Australian Government (DISER, DCCEEW)

Vetted by Climatiq. For further information on data quality assurance, see: https://www.climatiq.io/methodology#Data-Quality

The National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA) Factors dataset, published by the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), provides standardized greenhouse gas emission factors and global warming potentials for use in greenhouse gas accounting across energy, electricity, industrial processes, waste, wastewater, and refrigerants. The methodology aligns with Australia’s National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Measurement Determination 2008, Australia’s National Greenhouse Accounts, and internationally recognized guidance from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the GHG Protocol. Emission factors are based on national average data and standardized assumptions to ensure consistency and comparability across reporting applications.

The emission factors were retrieved from the 2025 National Greenhouse Accounts Factors publication and accompanying Excel workbook. Electricity-related factors, including location-based and market-based grid emission factors, transmission and distribution (T&D) losses, and upstream (well-to-tank) electricity emissions, were retrieved from Tables 1, 2/2a, and 25, with upstream electricity factors calculated as the difference between total scope 3 electricity emissions and T&D losses where not explicitly reported. Fuel well-to-tank (WTT) emission factors were retrieved from the Excel workbook (sheet: “Energy - scope 3”) and represent upstream emissions associated with extraction, processing, and transport of fuels prior to combustion.

The dataset also includes refrigerant global warming potentials (GWPs) retrieved from Table 11, distinguishing between gases covered under the Kyoto Protocol (in-scope under GHG Protocol inventories) and non-Kyoto gases reported outside standard inventory scopes. Industrial process and product use emission factors were retrieved from

Tables 12-14, include industrial processes and product use.

Waste and wastewater emission factors were retrieved from Tables 15-19, covering landfill disposal, wastewater treatment, waste incineration, and biological treatment processes.

The dataset reflects official Australian greenhouse gas accounting methodologies and is updated annually to incorporate methodological refinements, policy updates, and international reporting obligations under frameworks such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement.

Electricity upstream (well-to-tank) emission factors were recalculated by Climatiq as the difference between total scope 3 electricity emissions and transmission & distribution (T&D) losses, rather than directly published as standalone values by the source.

Certain emission factors represent partial greenhouse gas coverage. For example, some wastewater treatment factors account for methane (CH4) emissions only, while nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions are considered negligible by the source. Similarly, some industrial process factors include CO2 emissions only.