78
S. Scalbi et al.
• characterized GHG in CO 2eq , calculated by multiplying the amount of each
GHG by its characterization factor
• emission factor, which is obtained by adding all characterized GHGs related to
the human activity (mass unit of CO 2eq /amount of activity—e.g., kgCO 2eq /1 kg
CH 4 production).
The elementary flows are the GHGs listed in the Kyoto Protocol and the
characterization factors of IPCC 2013 are used (Table 2).
The robustness of each EF is evaluated by means of data quality criteria, which
intend to answer two different questions: (i) how much does the EF represent the
declared characteristics of the data sources from which it has been elaborated? (ii)
how much suitable is the EF factor to assess the CFO of a specific company, i.e.,
how much does it fit for purpose? Building upon international and European initiatives on data quality in environmental footprint studies, the methodology provides
instructions for the data quality evaluation by defining the following criteria:
• time-related representativeness (TiR) = “degree to which the dataset reflects
the true population of interest regarding the time/age of the data, including for
included background process datasets, if any” [15].
• technological representativeness (TeR) = “degree to which the dataset reflects
the true population of interest regarding technology, including for included
background process datasets, if any” [15].
• geographical representativeness (GeR) = “degree to which the dataset reflects
the true population of interest regarding geography, including for included
background process datasets, if any” [15].
A qualitative approach was chosen for its evaluation, taking into account the
information available on the used data sources. Table 3 reports the description of the
quality criteria used in the Clim’Foot DB.
Table 2 Characterization factors from IPCC 2013 [1]
Gases common name
Chemical formula
Characterization Factor in CO 2eq
Fossil Carbon dioxide (CO 2 )
CO 2
1
Biogenic Carbon dioxide (CO 2 )
CO 2
–
Methane
CH 4
30
Biogenic methane
CH 4
28
Nitrous oxide
N 2 O
265
Hydrofluorocarbons a
HFCs
–
Perfluorocarbons a
PFCs
–
Sulfur hexafluoride
SF 6
23500
Nitrogen trifluoride b
NF 3
16100
a See Appendix 8.A of IPCC 2013 document for the complete list
b Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) has been recently added to the requirements of Scope 3 Standard and
Product Standard
S. Scalbi et al.
• characterized GHG in CO 2eq , calculated by multiplying the amount of each
GHG by its characterization factor
• emission factor, which is obtained by adding all characterized GHGs related to
the human activity (mass unit of CO 2eq /amount of activity—e.g., kgCO 2eq /1 kg
CH 4 production).
The elementary flows are the GHGs listed in the Kyoto Protocol and the
characterization factors of IPCC 2013 are used (Table 2).
The robustness of each EF is evaluated by means of data quality criteria, which
intend to answer two different questions: (i) how much does the EF represent the
declared characteristics of the data sources from which it has been elaborated? (ii)
how much suitable is the EF factor to assess the CFO of a specific company, i.e.,
how much does it fit for purpose? Building upon international and European initiatives on data quality in environmental footprint studies, the methodology provides
instructions for the data quality evaluation by defining the following criteria:
• time-related representativeness (TiR) = “degree to which the dataset reflects
the true population of interest regarding the time/age of the data, including for
included background process datasets, if any” [15].
• technological representativeness (TeR) = “degree to which the dataset reflects
the true population of interest regarding technology, including for included
background process datasets, if any” [15].
• geographical representativeness (GeR) = “degree to which the dataset reflects
the true population of interest regarding geography, including for included
background process datasets, if any” [15].
A qualitative approach was chosen for its evaluation, taking into account the
information available on the used data sources. Table 3 reports the description of the
quality criteria used in the Clim’Foot DB.
Table 2 Characterization factors from IPCC 2013 [1]
Gases common name
Chemical formula
Characterization Factor in CO 2eq
Fossil Carbon dioxide (CO 2 )
CO 2
1
Biogenic Carbon dioxide (CO 2 )
CO 2
–
Methane
CH 4
30
Biogenic methane
CH 4
28
Nitrous oxide
N 2 O
265
Hydrofluorocarbons a
HFCs
–
Perfluorocarbons a
PFCs
–
Sulfur hexafluoride
SF 6
23500
Nitrogen trifluoride b
NF 3
16100
a See Appendix 8.A of IPCC 2013 document for the complete list
b Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) has been recently added to the requirements of Scope 3 Standard and
Product Standard