# In the Greenhouse Gas Protocol's hybrid method example for printed t-shirts, how are the four parts added, and does the transport line check out?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/hybrid-method-t-shirt-example-transport-line

The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol's hybrid example adds four parts for supplier B's t-shirts: allocated Scope 1 and 2, material inputs, transport of those inputs, and waste. It prints 72,800 kilograms. The printed 20,500 for transport is one tenth of the sum of its four printed terms, so do not copy the total as a benchmark.

## The four parts the hybrid formula adds

Transport from the supplier to you is not in this formula. The guide says it belongs in Category 4, so it should not be included here. If the supplier cannot split its figures by the goods sold to you, the guide says the emissions may need to be allocated, and sends you to Chapter 8 of the Scope 3 Standard.

1. The supplier's allocated Scope 1 and Scope 2 for the good you bought: electricity, fuel, and any process or fugitive emissions.
2. Material inputs: the mass of each material the supplier used for your goods times its cradle-to-gate emission factor.
3. Transport of those material inputs to the supplier: distance times mass times a factor for the vehicle type.
4. Waste outputs: mass of waste times a factor for how it was treated, plus any other emissions released in making the good.

## Where the transport line does not multiply out

The guide prints the four transport terms as (5,000 x 1,000 x 0.01) + (2,500 x 2,500 x 0.02) + (500 x 800 x 0.05) + (500 x 200 x 0.1). Those terms are 50,000, 125,000, 20,000 and 10,000, which add to 205,000. The guide prints 20,500.

The printed result is exactly one tenth of the sum of its four printed terms. Changing any single factor by ten does not explain it, so the guide does not show where the slip is (our reading). Check your own sums line by line instead of treating 72,800 as a benchmark.

## What to ask supplier B for

The guide says data from the supplier should cover the same time interval as your inventory, and that preference should be given to assured data. Where the supplier has only some of this, the guide lets you fill the gaps with secondary data.

- Kilowatt hours of electricity and the fuel used for the goods sold to you, for the same period as your inventory.
- The bill of materials for those goods, by material and mass.
- How far each material travelled to reach the supplier, and by what vehicle type.
- Kilograms of waste from the process and where it went.

## The guide's t-shirt example, line by line

- Scope 1 and 2: (5,000 x 0.5) + (2,500 x 0.2) = 2,500 + 500 = 3,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)
- Materials: (5,000 x 7) + (2,500 x 5) + (500 x 2) + (500 x 1.5) = 35,000 + 12,500 + 1,000 + 750 = 49,250 kilograms CO2e
- Transport as printed: 20,500 kilograms CO2e
- Transport from the printed inputs: 50,000 + 125,000 + 20,000 + 10,000 = 205,000 kilograms CO2e
- Waste to landfill: 100 x 0.5 = 50 kilograms CO2e
- Printed total: 3,000 + 49,250 + 20,500 + 50 = 72,800 kilograms CO2e
- The same sum with 205,000 for transport: 3,000 + 49,250 + 205,000 + 50 = 257,300 kilograms CO2e

All inputs are the guide's example numbers, which it says do not refer to actual data. They are not factors to use. Our check shows the printed 20,500 is one tenth of the sum of the printed terms; it does not show where the slip is.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, which is where a supplier's allocated Scope 1 and 2 starts. It does not hold bills of materials, inbound distances or waste weights, and it does not run a buyer's hybrid calculation.

- [What the hybrid method needs from a supplier](https://senseible.earth/answers/hybrid-method-allocated-scope-1-2-from-suppliers)
- [Is a supplier figure always better than an average?](https://senseible.earth/answers/supplier-data-less-accurate-than-average)
- [Scope 3 supplier evidence](https://senseible.earth/scope-3-supplier-evidence)

Sources: [Greenhouse Gas Protocol Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions, Category 1 (Calculation formula 1.2 and Example 1.2)](https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/Chapter1.pdf)

Last reviewed 2026-11-05. Formula and example are from the guide as printed. The transport discrepancy was found by multiplying the guide's own printed inputs: the printed 20,500 is one tenth of their 205,000 sum, and no single-factor change explains it (our reading). Re-check if the guide is reissued.