New data models introduced in this release of Equinox cater to the requirement of integrating energy attribute certificate information into the portfolio database.
The overall procedure for accounting for Scope 2 emissions does not deviate from the established patterns of the GHG Protocol:
- Description of the GHG Inventory Boundary and in particular electricity consumption within that boundary
- Information on Emissions (Energy and Emission Sources, Activity data and Emission Factors associated with each activity)
- Information on Methodologies of measurement and Data Quality
- Information on Emission Changes (For Period-on-Period explanations)
This standard GHG quantification and reporting procedure is already mapped in the Equinox architecture, e.g. in the design of its portfolio and reference data models and reporting flows.
The peculiar case of Grid energy attributes
The peculiarity of electricity and Scope 2 emissions is that (in general) energy injected into distribution grids does not retain any of its production attributes and in particular the amount of GHG emissions that were generated during its production. This follows simply from the physics of electricity generation and transmission.
Various jurisdictions have developed certification schemes that create informational artifacts that attribute energy produced during a certain period on the basis of the generating device. Market-Based Scope 2 Accounting is an alternative Scope 2 GHG Protocol method based on GHG emissions emitted by the generators from which the reporting entity contractually purchases electricity alongside energy attribute certificates.
In order to facilitate the reporting of Scope 2 emissions under the market-based approach, the 0.7 release of Equinox introduces data models and tools for managing energy attribute certificates, in particular those following the European Energy Certificate System (EECS) standards.
In order to facilitate the reporting of Scope 2 emissions under the market-based approach, the 0.7 release of Equinox introduces data models and tools for managing energy attribute certificates, in particular those following the European Energy Certificate System (EECS) standards.
Resources
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