UBA
About UBA
The Umweltbundesamt (UBA) is the Federal Environment Agency of Germany and is responsible for promoting sustainable development through scientific research, providing advice on a wide range of environmental issues to the government, businesses, organisations, and the public. The UBA reports emission factors for electricity, fuel, and transport among others.
Visit UBA websiteDatasets from UBA
ProBas
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | The Umweltbundesamt (UBA) is the Federal Environment Agency of Germany and is responsible for promoting sustainable development through scientific research, providing advice on a wide range of environmental issues to the government, businesses, organisations, and the public. The UBA reports emission factors for electricity, fuel, and transport among others. |
| Source type | Governmental |
| Original dataset URL | URL |
| Year released | 2020 |
| Geography | Germany |
| Sector | |
| Type of data | Activity-based |
| Emission results | CO2e |
| Data Transformation | NA |
License
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Type of license | Not specified |
| License URL | Not specified |
Data quality
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Data quality assurance | Vetted by Climatiq. For further information on data quality assurance, see: [https://www.climatiq.io/methodology#Data-Quality](https://www.climatiq.io/methodology#Data-Quality) |
| Quality flag(s) | NA |
Methodology
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Standard | ISO 14040
ISO 14044 |
| IPCC AR method |
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| LCA boundary |
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| Scope applicability |
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| Emissions breakdown |
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| Methodology description | This dataset is derived from the Umweltbundesamt PROBAS (Process Database for Environmental Management Systems) database and provides emission intensities for a wide range of transport modes based on 2020 data. It includes passenger and freight transport across air, rail, road, and maritime sectors, covering various vehicle types, fuels, and technologies (e.g., diesel, petrol, CNG, electric, hydrogen, and hybrid vehicles). The emission factors are based on process-based life cycle assessment (LCA) modelling, aligned with international standards such as ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, and are derived from German-specific data, scientifically vetted sources from the literature, and established environmental modelling approaches. It seems that most data include both upstream emissions and direct emissions from fuel combustion or electricity use, but system boundaries vary by process. For electric transport modes, emission factors include electricity consumption and associated upstream emissions, while for some fuel types only combustion emissions are included where specified. Aviation emission factors include upstream and combustion-related emissions. The emission intensities are aligned with German environmental reporting practices, ensuring consistency and comparability across transport-related emission estimates. |
| Limitation / key issues to note | System boundaries vary across processes, as some emission factors include full life cycle impacts (upstream and use phase) while others account for combustion emissions only, which may affect comparability between transport modes and fuel types. In addition, detailed transparency on underlying assumptions and data sources is not always provided at the process level. For aviation, no explicit information is given on the inclusion of non-CO2 effects such as radiative forcing (e.g., contrails and high-altitude emissions), which may lead to an underestimation of total climate impacts. The data are based on 2020 conditions and reflect average German or representative transport processes, and therefore may not fully capture recent technological developments and current operating conditions. |
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