesel | l | Tab: Fuels Fuel / Field: Liquid Fuels / Diesel (average biofuel blend) Based on the litres value |
Heat | kWh | Tab: Heat and steam Fuel / Field: Onsite heat and steam |
Oil | l | Tab: Fuels Fuel / Field: Liquid Fuels / Gas oil Based on the litres value |
Propane | kg | Tab: Fuels Fuel / Field: Gaseous fuels / LPG Based on the tonnes value and then divided by 1000 to give kg. |
Steam | kg | Tab: N/A Fuel / Field: N/A |