Overview of Data Quality
When gathering data for calculating the carbon footprint, primary data is the most important for all activities that your company directly controls. Primary data includes specific information from your processes, like energy data at the production facility or product weights.
If you have detailed data from a supplier, you can use that instead of standard data based on averages. But if primary data isn’t available, or if there’s any doubt about its accuracy, Terrascope offers AI-assisted estimates based on credible sources. These estimates can be updated if better data becomes available.
Here are some factors to consider when compiling PCF data:
Time-Related Coverage: How old the data is.
Technological Representativeness: How well the data reflects the actual technology used.
Geographical Representativeness: How well the data reflects the location where the process occurs.
Completeness: How well the data represents all the sites involved in the process.
Reliability: How dependable the data sources and collection methods are.
If there are areas where the data is uncertain, it’s good practice to document these uncertainties. High uncertainty might come from factors like how the product is used and disposed of, allocation methods when multiple products are involved, or the sources of emission factors.
One Process, Multiple Products
What is “Allocation”?
When a production process results in multiple products, like soy milk and associated by-products (such as okara, the leftover pulp), we need to fairly distribute emissions and resource use. There are two main methods for allocating emissions: by market value (economic allocation) and weight (mass allocation).
Economic Allocation: In our default method, we allocate emissions based on the market value of each product. For instance, if the soy milk has a higher market value than the by-product, more emissions would be attributed to the soy milk.
Mass Allocation: Allocating by weight assigns emissions based on the relative weight of each product and by-product.
How is Waste Accounted For?
A production process can generate waste that does not become part of the final product. This could be solid waste or wastewater. If this waste can be used in another process, we allocate the emissions using the same method applied for by-products.