GHG Inventory Boundary for Technology & Telecommunications
A practical guide to help your company determine minimum inventory scope per GHG Protocol
Scope 1 (Direct Emissions)
- Generator/UPS fuel
- Fleet (if applicable)
- Refrigerant gas (data center)
Scope 2 (Indirect Energy Emissions)
- Data center electricity
- Office electricity
- Base stations (telecom)
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)
- 1Ignoring data center PUE
- 2Putting cloud consumption in scope 2 instead of Cat3/Cat8 (boundary)
- 3Missing hardware production chain (Cat1)
- 4Not calculating Cat11 (hardware use phase)
- 5Assuming single rate for EoL (Cat12) instead of country-specific rates
- 6Making Scope 2 market-based claim without documentation
- 7Ignoring travel/commuting
- 8Overlooking CapEx
- 9Missing base station energy distribution in telecom
- 10Assuming customer usage scenarios without documentation
Priority Categories
9 categoriesSaaS company (cloud-based)
Relevant: Scope2 (office) + Cat3/Cat8 (cloud)
Data: kWh + cloud billing
Approach: supplier-specific (cloud)
cloud provider boundary
Hardware producer
Relevant: Cat1 (component) + Cat11 (use) + Cat12 (EoL)
Data: BOM + usage scenario
Approach: average-data → supplier-specific
component origin
Data center operator
Relevant: Scope2 dominant
Data: kWh + PUE
Approach: average-data
cooling and UPS
Telecom operator
Relevant: Scope2 (base station) + Cat1 (equipment)
Data: kWh + CapEx
Approach: average-data
base station distribution
IT services (integrator)
Relevant: Scope2 (office) + Cat1 (equipment sales)
Data: kWh + sales
Approach: average-data
customer boundary
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.