Purchased heat emissions are any emissions resulting from the purchase of heat produced by another organisation. These emissions may include carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning fossil fuels and non-CO2 gases such as methane (CH4), and fugitive emissions.
There are two calculation methods to choose from:
Heat consumption uses your heating consumption (Recommended).
Bring Your Own Emissions allows you to upload your own pre-calculated emissions to the Plan A platform.
Check out our step-by-step guides to formatting data for both calculation methods.
Step-by-step: Format Heat consumption (Recommended)
Step-by-step: Format Heat consumption (Recommended)
There are several ways to enter your data. Most customers find uploading their bills directly using PDF upload the quickest way to enter their heat consumption data!
Regardless of which method you choose, you must include all of the required information outlined below to ensure accurate emissions calculations. The column order doesn't matter as long as all required data is included.
Column A: start_date
The first day of your data period.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
This field is mandatory.
Column B: end_date
The last day of your data period.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
It can be the same as the start date if you are entering data for just one day.
This field is mandatory.
Column C: location
The ISO-3166 alpha-2 code of the country where the purchased heat has been consumed (e.g., DE).
This field is mandatory.
Column D: facility_name
The facility that the respective emissions should be allocated to.
Make sure to apply exactly the same names you set here to all the other templates asking for a "facility_name" input.
Column E: value
Heat consumption: The amount of heat in kWh, MWh, GJ, Btu, toe or kcal that was consumed in the given time period.
If your energy consumption comes from multiple sources, please breakdown the consumption values per source on separate rows. Ensure the time range, location, and facility name are identical across all related rows.
Numbers should be formatted using numeric values only and using a dot as the decimal separator (e.g. 25634.20).
This field is mandatory.
Column F: value.unit
Select the unit for the heat consumption:
kWh (kilowatt hour)
MWh (megawatt hour)
GJ (gigajoule)
toe (tonne oil equivalent)
This field is mandatory.
Column G: contractual_instrument
Entering a contractual instrument clarifies your energy use, environmental impact, and helps determine the relevant location- and market-based emissions. This information is also essential for CSRD reporting.
Choose from:
renewable energy certificate
on-site renewable
supplier specific emission factor
N/A (if none of these apply)
This field is mandatory.
Column H: source_of_energy
The 'source of energy' field indicates how your energy was generated.
Choose from:
fossil
renewable
nuclear
unknown
This field is mandatory.
Only select 'renewable' if you have a contractual instrument (i.e. renewable energy certificate, on-site renewable, or supplier specific emission factor).
Column I: fuel_mix
If 'fossil' is selected in the source_of_energy column, you can further break down the type of fossil fuel used.
Choose from:
natural gas
coal and coal products
crude oil and petroleum products
other fossil fuels
This column is optional.
Column J: market_based_emission_factor
Please enter the market-based emission factor provided by your energy supplier in gCO2e/kWh.
The input should be formatted with a dot as the decimal separator (e.g., 0.45).
If your energy consumption is split among multiple energy sources, apply the market-based emission factor to all relevant rows for that period.
Only enter a market-based emission factor if you have a supplier-specific emission factor. You should leave this field blank if you do not have a market-based emission factor.
According to the GHG Protocol, both market-based and location-based emissions must be reported under Scope 2.
If you have selected N/A as a contractual_instrument, the system will default to residual mix (if available) or location-based calculations for market-based emissions.
Optional tags
As always, you can add optional columns for company specific tags.
Learn more about how tags work: Tag Your Data.
Step-by-Step: Format BYOE
Step-by-Step: Format BYOE
There are several ways to enter your data. Regardless of which method you choose, you must include all required information to ensure accurate emissions calculations. Below, we’ve listed the key data points you need to include.
Column A: start_date
The first day of your data period.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
This field is mandatory.
Column B: end_date
The last day of your data period. It can be the same as the start date if you are entering data for just one day.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
This field is mandatory.
Column C: location
The ISO-3166 alpha-2 code of the country where the emissions occurred (e.g., DE).
This field is mandatory.
Column D: facility_name
The facility that the respective emissions should be allocated to.
Make sure to apply exactly the same names you set here to all the other templates asking for a "facility_name" input.
Column E: value
Your own emissions in kg CO₂e.
Numbers should be formatted using numeric values only and using a dot as the decimal separator (e.g. 25634.20).
This field is mandatory.
Column F: calculation_approach
In this field you can indicate if the emissions you are bringing to the Plan A platform were calculated using location-based or market-based approach. If you have emissions data using both approaches please ensure the time range, location and facility inputs are the same across both rows.
If market-based emissions are not provided, the system will default to showing location-based emissions for both market-based and location-based emissions.
If location-based emissions are not provided, the system will use National Average data to calculate your location-based emissions.
This field is mandatory.
Optional tags
As always, you can add optional columns for company specific tags.
Learn more about how tags work: Tag Your Data.
Reminder: It is not Plan A’s responsibility to ensure the calculation of those 3rd parties are in accordance with the GHG Protocol. There is no verification or validation of BOYE emissions through Plan A.