This two-pager summarizes the methodology used for the Ecoscan tool which was released by Ecochain in 2020. It is the objective of this document to disclose more about the why, what and how of this tool.
It is the objective of the Ecoscan tool to provide a preliminary insight into the environmental hotspots of an organization. It is not the objective of Ecoscan to be complete or to provide footprint with scientific rigor. The outcomes of Ecoscan provide a preliminary view over the most important environmental impacts with the objective to trigger a call to action. This call to action can then be addressed to the larger environmental impacts that really matter.
We encourage companies to use the tool to get an initial impression of their carbon footprint. The Ecoscan tool cannot be used for environmental reporting or to make external environmental claims. If companies want to get more accurate result, specifically for their situation, then we encourage companies to contact us for more information.
What – scope of the footprint
As stated in the section above, the footprint calculated in the Ecoscan tool is not entirely complete. Below we provide the reader with an overview of the categories included and excluded.
| Scope | Included in the Ecoscan tool | Not included in the Ecoscan tool |
| Scope 1 – direct emissions | Direct emissions from fuel combustion | Other direct emissions e.g. from production processes. For the agricultural and chemical sectors, such emission are included in the Ecoscan tool as these are significant for those sectors (e.g. ammonium, methane and laughing gas / nitrous oxide emissions). |
| Scope 2 – emissions from purchased or acquired electricity, steam, heat and cooling | All scope 2 categories are in scope of Ecoscan | n/a |
| Scope 3 – indirect environmental impacts in the value chain | Upstream scope 3 emissions: Category 1 – Purchased goods and servicesCategory 2 – Capital goodsCategory 3 – Fuel- and energy-related activitiesCategory 4 – Upstream transportation and distribution | Downstream scope 3 emissions: Category 5 – Waste generated in operationsCategory 7 – Employee commutingCategory 6 – Business travelCategory 8 – Upstream leased assetsCategory 9 – Downstream transportation and distributionCategory 10 – Processing of sold productsCategory 11 – Use of sold productsCategory 12 – End-of-life treatment of sold productsCategory 13 – Downstream leased assetsCategory 14 – FranchisesCategory 15 – Investments |
The methodology used to calculate the emission described above are the following:
| Scope | approach | Implication of the methodology used |
| Scope 1 & 2 | Used the conversion factors of the ‘CO2 prestatieladder’ to calculate the emissions (well-to-wheel emission factors) in combination with EcoInvent emission factors (for electricity grid mixes). | Direct emissions are excluded for most sectors. |
| Scope 3 | Used an ‘input/output’ model approach (with environmental extensions) which is based on sector average emissions. We used Exiobase data for this based on the ‘Western European average’. The emissions are calculated based on revenue numbers entered in Ecoscan. | Input/output modelling provides indicative numbers for emissions in sectors but may deviate significant from reality. Input / output models account for ‘upstream scope 3 emissions’ but cannot account for ‘downstream scope 3 emissions’ since the use phase is not included. |
Further information
Ecochain Technologies B.V.
H.J.E. Wenckebachweg 123
1096 AM Amsterdam
Netherlands