Some of my sites are in countries with no certificates or contracts: how do I fill the market-based Scope 2 total?
Use the location-based result for those sites, in both totals. The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol requires every operation to be counted both ways once any operation is in a market with contractual instruments, so a site without them shows the same figure in each. State what share of your electricity is in markets that have them.
The rule
- Only operations in markets with no product or supplier data or other contractual instruments: report one Scope 2 result, location-based.
- Any operation in a market that has them: report two results, each labelled. The guide lists the European Economic Area, the United States, Australia, most Latin American countries, Japan and India, among others, and says the list is not exhaustive.
- A mixed company reports all operations both ways. Sites in markets without instruments are calculated location-based, so their result is identical in both totals.
Say how much is real market-based
The guide asks you to note what percentage of your overall electricity reported in the market-based total reflects actual markets with contractual information. It also suggests, as optional, showing Scope 2 totals by country, which shows where the two methods differ.
Quality criteria still apply
Any certificate or contract you count in the market-based total shall meet the Scope 2 Quality Criteria. If it does not, use other data from the guide's hierarchy instead. Where no residual mix exists, disclose that the figure may double count between buyers.
Two sites, one in India and one abroad with no contracts
- India: 1,000,000 kilowatt hours (kWh), 300,000 covered by certificates. Location-based: 1,000,000 x 0.675 = 675 tonnes
- India market-based: 700,000 x 0.675 = 472.5 tonnes, grid factor standing in for a residual mix
- Abroad: 500,000 kWh x 0.80 = 400 tonnes in both totals
- Totals: location-based 1,075 tonnes, market-based 872.5 tonnes. Share of electricity in markets with instruments: 1,000,000 / 1,500,000 = 66.7%
Site B's 0.80 factor is an example. 0.675 is the Central Electricity Authority financial year 2025-26 grid factor, an estimate.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads electricity bills into monthly kWh and carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) at the grid factor for the bill's year for Indian sites. Foreign sites and their factors are figures you add.
- Carbon calculators
- Buyer asks for location and market-based Scope 2
- Residual mix factor for India
- Two market-based methods in the Scope 2 revision
Sources: GHG Protocol, Scope 2 Guidance (2015), CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector
Last reviewed 2026-11-04. The GHG Protocol is revising its Scope 2 rules. Check ghgprotocol.org for the current text before you file.