What does a spend-based (EEIO) factor like tonnes CO2e per million of revenue actually include?

An EEIO factor spreads a country's emissions across its industries by the money flowing between them, so one figure per unit of revenue covers every upstream step behind a sector's output. The GHG Protocol's example: paper mills, 1,520 t CO2e per USD 1 million. Good for screening, poor at showing your own cuts.

How the number is built

EEIO stands for environmentally extended input-output. The model takes national emissions and assigns them to groups of finished products, following the money that flows between sectors. The result is emissions per unit of revenue for a sector, covering all upstream supply chain activity up to the sale. In the GHG Protocol's example, USD 1 million of paper mill revenue carries 1,520 t CO2e across everything behind it.

What it does well

• Covers the whole economy: no upstream source falls outside the boundary.
• Needs only spend, which every buyer already has in its ledger.
• Sizes all purchases quickly, which is why the guidance calls it particularly useful for screening.

What it cannot tell anyone

• Differences between producers in one sector: a mill on biomass and a mill on coal get the same figure.
• Differences in price: emissions rise with the invoice value, as if a costlier product always emits more.
• Your reductions: cutting fuel at the mill does not move the factor.
• Your country, often: most EEIO sets describe one economy, such as the United States, and some regions have none.

If your buyer used one on you

Your figure in their inventory is your invoice value times an average for your sector, in their currency and their economy. Offer your own Scope 1 and 2, split to their purchases with the basis stated. That replaces a price-driven estimate with one tied to your bills.

Worked example: a price rise that looks like more carbon

• Buyer's purchases from an Indian paper supplier: Rs 84 lakh; at Rs 84 per USD, USD 1,00,000 = 0.1 million
• Estimate: 0.1 x 1,520 = 152 t CO2e
• Next year, same tonnes, price up 10%: Rs 92.4 lakh = USD 0.11 million; 0.11 x 1,520 = 167.2 t CO2e
• 15.2 t more on paper, with nothing changed at the mill

Example figures. 1,520 t CO2e per USD 1 million is the GHG Protocol's own example for paper mills, not a factor to apply to Indian purchases.

What Senseible does here

Senseible provides spend-based estimates where only spend is available, labelled as spend-based with wider uncertainty. A supplier that uploads its bills gets activity-based Scope 1 and 2 that can replace that estimate in a buyer's inventory.

• Scope 3 supplier evidence
• Replacing a US EPA spend factor
• Spend-based Scope 3: GST, inflation, FX
• Why two tools give different totals

Sources: GHG Protocol, Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions, Introduction (environmentally extended input-output data)

Last reviewed 2026-10-31.