Data collection is a crucial step in calculating the emissions embedded in your products for the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). This guide explains the process of gathering and entering the required data for assessments, ensuring accurate emissions calculations and compliance with CBAM regulations.
Why is Data Collection Important?
The data you collect directly impacts the accuracy of your emissions calculations. Each product’s emissions depend on various factors, including raw materials, energy usage, production outputs, and process-specific emissions. Comprehensive and precise data collection ensures:
Regulatory Compliance: Satisfies CBAM reporting requirements.
Accuracy: Provides reliable emissions data for calculations.
Transparency: Enables clear reporting and communication with regulators and stakeholders.
⚠️ It is important to highlight, that the data that is collected below always refers to an aggregated good category. If you have created 5 products that fall under the same aggregated goods category, make sure to adjust the data accordingly
Example:
Company A produces 5 products (all of the same aggregated goods category) in factory B, each 10,000 tones per year. All of these 5 products fall under CBAM. In the data collection, the output sums up to 50,000 tons and will be entered accordingly. The same logic will be applied for the others and the sum of the materials consumed to produce the 50,000 tons shall be accounted for.
Key Data Categories for Collection
CBAM assessments require data on the following categories. The specific requirements may vary depending on the Aggregated Goods Category (AGC) of your products.
In this article the data collection process is outlined for "Unwrought aluminium".
1️⃣ Process Emissions
💡 Process emissions are only relevant for the production methods "primary smelting" and "mixed production".
Process emissions are generated directly from the chemical reactions or industrial processes involved in production.
PFC emissions
It is important to account for process emissions related to the electrolytic reduction process in the Hall-Héroult process:
Calculation Method: Choose between the Slope Method or Overvoltage Method based on your technology.
Slope method
Technology Type: Select the production technology (e.g., Centre Worked Prebake - CWPB) to ensure the correct emissions factors are applied.
Primary Aluminium: Specify the total input of the primary aluminium in tonnes.
Frequency of Anode Effects: Enter the frequency of anode effects in occurrences per cell-day. This reflects how often anode effects occur during production.
Duration of Anode Effects: Provide the average duration of anode effects in minutes per occurrence. This value helps measure the extent of process inefficiencies.
Overvoltage method
Technology Type: Select the production technology (e.g., Centre Worked Prebake - CWPB) to ensure the correct emissions factors are applied.
Primary Aluminium: Specify the total input of the primary aluminium in tonnes.
Current Efficiency: Enter the efficiency percentage of the production process.
Anode Effect Overvoltage: Provide the overvoltage in millivolts to account for process inefficiencies.
Anode consumption
The anode consumption has the biggest emission share for primary unwrought aluminium.
Specify the amount of anode that is consumed for the time frame
💡 Why? Process emissions data ensures that emissions from the production process are accurately calculated and tied to your specific technology and production setup.
2️⃣ Precursor Data
Precursors refer to the raw materials or inputs used in production. Depending on how the assessment was setup, a different amount of precursors that require data can be displayed.
Specify whether the precursors were Purchased or Produced.
Add amount of each precursor that is used. With "Add data" new data entries can be created for the precursor, e.g. if multiple suppliers are used.
Purchased
For purchased precursors, use supplier-specific emissions data or default emission factors provided by the EU commission.
Supplier-specific data requires specific embedded emissions (SEE) for direct and indirect emissions as well as embedded electricity from your supplier.
Default values require the CN code of the precursor to select to correct value
Produced
In case there are products on site or in other locations that are used for this process, please create a new assessment to calculate the emissions
💡 Why? Precursor data ensures emissions from raw material inputs are accurately captured and attributed to the final product.
3️⃣ Fuel Data
This category includes details on fuels consumed during production.
Record the type of fuel (e.g., crude oil, natural gas, coal).
Enter the amount of fuel used.
💡 Why? Fuel consumption is a significant contributor to embedded emissions. Accurate fuel data ensures compliance and precise reporting.
4️⃣ Electricity Data
Electricity usage during production must be accounted for, including:
Total electricity consumption.
Type of electricity used:
Grid Electricity (using default emission factors from IEA).
Other electricity sources (e.g., other default emission factors, direct link or power purchase agreements require special emission factors that can be entered).
💡 Why? Electricity is a major driver of emissions, and capturing its usage allows for accurate calculations based on energy sources.
5️⃣ Process Outputs
Process outputs include the final products and byproducts generated during production.
Enter the total output quantity of the final product (make sure to aggregated across several products if they fall into the same aggregated goods category).
Specify if any alloying elements exceed 1% of the final product’s weight, as this can impact embedded emissions.
💡 The condition on alloying is only relevant for the production methods "secondary melting" and "mixed production".
💡 Why? Process outputs determine how emissions are distributed across products. Accurate outputs ensure emissions are allocated correctly.
Steps to Collect Data
To begin collecting data for an assessment:
Identify Required Data: Review the specific data requirements for your product’s AGC. Please have a look at the guides listed in this collection to understand which data needs to be collected.
Gather Information from Sources: Collect data from internal systems, suppliers, and other stakeholders.
Enter Data into the Tool: Navigate to the relevant assessment and input the required data into the corresponding fields (e.g., process emissions, fuels, electricity, and outputs).
Save Progress: Save your entries as you go to avoid data loss and ensure completeness.
Validate Data: Check for errors or missing values before running the emissions calculations.
Best Practices for Data Collection
Collaborate with Suppliers: Ensure suppliers provide accurate emissions data for raw materials and precursors.
Standardize Data Sources: Use consistent sources for process, fuel, and electricity data, such as internal records or utility bills.
Use Default Values When Necessary: For missing data, apply CBAM-approved default factors to avoid delays in calculations.
Regular Reviews: Periodically review entered data to ensure accuracy and completeness.
Conclusion
Collecting accurate and complete data is essential for successful CBAM assessments. By focusing on key categories like process emissions, precursors, fuels, electricity, and outputs, you ensure precise emissions calculations and regulatory compliance. For detailed step-by-step instructions on entering data, refer to our specific guides for each data category or contact our support team for assistance.