GHG Inventory Boundary for Iron & Steel
A practical guide to help your company determine minimum inventory scope per GHG Protocol
Scope 1 (Direct Emissions)
- Coal/coke/natural gas combustion
- Process gases
- Furnaces and heat treatment
Scope 2 (Indirect Energy Emissions)
- EAF electricity consumption
- Rolling mill motors
- Compressed air
Dual Reporting: Location-based uses regional grid emission factors; market-based uses contractual factors (I-RECs, PPAs). Both approaches must be reported.
Scope 3 (Value Chain Emissions)
- 1Modeling BF-BOF and EAF with same EF
- 2Not clarifying scrap/ore ratio
- 3Underreporting process gases in scope 1
- 4Not allocating electricity consumption by product
- 5Forgetting ferroalloys/coating chemicals in Cat1
- 6Incomplete Cat4/9 transport collection
- 7Mismatching CapEx changes with wrong year
- 8Incorrectly classifying waste/slag management (Cat5)
- 9Leaving product processing (Cat10) boundary unclear
- 10Missing on-site mobile equipment
Priority Categories
8 categoriesEAF-heavy production
Relevant: Scope2 intensive + Cat1
Data: kWh/tonne + scrap
Approach: average-data + supplier-specific scrap
grid EF and market-based claim
BF-BOF route
Relevant: Scope1 intensive
Data: coke/ore/energy
Approach: process-based
process gases
Rolling mill with external slab
Relevant: Cat1 slab intensive
Data: tonnes slab + kWh
Approach: supplier-specific slab
product boundary
Coating/galvanizing
Relevant: chemical supply + energy
Data: kg chemical + kWh
Approach: average-data
chemical class difference
Export logistics
Relevant: Cat9
Data: tonne-km
Approach: average-data
incoterms
This content is for informational purposes. Your company's reporting scope may expand based on operational reality, reporting standards, assurance requirements, stakeholder expectations, and regulations.