When calculating carbon emissions, the emission factor method is one of the commonly used methods. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the basic equation for calculating carbon emissions is:
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions = activity data (AD) × emission factor (EF).
Activity data (AD) is the amount of production or consumption activities that lead to greenhouse gas emissions, such as fossil fuel consumption, net electricity purchases, etc.;
The emission factor (EF) is the coefficient of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of production or consumption activity, such as the amount of carbon dioxide emissions corresponding to each unit of fossil fuel consumption, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions corresponding to each kilowatt-hour of electricity purchased, etc.
Emission factors can be determined by searching for appropriate databases. The following are some commonly cited databases.
