IEA factor set

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The International Energy Agency (IEA) publishes a comprehensive set of electricity and heating emission factors annually, covering most countries and regions in the world. This factor set applies to Electricity Scope 2 and Scope 3 (for reporting of electricity consumption not directly under operational control) consumption data, and includes adjustment factors for transmission and distribution losses.

In IBM® ESG Suite, the IEA factor set is applied as the default electricity emission factor set for the majority of countries that do not have country specific managed factor sets stored in Envizi ESG Suite, such as NGERS, UK Defra or eGRID. Due to the nature of this factor set, factors from the IEA have been loaded into Envizi ESG Suite as part of the ‘Default’ factor set, rather than a separated IEA factor set.

Envizi ESG Suite has managed this factor set since 2013. This factor set has been published consistently by the IEA in September or October every year. Before 2016, this factor set was provided by the IEA free of charge to the public. After 2017, the IEA productized this factor set and Envizi ESG Suite has entered a purchase licensing agreement with the IEA to commercially obtain the factors.

As a result, the IEA factors that are reported in Envizi ESG Suite are for in-house reporting only by Envizi ESG Suite clients and partners, and must not be distributed or used outside Envizi ESG Suite. IEA factor values will also be masked in the Emission and Energy Factors report, because the licensing agreement stipulates that IEA factor values are not allowed to be accessible in a spreadsheet. If you need to review original IEA factor values for in-house auditing purposes, use the Emission and Energy Factors - PDF Version report that is delivered in PDF format as an email attachment and contains the original IEA factor values.
Table 1. IEA factor set
Element Description
Website International Energy Agency (IEA) - Data Products - Emissions
Upcoming publication date Publishes annually every September or October. Upcoming publication date: 1-Oct-2025
Geographical coverage By default, factors are applied to Electricity Scope 2 and Scope 3 (location based factors) for about 150 or more countries and regions, except the following countries and regions:
  • Australia (NGERS)
  • US (EPA eGRID)
  • UK (UK Defra)
  • New Zealand
  • Canada
The following list indicates all countries and regions covered by IEA factors:

Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia (see note above), Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada (see note above), Chile, China, Colombia, Congo Democratic Republic of the, Congo Republic of the, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, East and Southeast Asia, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand (see note above), Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oceania, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (see note above), United States (see note above), Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Data type coverage
  • Scope 2: Electricity and electricity green offset
  • Scope 3: Electricity
  • Scope 3 Indirect only: electricity
  • Scope 2: Electric vehicle charging
  • Scope 3: Electric vehicle charging
Effective and Published dates

Because of the timing of the factor publication every year in September, Envizi ESG Suite has adopted a best practice approach to align the published dates to its next calendar year, starting from January of next year. For example, factors published in Sep-2021 will have their published on date adjusted to Jan-2022 and to be applied for electricity data from Jan-2022 onwards only.
Indirect CO2e

Starting from the IEA 2023 dataset, there has been a change in how indirect emissions are calculated. Newly released IEA datasets provide life cycle emission factors corresponding to electricity generation.

Indirect CO2e in Envizi ESG Suite now consists of both Total upstream factors and Life cycle T&D factors components as provided in the IEA emission factors dataset. For certain countries, it defaults to the original non-lifecycle T&D losses adjustment if neither of the previous components are available in the IEA dataset. Starting from 2025, coverage for indirect factors is available in the factors Notes field.

With this change, you will likely see a significant increase in indirect CO2e emissions associated with electricity consumption, starting from the 2024 data period and onwards, in comparison to previous years. The increased indirect or life cycle emissions give us a complete picture of the environmental impact of electricity generation and consumption.

Managed publications and effective periods

Table 2. Managed publications and effective periods
Factor source reference Effective from Effective to Published from Published to
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/1990 31/12/1990 1/01/1990 31/12/1990
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/1991 31/12/1991 1/01/1991 31/12/1991
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/1992 31/12/1992 1/01/1992 31/12/1992
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/1993 31/12/1993 1/01/1993 31/12/1993
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/1994 31/12/1994 1/01/1994 31/12/1994
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/1995 31/12/1995 1/01/1995 31/12/1995
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/1996 31/12/1996 1/01/1996 31/12/1996
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/1997 31/12/1997 1/01/1997 31/12/1997
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/1998 31/12/1998 1/01/1998 31/12/1998
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/1999 31/12/1999 1/01/1999 31/12/1999
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/2000 31/12/2000 1/01/2000 31/12/2000
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/2001 31/12/2001 1/01/2001 31/12/2001
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/2002 31/12/2002 1/01/2002 31/12/2002
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/2003 31/12/2003 1/01/2003 31/12/2003
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/2004 31/12/2004 1/01/2004 31/12/2004
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/2005 31/12/2005 1/01/2005 31/12/2005
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/2006 31/12/2006 1/01/2006 31/12/2006
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/2007 31/12/2007 1/01/2007 31/12/2007
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/2008 31/12/2008 1/01/2008 31/12/2008
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/2009 31/12/2009 1/01/2009 31/12/2009
International Energy Agency (IEA) - excel file:CO2 Highlights 2012, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, tab:CO2 emissions per kWh from electricity generation (updated March 2013) 1/01/2010 31/12/2010 1/01/2010 31/05/2014
GHG Protocol excel file: World Resources Institute (2015). GHG emissions from purchased electricity. Version 4.5, tab:co2kwh (updated May 1, 2014) 1/01/2011 31/12/2011 1/06/2014 30/04/2015
GHG Protocol excel file:World Resources Institute (2015). GHG emissions from purchased electricity. Version 4.7, tab:co2kwh (updated May 18, 2015) 1/01/2012 31/12/2012 1/05/2015 31/12/2015
International Energy Agency (IEA) - World CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion database (2015) 1/01/2013 31/12/2013 1/01/2016 31/12/2016
International Energy Agency (IEA) - World CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion database (2016) 1/01/2014 31/12/2014 1/01/2017 31/12/2017
International Energy Agency (IEA) - World CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion database (2017) 1/01/2015 31/12/2015 1/01/2018 31/12/2018
International Energy Agency (IEA) - Emission Factors 2018 1/01/2016 31/12/2016 1/01/2019 31/12/2019
International Energy Agency (IEA) - Emission Factors 2019 1/01/2017 31/12/2017 1/01/2020 31/12/2020
International Energy Agency (IEA) - Emission Factors 2020 1/01/2018 31/12/2018 1/01/2021 31/12/2021
International Energy Agency (IEA) - Emission Factors 2021 1/01/2019 31/12/2019 1/01/2022 31/12/2022
International Energy Agency (IEA) - Emission Factors 2022 1/01/2020 31/12/2020 1/01/2023 31/12/2023
International Energy Agency (IEA) - Emission Factors 2023 1/01/2021 31/12/2021 1/01/2024 31/12/2024
International Energy Agency (IEA) - Emission Factors 2024 1/01/2022 31/12/2022 1/01/2025 31/12/2025
International Energy Agency (IEA) - Emission Factors 2025 1/01/2023   1/01/2026  

Understanding the IEA factor name and dates

In Envizi ESG Suite, each emission factor has a ‘Factor Name’ to differentiate if from other emission factors. For IEA Factors, the factor name contains three pieces of information:
  • Original factor name, which includes the country the factor is for and its effective year
  • Factor source, which is the document name that the IEA factor is sourced from
  • Publish dates, which are the date period the factor is meant to be used for, if using the ‘Published Dates’ method

For example, “Albania Electricity - 2019;IEA Emission Factors 2021;Published for 2022” can be interpreted as that the factor is for the country of Albania with an effective year of 2019, and it is obtained from the document IEA Emission Factors 2021 which was most likely released in September or October of 2021, and the factor will be used only for electricity data that fall into the next calendar year which is 2022, if using the ‘Published Dates’ method.

Full factor details can be reviewed in either the preview panel of the Monthly Data page, or through the Emission and Energy Factors report.
Figure 1. Monthly Data page
Monthly Data page

When a new set of factors is published in September or October every year, the new factors will not be applied to the current calendar year if you are using the Published Dates method. Instead they will be applied only from next January onwards. IEA factor sources are kept consistent throughout a calendar year.