Carbon Footprint Analysis: Determining Carbon Footprint with ecoinvent 

The Use Case: Carbon Footprint Analysis

The Problem: Corporate GHG reporting and product carbon footprints have complex data requirements. Both require emission factors across hundreds of categories, while the needed primary data is rarely available at scale.

The Solution: A background database like ecoinvent can fill data gaps and help experts to produce more accurate carbon accounting.

Why ecoinvent: Our environmental database is a globally trusted and annually updated resource with over 26,000 datasets.

What Is a Carbon Footprint?

A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gas, expressed in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-eq), created by an organization or product. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and nitrogen trifluoride.

To determine a carbon footprint, an expert conducts an analysis using high-quality data. A carbon footprint analysis entails boundary setting, data collection, calculation of emissions, results analysis, and evaluation for risks and reduction opportunities.

Carbon footprinting is also defined by its scope; A company-wide assessment is titled a ‘corporate carbon footprint’, whereas a product-specific assessment is a ‘product carbon footprint’.

The framework used in the analysis depends on the assessment goal. For target-setting, the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard is recommended. For reporting, various frameworks are available, including the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, CDP, European Sustainability Reporting Standard (ESRS) E1 under CSRD, and IFRS S1.

For product carbon footprinting, relevant standards include the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Standard and ISO 14067:2018.

Why Should Your Company Complete a Carbon Footprint Analysis?

When greenhouse gases are released into the Earth’s atmosphere by human activity, they amplify the greenhouse effect—trapping heat and affecting weather patterns. The United Nations identified carbon dioxide as a key driver of climate change, and to standardize calculations, the other greenhouse gases are calculated in terms of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-eq). This is why greenhouse gas emissions reporting is typically named carbon accounting.

To challenge GHG emissions and mitigate climate change, 195 countries adopted the Paris Agreement in 2015 and agreed to efforts to limit global warming to well below 2° C.

One example of an EU regulation addressing climate change is the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which has required certain companies to disclose corporate carbon footprint assessments and other sustainability information from the 2024 financial year onward. Non-compliance with CSRD requirements may result in penalties or fines under national implementing laws.

A carbon footprint analysis helps organizations and governments to understand their current carbon dioxide emissions and comply with mandatory reporting requirements. An expert can use the assessment to identify hotspots and opportunities to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, thereby lessening the organization’s effects on the environment and complying with regulations.

How to Measure A Carbon Footprint 

A carbon footprint analysis is typically conducted by a sustainability expert. Collecting specific data from the organization and its suppliers is one of the first steps in creating the analysis, and gaps are filled by a trusted background database, such as ecoinvent.

We provide maintained, high-quality, and transparent data to support realistic environmental assessments to help you meet your reporting requirements and sustainability goals.

Different Ways to Use a Carbon Footprint Analysis 

The results of a carbon footprint analysis can be used for benchmarking, emissions reporting, and optimizing processes to reduce climate impact. Such analysis can also benefit organizations by reducing costs, as processes are scrutinized for inefficiencies.

The ecoinvent database supports reports on various environmental impact categories, including carbon dioxide emissions. Our data supports full life cycle assessment for reporting on environmental impact beyond carbon, including the core LCA impact categories to support sustainable production.

Scope 1 2 3 Emissions Explained 

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) introduced the Scope 1 2 3 emissions framework for corporate carbon footprints. The different scopes help organizations to identify where emissions are most concentrated in a supply chain, and to estimate the difficulty of reducing those; scope 2 and 3 emission hotspots could require negotiations with other stakeholders in the supply chain.

Scope 1 2 3  enables industries to plan their decarbonization strategies more effectively.

In short:

Scope 1 emissions are direct. 

Direct emissions come from the onsite activities of the reporting company. These often include office facilities.

Scope 2 and 3 emissions are indirect. 

Indirect emissions come from upstream and downstream activities, meaning the emissions that occur in activities carried out by your suppliers in the making of the product, or by the distributors and users of your product after it is made.

Scope 2 is specific to indirect emissions associated with energy use, such as purchased electricity. Scope 3 is everything else.

Scope 3 can be difficult to measure because collecting these emissions relies on a communicative and eco-conscious value chain. Alternatively, assessments can use life cycle inventory databases like ecoinvent to fill these supply chain scope 3 gaps.

Why High-Quality Carbon Emissions Datasets Matter 

To improve your carbon footprint, you must first quantify the impact, which means starting with a robust data foundation. After securing strong foreground data for your assessment, the ecoinvent database can help fill the gaps in your scope 2 or scope 3 reporting.

Our comprehensive data has clear documentation to help you calculate accurate results for compliant reporting. For carbon emissions data, we include both the United Nations’ IPCC emissions metrics for Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Global Temperature Change Potential (GTP) in the “IPCC” methods.

Beyond carbon, our database includes data for impact categories such as water, human toxicity, land use change, eutrophication, acidification, and more for full life cycle assessments.

Access ecoinvent’s LCI Database 

You can access the ecoinvent database with an ecoinvent license. Choose the license type that best suits your requirements, whether you’re a business, a university, or an individual. Our different options support various use cases.