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How to find Emission Factors

This section guides you through the basics of searching for emission factors, explains how to use filters to refine your results, and provides methods to explore individual emission factors in greater detail.

Updated over a week ago

Accessing the Emission Factor sources on Terrascope

  1. To access the Emission Factor Search, navigate to the main menu on the left, select the “Data” section, and then choose the “Emission Factors” page.

  2. A list of available emission factor databases on the platform and their respective versions will be displayed.

By default, the databases relevant to the latest measurement year are shown first; to view all databases, select “All years” from the Measurement Year dropdown.

Please see the guide for Emission Factor database for details.


Performing a Search

Basic Search:

  1. Choose the “Individual Emission Factors” tab to access the search interface

  2. Use the search bar labeled “Search for an emission factor”.Enter keywords related to the emission factor you are seeking.

    1. The search is flexible: it accommodates different word orders and minor spelling variations (e.g., “soybeans production” or “production soybeans” will both match “soybean production”).

    2. The search focuses on the emission factor name. For more precise results, use additional filters.

  3. A list of emission factors matching the search term will be displayed, showing details such as Emission Factor Name, EF Source, EF Type, Version, EF Value, EF Unit, and EF Location. For more information on these labels, refer to the EF filter section.

💡Tips for search

  • Specificity: Use more specific terms to improve result relevance (e.g., “electricity generation India” instead of just “electricity”).

  • Word Variations: The system recognizes close matches and minor typos but does not perform broad category searches (e.g., searching “beans” will not return all types of beans).

  • Result Matching: The system returns emission factors with names similar to your search term, even if the word order differs or there are slight spelling errors.


Using Filters to Refine Your Search

Filters help narrow down results to emission factors most relevant to your needs. Apply filters before or after entering your search term for best results.

Select Filters

  1. Click on the relevant filter dropdown(s).

  2. Choose one or more options as needed.

  3. The filter lists update automatically and in real-time to show only relevant options based on your current selections and search terms (except for EF Location, which is static).

  4. Enter your search term after applying filters, or vice versa.

  5. The results will display only emission factors matching all selected criteria.

Available Filters for Individual emission factors

Filter Name

Description

Notes

EF Source

Select one or more emission factor databases (e.g. Ecoinvent or custom sources) when you know which source best matches your needs.

The list of sources updates dynamically based on other filters or search terms. Multiple sources can be selected at the same time.

Version

Select the database version most relevant to your search—if you do not already have a specific version in mind, it is recommended to start with the latest available version.

Only versions matching other active filters are shown.

EF Location

Filter by the geographical location where the activity takes place.

This list is static and does not change with other filters.

EF Unit

Select the measurement unit (such as kg, m³, kWh, USD). This should match the unit of business activity data or activity data may be converted to align with the emission factor units.

Helps locate emission factors with specific units.

Has FLAG Breakdown

Filter for emission factors that include a FLAG (Forest, Land, and Agriculture) breakdown, such as separate data for land use change or land management emissions.

This is especially helpful when analyzing FLAG impact of on-farm activities (like agriculture products, dairy, etc).

You can find FLAG breakdown in FLAG analysis in Emission Factor details.

Has GHG Breakdown

Filter for emission factors that provide a breakdown of all seven greenhouse gas components (CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, HFCs, PFCs, SF₆, NF₃).

Using factors with full GHG breakdowns helps ensure transparency, comparability, and compliance with GHG Protocol and SBTi reporting requirements.

You can find GHG breakdown in GHG analysis in Emission Factor details.

EF Type

Choose between “System EF” (typically from secondary databases) and “Custom EF” (created by users or organizations based on primary data).

Example of a custom EF: An emission factor for a finished food product based on its ingredients, packaging, and energy used in manufacturing.

Tags

Filter custom emission factors by user-defined tags to organize and categorize them further.

Tags are only available for custom emission factors, not for system EFs.


View Emission Factor details

  1. Navigate to the Emission factors section in your Terrascope platform

  2. Locate the emission factor you want to examine from the list of available factors.

  3. Click the three dots (⋯) icon located at the right end of the emission factor row and click “View”.

  4. A detailed information pane will open on the right side of the screen, displaying three analysis tabs: Overview, FLAG analysis, and GHG analysis.

Overview

This tab serves as the primary reference point for understanding the emission factor's applicability to your specific use case, and also provides fundamental information about the selected emission factor.

Key Information Displayed:

  1. Description: Comprehensive explanation of the emission factor's scope and application

  2. EF Value: The numerical emission factor value

  3. EF Unit: Unit of measurement (e.g., kgCO2e/unit)

  4. EF source: Data source reference (e.g., ecoinvent)

  5. Source label: Any additional identification details related to the data source

  6. Version: The version of the emission factor database being referenced

  7. EF Location: The geographical region represented by the emission factor

  8. Year of measurement: The time period in which the emission factor is applied to measure emissions for the corresponding year(s)

FLAG Analysis

The FLAG (Forest, Land, and Agriculture) analysis tab provides a breakdown of emissions related to land use and land management activities, as well as emissions that fall outside the FLAG boundary. The total of these components equals 100%.

Available Metrics:

  1. Land use change (biogenic): Emissions from biogenic land use changes

  2. Land management (biogenic): Biogenic land management emissions

  3. Land management (non-biogenic): Non-biogenic land management emissions

  4. Non-FLAG: Emissions within the value chain, represented by the emission factor, that fall outside the scope of the FLAG boundary

GHG Analysis

The GHG analysis tab displays a detailed breakdown of emissions for each of the seven greenhouse gases. It evaluates the emission factor’s relevance to the types of greenhouse gases recognized by the GHG Protocol.

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