{"id":1920,"date":"2021-02-25T15:20:23","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T14:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecochain.com\/blogs\/measuring-scope-2-emissions\/"},"modified":"2025-03-12T13:25:07","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T13:25:07","slug":"measuring-scope-2-emissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecochain.com\/de\/blog\/measuring-scope-2-emissions\/","title":{"rendered":"Measuring Carbon Footprints: Scope 2 Emissions Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost 40% of our global greenhouse gas emissions can be traced back to energy generation.\u00a0 And half of that energy is used by industrial or commercial entities.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for companies to take responsibility, become transparent on their carbon footprint, and start reducing them.<\/p>\n

Read everything about scope 2 emissions and how to measure them below.<\/p>\n

Quick Recap: What Are Scope 1, 2, and 3 Emissions?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, you first need to have a clear picture of your different kinds of emissions in order to connect them to data you can actually measure and monitor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So how do I create this clear overview?<\/span><\/p>\n

Well- the <\/span>GHG (Greenhouse Gas) Protocol<\/span><\/a> is here to help. The GHG Protocol was developed in the late \u201990s and is <\/span>the<\/span><\/i> global standard framework for measuring and managing greenhouse gasses from both public or private organizations. And the GHG protocol established three scopes to measure emissions: <\/span>scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Scope 1:<\/b> Emissions from scope 1 are direct emissions. This means that they directly come from your organization\u2019s owned- or controlled source, such as; company vehicle emissions.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can read everything about scope 1 emissions in our previous deep-dive article below.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What are scope 1 emissions? <\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Scope 2: <\/b>Emissions in scope 2 cover the indirect emissions from purchased energy sources, such as your organization\u2019s consumed electricity or cooling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Scope 3: <\/b>Emissions from scope 3 include all the other indirect emissions within your entire value chain, this includes the upstream supply chain (suppliers), as well as downstream GHG emissions e.g. occurring with customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image 1. Scope 1, 2, and 3 visualized. Source: GHG Protocol<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Zooming in on scope 2 emissions.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So, let\u2019s take a deep dive into scope 2 emissions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Scope 2 emissions are your company\u2019s indirect, <\/span>owned,<\/span><\/i> emissions. This means these emissions come from the generation of <\/span>purchased<\/span><\/i> energy by your utility provider.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Quickly summing it up: scope 2 emissions are all your GHG emissions that are released into the atmosphere and come from your consumption of purchased electricity, steam, heat, and cooling.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For most companies with manufacturing operations, scope 2 emissions will make up a very large part of their overall carbon footprint. The most logical reasoning for this is that most corporations get the majority of their energy from public utilities instead of generating their own. These utilities often still generate their energy from \u2018brown power sources\u2019- sources that burn fossil fuel. This results in the release of carbon emissions that a company- so to say- \u2018indirectly purchases\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image 1. Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. Original Infographic by Anthesis Group.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

How can you calculate and report your carbon emissions?\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

So how do you calculate and report these emissions?<\/p>\n

The Scope 2 guidance from the GHG Protocol, requires companies to use two reporting methods in order to disclose their scope 2 emissions:<\/b><\/p>\n