Electricity emissions come from the combustion of fuel in power plants to generate grid-supplied energy consumed by residential, commercial and industrial buildings. Emissions from electricity consumption are counted within the locality where the electricity is consumed rather than where the electricity is generated (i.e. not where the power plant is situated) so they are considered Scope 2 emissions. This sector also includes emissions resulting from the generation of electricity which is lost during transmission and distribution, these are often referred to as Scope 3 emissions. State level emissions factors are sourced from the National Greenhouse Accounts Factors.
Residential electricity There are two different methods used depending on which state your municipality is in. For the majority of Queensland and New South Wales local Tier 2 data is used, this is sourced from the network providers. For all other states residential electricity emissions are modelled by scaling state level data to municipality using factors such as population.
Commercial electricity Commercial Tier 2 electricity data is available at the LGA level for certain NSW municipalities. All other municipalities use modelled data scaled from the state level to the municipality using factors such as the number of commercial jobs.
Industrial electricity State level data is scaled to the municipality using factors such as industrial jobs. In addition, where a municipality has large emitters which report to the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting scheme (NGERs) or the Safeguard Mechanism, this emissions data is now incorporated. Data on industrial jobs and large emitters is used to provide the sub-sector breakdown.
For more information on Electricity calculations please see the Methodology document which can be downloaded from the Resources page.
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