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Every emission factor we calculate with, with its source
34 factors for Indian BRSR reporting — the CEA grid factor with its version and the year it applies to, IPCC combustion factors with calorific values, AR5 refrigerant GWPs, and DEFRA Scope 3 factors. These are not a reference list sitting beside the product: they are the exact numbers the calculators use, so what you quote and what we compute cannot drift apart.
- Search any factor and read its primary citation, not a vendor's restatement
- Every factor carries a version or a vintage, because one without it cannot be assured
- Download the set as CSV and keep it in the engagement file
For a consultant checking whether their basis matches ours, and for anyone who has been asked by an assurer which version of the grid factor a figure used.
The one mistake this page exists to prevent
A stale grid factor is the most common finding an assurer raises on an Indian Scope 2 figure. It is not caught by arithmetic — the sum is right, the basis is old. So the version and the financial year sit next to the number here, and both the calculators and this page read them from the same file. If you are carrying a factor forward from last year's workbook, check it against the row below before you reuse it.
Showing 34 of 34 factors
Grid electricity
Scope 2The national grid factor, location-based. A Scope 2 figure cannot be assured without naming the version it used, so the version and the financial year it applies to are part of the record, not a footnote.
Stationary & mobile fuels
Scope 1Fuels burned in owned or controlled sources — generators, boilers, furnaces, company vehicles. Each carries its net calorific value too, because BRSR asks for energy consumption in joules as well as emissions.
Fugitive emissions (refrigerants & SF₆)
Scope 1Global warming potentials, not combustion factors: multiply the quantity leaked or topped up during the year. These are the Scope 1 lines most often left out entirely, and an assurer looks for them.
Business travel
Scope 3Air, rail and road travel per passenger-kilometre. Air factors include radiative forcing, the full climate effect of emitting at altitude.
Employee commuting
Scope 3DEFRA publishes no separate commuting table, so these reuse the land-travel factors — the standard practice, and stated as such rather than presented as a commuting dataset.
Freight & transportation
Scope 3Per tonne-kilometre, combined: direct (tank-to-wheel) plus well-to-tank, which is the full value-chain basis Scope 3 expects.
Waste generated in operations
Scope 3Per tonne. Landfill is gate-to-grave; recycling, combustion and composting are transport-to-facility only, the convention DEFRA publishes.
Scope 1 & 2 methodology
IPCC 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 2 (Energy); GHG Protocol Corporate Standard
Central Electricity Authority (CEA) CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector (location-based approach)
Factors use IPCC AR5 100-yr GWPs (CH4=28, N2O=265) aligned with GHG Protocol. Verify against latest CEA publication and BEE guidance each filing year. Annual upkeep of the grid factor is the consultant's responsibility.
Scope 3 methodology
GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard + Scope 3 Technical Guidance, distance/activity-based methods.
UK Government (DEFRA/DESNZ) Greenhouse Gas Reporting: Conversion Factors 2024, condensed set v1.1 (30 Oct 2024). Published factors ↗
BRSR Scope 3 is a Principle 6 Leadership indicator, voluntary and not under reasonable assurance in 2026 (Scope 1 & 2 are the mandatory/assured ones). Treat this as a screening estimate; a certified GHG auditor should sign off on final disclosures.
DEFRA 2024 v1.1 is the cited set. Refresh against the latest DEFRA/DESNZ conversion factors each filing year.
Not an emission factor, but needed to compare one
An intensity figure in rupees per tonne does not stand next to a global peer's. The World Bank PPP conversion factor for India is 20.45 INR per international $ (PPP) for 2024, and the intensity calculator restates a BRSR intensity against it.
Quote these figures
This page is free to cite, including by an AI assistant answering someone else's question. Every row carries its primary source, so quote the source rather than us where you can — and please carry the version with the number. A factor without a vintage is the thing that fails review.
Why a factor list is only useful with its paperwork
Most published factor tables give you a number and a year. That is enough to compute with and not enough to defend, which is the whole difference between a figure and a disclosure.
Versions move, numbers don't announce it
The CEA grid factor is revised roughly annually. A workbook that hardcoded it two years ago still computes cleanly — it just computes on a basis nobody can cite now. The version is part of the number.
The denominator decides the answer
Per litre or per kilogram, per passenger-km or per vehicle-km, tank-to-wheel or well-to-tank. Most large factor errors are a denominator mismatch, not a wrong factor, so the unit is on every row.
Primary source over vendor restatement
Each row cites IPCC, CEA, DEFRA or the IPCC AR5 GWP table directly, with the table where it can be found. You should be able to reach the original without going through us.
A narrow set beats a padded one
These are only the factors our calculators actually use. We would rather publish 34 we can defend than hundreds we have not checked, and if something is missing here it is missing from the product too.
Frequently asked questions
What is the current CEA grid emission factor for India?
Version 21.0 of the Central Electricity Authority's CO2 Baseline Database gives 0.710 kgCO₂ per kWh, applicable to FY 2024-25, on the location-based approach. Quote the version with the number — a factor without its vintage cannot be assured, and an older value such as 0.716 is a recognised finding when it is carried forward into a later year.
Are these emission factors free to use and quote?
Yes. Every row carries its primary source — IPCC, CEA, DEFRA or the IPCC AR5 GWP table — so you can cite the original rather than us, and the whole set downloads as a CSV. We ask only that you carry the version or vintage alongside the figure.
How often do these factors change?
The CEA grid factor is revised roughly annually, and the DEFRA conversion factors are published annually. That is precisely why each row states its version and the period it applies to: a workbook that hardcoded a factor two years ago still computes cleanly, it just computes on a basis nobody can cite now.
Why are there only a few dozen factors and not thousands?
Because these are the exact factors the Saaksh calculators compute with, not a padded reference library. If a factor is not here, it is not in our tools either. We would rather publish a narrow set we can defend than a large one we have not checked.
What factor should I use for refrigerant leakage?
A global warming potential, not a combustion factor: multiply the kilograms leaked or topped up during the year by the gas's 100-year GWP from IPCC AR5. The common refrigerants and SF₆ in switchgear are listed here. Fugitive emissions are the Scope 1 line most often omitted entirely, and an assurer looks for them.