Emissions from activities include not only carbon dioxide (CO2) but also an assortment of other greenhouse "constituent” gases that contribute to the warming of the atmosphere.
In all greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting frameworks GHG reporting uses carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e). so a way of converting the other gases into CO2e is needed. To achieve this, a method for transforming the other gases into CO2e is required. This is accomplished by assigning a Global Warming Potential (GWP) value to each gas.
With the advancement of models and data, The IPCC's Assessment Reports update the calculation methods for these GWPs for various gases.
The last two Assessment Reports released were:
Emission factor is the coefficient for estimation how much Greenhouse Gas (or carbon dioxide equivalent) emit a particular activity or process.
Emission factors are generally set by organizations responsible for measuring and regulating greenhouse gas emissions. In many cases, these organizations are governmental bodies, such as the US Environmental Protection Agency or the UK’s Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs. Emission factors are based on scientific research and are regularly updated to reflect new information and changing technologies. The factors can be used by companies or governments to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions and develop strategies to reduce them.
To calculate the total greenhouse gas emissions for a particular activity or process, you can use the following formula:
Emissions = Activity X Emission Factor X Global Warming Potential
Where:
Activity is the quantity of the activity or process being measured (e.g., number of miles driven, metric tons of waste produced, etc.)Emission Factor is the coefficient for estimating how much greenhouse gas or carbon dioxide equivalent is emitted per unit of activity (e.g., grams of CO2 emitted per mile driven, metric tons of CO2e emitted per ton of waste produced, etc.)Global Warming Potential is the factor used to convert the emissions of each greenhouse gas into an equivalent amount of CO2e (e.g., the GWP of methane is 28, meaning that one ton of methane emissions is equivalent to 28 tons of CO2e emissions).By multiplying these three factors together, you can estimate the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with a particular activity or process. This information can then be used to develop strategies for reducing emissions and mitigating the impact of climate change.