Getting Started

Introduction

The Electricity Maps API is your gateway to real-time, historical and forecasted electricity data worldwide.

Available data signals

Electricity Mix — flow-traced consumption and production breakdowns
Carbon Intensity of Electricity — gCO₂e/kWh, lifecycle or operational/direct
Residual Carbon Intensity of Electricity — gCO₂e/kWh, lifecycle or operational/direct
Carbon-Free & Renewable Energy Percentages
Electricity Flows — imports and exports between zones
Day-Ahead Prices — actual day-ahead prices as well as our own forecasted price
Carbon Intensity Levels — relative indicators (“low,” “moderate,” or “high”)
Load — total electricity demand and net demand forecasts

Horizons

Historical — go up to 10 years back
Real-time — see how things are right now
Forecasts — up to 72 hours ahead

The API provides data sub-hourly (5min and 15min), hourly and aggregated data (daily, monthly, yearly).

Dig deeper to learn more about using the API and talk with Sales when you're ready to take it further.

Geolocation

Getting data for a specific area can be done in multiple ways:

Use the zone parameter
Use coordinates with lon and lat parameters
Use a look-up by data center, with the dataCenterProvider and dataCenterRegion parameters

Find the zone-key by calling /v3/zones with your auth-token as header and you can see details about the zones you have access to

Find available data centers by calling /v3/data-centers

In cases where it's undesireable to send latitude and longitude with each request, it's possible to use the /v3/zone endpoint to locate the zone that corresponds with a set of coordinates ahead of time. If it is not possible to send coordinates to Electricity Maps' servers (e.g. for privacy reasons), we have built a script that can map coordinates to zones fully offline: https://github.com/electricitymaps/zone-finder

Auto fallback: If no zone is detected (or we don't have data for that area), the API will attempt to use your current location based on IP of the caller. This can be actively disabled by setting the disableCallerLookup query parameter to true

Authorization

All requests to the API (except for /zones) must be authorized.

The API key should be included as a header on the request: auth-token: my-api-token.

Example with cURL:

curl 'https://api.electricitymaps.com/v3/carbon-intensity/latest?zone=DE' \
-H 'auth-token: my-api-token'

It is also possible to use Basic Auth if preferred:

# The base64 encoded string should be "my-email:my-api-token"
Authorization: Basic <Base64 encoded email and api key>

You can find your API key on the dashboard when signed in, or sign up to get started.

Estimations

All endpoints return estimated data by default for timestamps when measured data is not available.

The isEstimated flag in the the returned JSON indicates whether the result is estimated or not, and the estimationMethod field indicates what model was used to generate that estimate. Documentation about estimation models can be found here.

To disable estimations in the returned JSON, the disableEstimations parameter can be set to true.

Temporal Granularity

All endpoints return data with a temporal granularity of 1 hour as default.

Each entry represents data for the following time period from the timestamp. For example, hourly data timestamped at 10:00 AM covers the period from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM.

The endpoints are available with different granularities as defined by the temporalGranularity query parameter. The default value is 'hourly', and supported values are '5_minutes', '15_minutes', 'hourly'. On top of that, 'daily', 'weekly', 'monthly', 'quarterly', and 'yearly' are supported for past and past-range.

Aggregated data is returned in gCO2eq/kWh for the carbon intensity, and in MWh for the power breakdown.

Emission Factors

For the carbon-intensity endpoints you can specify the type of emissionFactors to use. To use this, include a emissionFactorType=??? parameter in your request.

There can be two types of emission factors for a source:

Direct emission factors (the direct parameter): These are the operational emissions and exclude e.g. construction and decommissioning.
Lifecycle emission factors (the lifecycle parameter): These include operational as well as infrastructural emissions from the whole life cycle, including e.g. construction of the power plant and decommissioning.

The supported parameters are direct and lifecycle. The default parameter is lifecycle.

The emission factors used can be viewed here.

Glossary

Carbon Intensity: Describes the emissions related to using electricity from the grid, measured in gCO2e/kWh.
Carbon-Free Energy Percentage (CFE%): The percentage of electricity available on a grid from low or zero carbon emission sources. This excludes fossil fuels and includes solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass, and nuclear energy. In the API, this is currently called "fossilFreePercentage."
Day-ahead Price: Corresponds to prices from the day-ahead market. Our API offers a forecast of these day-ahead market prices.
Electricity Flows: Represents electricity transmitted between two zones. In the API, this relates to the fields "powerImportBreakdown," "powerExportBreakdown," "powerImportTotal," and "powerExportTotal."
Electricity Load: The Total electricity made available by a grid. In the API, this is currently called "powerConsumptionTotal."
Electricity Mix: A breakdown of electricity by technology (wind, coal, solar, etc.). In the API, the flow-traced version is called "powerConsumptionBreakdown," and the production-based version is called "powerProductionBreakdown."
Electricity Production: In the API, the total is called "powerProductionTotal." The breakdown by technology is within "powerProductionBreakdown."
Emission Factor by Technology: In the API, these factors are not directly present but are used conceptually with the keys/values within "powerProductionBreakdown" and "powerConsumptionBreakdown" (e.g., nuclear, wind, coal) to calculate carbon intensity.
Estimation Models: In the API, this status is indicated by the "isEstimated" and "estimationMethod" fields.
Flow-traced: In the API, this concept describes how fields like "powerConsumptionBreakdown," "powerConsumptionTotal," "fossilFreePercentage," and "renewablePercentage" are derived, accounting for flows.
Granularity:
- Temporal Granularity: In the API, this is implied by the timestamp format and frequency of data points associated with the "datetime" field.
- Spatial Granularity: In the API, this is represented by the "zone" field. Both a combined Sweden (SE) and sub-zones of Sweden (SE-SE1, SE-SE2, SE-SE3, and SE-SE4) are available.
Renewable Energy Percentage (RE%): The percentage of electricity consumed from renewable sources. This includes biomass, geothermal, hydro, solar and wind energy. In the API, this is currently called "renewablePercentage."
Signal: In the API, the entire JSON object represents one signal in the case of the Carbon intensity endpoint or a collection of signals in the case of Power breakdown; individual fields like "renewablePercentage," "fossilFreePercentage," or the contents of "powerConsumptionBreakdown" are specific signals.
Temporality: Used to describe the distinction between historical, real-time, and forecasted data. In the API, we have "past," "latest," and "forecast" endpoints.

Geographical Coverage

The Zones Overview Table lists all zones available in the App, API and datasets.

The following signals are available for all zones

Carbon Intensity - Historical, Real-time & 72h forecast
Residual Carbon Intensity - Historical, Real-time & 72h forecast
Electricity Mix - Historical, Real-time & 72h forecast
Electricity Flows - Historical, Real-time & 72h forecast
Carbon-free Energy Percentage - Historical, Real-time & 72h forecast
Renewable Energy Percentage - Historical, Real-time & 72h forecast
Load - Historical, Real-time & 72h forecast
Day-Ahead Price - Historical, Real-time, Scheduled & 72h forecast

Only for zones indicated as such, we have day-ahead price data available, including historical, real-time, and 72-hour forecast.

Historical data is available for all geographical regions since at least 2021.

All zones (except aggregated zones) are assigned a tier, based on the specifications of primary data available.

Tier A zones have measured hourly data available from the original data source for the full electricity mix. Any potential gaps are filled using Time Slicer Average (TSA).
Tier B zones have partial measured hourly data available from the original data source. Missing information, such as the production mode breakdown, are estimated using zone-specific estimation models.
Tier C zones do not have measured hourly source data available, but monthly or yearly totals. Hourly values are modelled with the General Purpose Zone Development model using a combination of live weather data and historical production data.

Zone Code	Country	Zone name	Tier	Day-ahead price
AE	United Arab Emirates	United Arab Emirates	C
AF	Afghanistan	Afghanistan	C
AG	Antigua and Barbuda	Antigua and Barbuda	C
AL	Albania	Albania	C
AM	Armenia	Armenia	C
AO	Angola	Angola	C
AR	Argentina	Argentina	A
AT	Austria	Austria	A	Yes
AU	Australia	Australia
AU-NSW	Australia	New South Wales	A
AU-NT	Australia	Northern Territory	A
AU-QLD	Australia	Queensland	A
AU-SA	Australia	South Australia	A
AU-TAS	Australia	Tasmania	A
AU-TAS-FI	Australia	Flinders Island	A
AU-TAS-KI	Australia	King Island	A
AU-VIC	Australia	Victoria	A
AU-WA	Australia	Western Australia	A
AU-WA-RI	Australia	Rottnest Island	A
AW	Aruba	Aruba	A
AX	Åland Islands	Åland Islands	A
AZ	Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	C
BA	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnia and Herzegovina	A
BB	Barbados	Barbados	C
BD	Bangladesh	Bangladesh	A
BE	Belgium	Belgium	A	Yes
BF	Burkina Faso	Burkina Faso	C
BG	Bulgaria	Bulgaria	A
BH	Bahrain	Bahrain	C
BI	Burundi	Burundi	C
BJ	Benin	Benin	C
BN	Brunei	Brunei	C
BO	Bolivia	Bolivia	A
BR	Brazil	Brazil
BR-CS	Brazil	Central Brazil	A
BR-N	Brazil	North Brazil	A
BR-NE	Brazil	North-East Brazil	A
BR-S	Brazil	South Brazil	A
BS	Bahamas	Bahamas	C
BT	Bhutan	Bhutan	C
BW	Botswana	Botswana	C
BY	Belarus	Belarus	C
BZ	Belize	Belize	C
CA	Canada	Canada
CA-AB	Canada	Alberta	A
CA-BC	Canada	British Columbia	C
CA-MB	Canada	Manitoba	C
CA-NB	Canada	New Brunswick	C
CA-NL	Canada	Newfoundland and Labrador	C
CA-NS	Canada	Nova Scotia	C
CA-NT	Canada	Northwest Territories	C
CA-NU	Canada	Nunavut	C
CA-ON	Canada	Ontario	A
CA-PE	Canada	Prince Edward Island	C
CA-QC	Canada	Québec	A
CA-SK	Canada	Saskatchewan	C
CA-YT	Canada	Yukon	C
CD	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Democratic Republic of the Congo	C
CF	Central African Republic	Central African Republic	C
CG	Congo	Congo	C
CH	Switzerland	Switzerland	C
CI	Ivory Coast	Ivory Coast	C
CL-SEN	Chile	Sistema Eléctrico Nacional	A
CM	Cameroon	Cameroon	C
CN	China	China	C
CO	Colombia	Colombia	A
CR	Costa Rica	Costa Rica	A
CU	Cuba	Cuba	C
CV	Cabo Verde	Cabo Verde	C
CW	Curaçao	Curaçao	C
CY	Cyprus	Cyprus	A
CZ	Czechia	Czechia	A
DE	Germany	Germany	A	Yes
DJ	Djibouti	Djibouti	C
DK	Denmark	Denmark		Yes
DK-BHM	Denmark	Bornholm	A
DK-DK1	Denmark	West Denmark	A	Yes
DK-DK2	Denmark	East Denmark	A	Yes
DM	Dominica	Dominica	C
DO	Dominican Republic	Dominican Republic	C
DZ	Algeria	Algeria	C
EC	Ecuador	Ecuador	C
EE	Estonia	Estonia	A	Yes
EG	Egypt	Egypt	C
ER	Eritrea	Eritrea	C
ES	Spain	Spain		Yes
ES-CE	Spain	Ceuta	A
ES-CN-FV	Spain	Fuerteventura	A
ES-CN-GC	Spain	Gran Canaria	A
ES-CN-HI	Spain	El Hierro	A
ES-CN-IG	Spain	Isla de la Gomera	A
ES-CN-LP	Spain	La Palma	A
ES-CN-LZ	Spain	Lanzarote	A
ES-CN-TE	Spain	Tenerife	A
ES-IB-FO	Spain	Formentera	A
ES-IB-IZ	Spain	Ibiza	A
ES-IB-MA	Spain	Mallorca	A
ES-IB-ME	Spain	Menorca	A
ES-ML	Spain	Melilla	A
ET	Ethiopia	Ethiopia	C
FI	Finland	Finland	A	Yes
FJ	Fiji	Fiji	C
FK	Falkland Islands	Falkland Islands	C
FM	Micronesia	Micronesia	C
FO	Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands
FO-MI	Faroe Islands	Main Islands	A
FO-SI	Faroe Islands	South Island	A
FR	France	France	A	Yes
FR-COR	France	Corsica	A
GA	Gabon	Gabon	C
GB	Great Britain	Great Britain	A	Yes
GB-NIR	Great Britain	Northern Ireland	B
GB-ORK	Great Britain	Orkney Islands	A
GE	Georgia	Georgia	A
GF	French Guiana	French Guiana	A
GH	Ghana	Ghana	C
GI	Gibraltar	Gibraltar	C
GL	Greenland	Greenland	C
GL	Greenland	Greenland	C
GN	Guinea	Guinea	C
GP	Guadeloupe	Guadeloupe	A
GQ	Equatorial Guinea	Equatorial Guinea	C
GR	Greece	Greece	A
GS	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	C
GT	Guatemala	Guatemala	A
GU	Guam	Guam	C
GW	Guinea-Bissau	Guinea-Bissau	C
GY	Guyana	Guyana	C
HK	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	C
HN	Honduras	Honduras	A
HR	Croatia	Croatia	A
HT	Haiti	Haiti	C
HU	Hungary	Hungary	A
ID	Indonesia	Indonesia	C
IE	Ireland	Ireland	B
IL	Israel	Israel	B
IN	Mainland India	Mainland India
IN-EA	India	Eastern India	B
IN-NE	India	North Eastern India	B
IN-NO	India	Northern India	B
IN-SO	India	Southern India	B
IN-WE	India	Western India	B
IQ	Iraq	Iraq	C
IR	Iran	Iran	C
IS	Iceland	Iceland	A
IT	Italy	Italy
IT-CNO	Italy	Central North Italy	A
IT-CSO	Italy	Central South Italy	A
IT-NO	Italy	North Italy	A
IT-SAR	Italy	Sardinia	A
IT-SIC	Italy	Sicily	A
IT-SO	Italy	South Italy	A
JM	Jamaica	Jamaica	C
JO	Jordan	Jordan	C
JP	Japan	Japan
JP-CB	Japan	Chūbu	B
JP-CG	Japan	Chūgoku	B
JP-HKD	Japan	Hokkaidō	B
JP-HR	Japan	Hokuriku	B
JP-KN	Japan	Kansai	B
JP-KY	Japan	Kyūshū	B
JP-ON	Japan	Okinawa	B
JP-SK	Japan	Shikoku	A
JP-TH	Japan	Tōhoku	B
JP-TK	Japan	Tōkyō	B
KE	Kenya	Kenya	C
KG	Kyrgyzstan	Kyrgyzstan	C
KH	Cambodia	Cambodia	C
KM	Comoros	Comoros	C
KP	North Korea	North Korea	C
KR	South Korea	South Korea	A
KW	Kuwait	Kuwait	C
KY	Cayman Islands	Cayman Islands	C
KZ	Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	C
LA	Laos	Laos	C
LB	Lebanon	Lebanon	C
LC	Saint Lucia	Saint Lucia	C
LK	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	A
LR	Liberia	Liberia	C
LS	Lesotho	Lesotho	C
LT	Lithuania	Lithuania	A	Yes
LU	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	A	Yes
LV	Latvia	Latvia	A	Yes
LY	Libya	Libya	C
MA	Morocco	Morocco	C
MD	Moldova	Moldova	A
ME	Montenegro	Montenegro	A
MG	Madagascar	Madagascar	C
MK	North Macedonia	North Macedonia	A
ML	Mali	Mali	C
MM	Myanmar	Myanmar	C
MN	Mongolia	Mongolia	C
MO	Macao3	Macao3	C
MQ	Martinique	Martinique	A
MR	Mauritania	Mauritania	C
MT	Malta	Malta	C
MU	Mauritius	Mauritius	C
MV	Maldives	Maldives	C
MW	Malawi	Malawi	C
MX	Mexico	Mexico	A
MY	Malaysia	Malaysia
MY-EM	Malaysia	Borneo	C
MY-WM	Malaysia	Peninsula	A
MZ	Mozambique	Mozambique	C
NA	Namibia	Namibia	C
NC	New Caledonia	New Caledonia	C
NE	Niger	Niger	C
NG	Nigeria	Nigeria	A
NI	Nicaragua	Nicaragua	A
NL	Netherlands	Netherlands	A	Yes
NO	Norway	Norway		Yes
NO-NO1	Norway	Southeast Norway	A	Yes
NO-NO2	Norway	Southwest Norway	A	Yes
NO-NO3	Norway	Middle Norway	A	Yes
NO-NO4	Norway	North Norway	A	Yes
NO-NO5	Norway	West Norway	A	Yes
NP	Nepal	Nepal	C
NZ	New Zealand	New Zealand	A
OM	Oman	Oman	C
PA	Panama	Panama	A
PE	Peru	Peru	A
PF	French Polynesia	French Polynesia	A
PG	Papua New Guinea	Papua New Guinea	C
PH	Philippines	Philippines	A
PH-LU	Philippines	Luzon	A
PH-MI	Philippines	Mindanao	A
PH-VI	Philippines	Visayas	A
PK	Pakistan	Pakistan	C
PL	Poland	Poland	A	Yes
PM	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	C
PR	Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico	C
PS	State of Palestine	State of Palestine	C
PT	Portugal	Portugal	A	Yes
PT-MA	Portugal	Madeira	C
PW	Palau	Palau	C
PY	Paraguay	Paraguay	C
QA	Qatar	Qatar	C
RE	Réunion	Réunion	A
RO	Romania	Romania	A
RS	Serbia	Serbia	A
RU-1	Russia	Europe-Ural	A
RU-2	Russia	Siberia	A
RU-AS	Russia	East	A
RW	Rwanda	Rwanda	C
SA	Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia	C
SB	Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	C
SC	Seychelles	Seychelles	C
SD	Sudan	Sudan	C
SE	Sweden	Sweden		Yes
SE-SE1	Sweden	North Sweden	A	Yes
SE-SE2	Sweden	North Central Sweden	A	Yes
SE-SE3	Sweden	South Central Sweden	A	Yes
SE-SE4	Sweden	South Sweden	A	Yes
SG	Singapore	Singapore	A
SI	Slovenia	Slovenia	A
SK	Slovakia	Slovakia	A
SL	Sierra Leone	Sierra Leone	C
SN	Senegal	Senegal	C
SO	Somalia	Somalia	C
SR	Suriname	Suriname	C
SS	South Sudan	South Sudan	C
SV	El Salvador	El Salvador	A
SY	Syria	Syria	C
SZ	Eswatini	Eswatini	C
TD	Chad	Chad	C
TG	Togo	Togo	C
TH	Thailand	Thailand	C
TJ	Tajikistan	Tajikistan	C
TL	Timor-Leste	Timor-Leste	C
TM	Turkmenistan	Turkmenistan	C
TN	Tunisia	Tunisia	C
TO	Tonga	Tonga	C
TR	Turkey	Turkey	A
TT	Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad and Tobago	C
TW	Taiwan	Taiwan	A
TZ	Tanzania	Tanzania	C
UG	Uganda	Uganda	C
US	Contiguous United States	Contiguous United States
US-AK	USA	Alaska	C
US-AK-SEAPA	USA	Southeast Alaska Power Agency	A
US-CAL-BANC	USA	Balancing Authority of Northern California	A
US-CAL-CISO	USA	CAISO	A
US-CAL-IID	USA	Imperial Irrigation District	A
US-CAL-LDWP	USA	Los Angeles Department of Water and Power	A
US-CAL-TIDC	USA	Turlock Irrigation District	A
US-CAR-CPLE	USA	Duke Energy Progress East	A
US-CAR-CPLW	USA	Duke Energy Progress West	A
US-CAR-DUK	USA	Duke Energy Carolinas	A
US-CAR-SC	USA	South Carolina Public Service Authority	A
US-CAR-SCEG	USA	South Carolina Electric & Gas Company	A
US-CAR-YAD	USA	Alcoa Power Generating	A
US-CENT-SPA	USA	Southwestern Power Administration	A
US-CENT-SWPP	USA	Southwest Power Pool	A
US-FLA-FMPP	USA	Florida Municipal Power Pool	A
US-FLA-FPC	USA	Duke Energy Florida	A
US-FLA-FPL	USA	Florida Power and Light Company	A
US-FLA-GVL	USA	Gainesville Regional Utilities	A
US-FLA-HST	USA	City of Homestead	B
US-FLA-JEA	USA	Jacksonville Electric Authority	A
US-FLA-SEC	USA	Seminole Electric Cooperative	A
US-FLA-TAL	USA	City of Tallahassee	A
US-FLA-TEC	USA	Tampa Electric Company	A
US-MIDA-PJM	USA	PJM Interconnection	A
US-MIDW-AECI	USA	Associated Electric Cooperative	A
US-MIDW-LGEE	USA	Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities	A
US-MIDW-MISO	USA	Midcontinent ISO	A
US-NE-ISNE	USA	ISO New England	A
US-NW-AVA	USA	Avista Corporation	A
US-NW-BPAT	USA	Bonneville Power Administration	A
US-NW-CHPD	USA	Chelan County	A
US-NW-DOPD	USA	Douglas County	A
US-NW-GCPD	USA	Grant County	A
US-NW-GRID	USA	Gridforce Energy Management	A
US-NW-IPCO	USA	Idaho Power Company	A
US-NW-NEVP	USA	Nevada Power Company	A
US-NW-NWMT	USA	Northwestern Energy	A
US-NW-PACE	USA	Pacificorp East	A
US-NW-PACW	USA	Pacificorp West	A
US-NW-PGE	USA	Portland General Electric Company	A
US-NW-PSCO	USA	Public Service Company of Colorado	A
US-NW-PSEI	USA	Puget Sound Energy	A
US-NW-SCL	USA	Seattle City Light	A
US-NW-TPWR	USA	City of Tacoma	A
US-NW-WACM	USA	Western Area Power Administration - Rocky Mountain Region	A
US-NW-WAUW	USA	Western Area Power Administration - Upper Great Plains West	A
US-NY-NYIS	USA	New York ISO	A
US-SE-SEPA	USA	Southeastern Power Administration	A
US-SE-SOCO	USA	Southern Company Services	A
US-SW-AZPS	USA	Arizona Public Service Company	A
US-SW-EPE	USA	El Paso Electric Company	A
US-SW-PNM	USA	Public Service Company of New Mexico	A
US-SW-SRP	USA	Salt River Project	A
US-SW-TEPC	USA	Tucson Electric Power Company	A
US-SW-WALC	USA	Western Area Power Administration - Desert Southwest Region	A
US-TEN-TVA	USA	Tennessee Valley Authority	A
US-TEX-ERCO	USA	Electric Reliability Council of Texas	A
UY	Uruguay	Uruguay	A
UZ	Uzbekistan	Uzbekistan	C
VC	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	C
VE	Venezuela	Venezuela	C
VI	USA	Virgin Islands	C
VN	Vietnam	Vietnam	C
VU	Vanuatu	Vanuatu	C
WS	Samoa	Samoa	C
XK	Kosovo	Kosovo	A
YE	Yemen	Yemen	C
YT	Mayotte	Mayotte	C
ZA	South Africa	South Africa	A
ZM	Zambia	Zambia	C
ZW	Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	C

About Marginal Emissions

Electricity Maps has worked with marginal emissions for close to a decade, when it decided to discontinue the marginal data offering in 2025 due to concerns about the veracity and verifiability of such signals. You'll find below a list of resources written on the topic, alongside with a list of caveats to consider before using marginal signals.

What marginal emissions are

Marginal emissions are the emissions of the power plant that would ramp up in reaction to an increase in electricity demand (read more in our blog post here). While marginal carbon intensity can be a useful framework for reasoning about what would happen based on a change in behavior, there are some important limitations to keep in mind:

Compatibility with regulation

Marginal emissions are incompatible with most of the reporting guidances, as well as all other major regulation. Recent legislations from the US government and the European Commission prohibit their use. Most importantly, marginal emissions are unsuitable for Scope 2 Accounting (read more here).

Greenhouse Gas Protocol The Scope 2 Guidance writes that “Companies shall not use marginal emission factors [...] for a location-based scope 2 calculation” and that "this guidance does not support an 'avoided emissions' approach for scope 2 accounting"

SBTi The Corporate near-term criteria stipulates that “avoided emissions fall under a separate accounting system from corporate inventories and do not count toward near-term science-based emission reduction targets.”

European Commission On the production of renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels, it is stated that “the emission intensity of electricity shall be determined following the approach for calculating the average carbon intensity of grid electricity.”

US Department of Energy - Clean Hydrogen "45v" Tax Credit The guidance stipulates that “the level of the credit is based on the lifecycle greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions that result from the process of producing clean hydrogen.”

Marginal signals oversimplify reality

On the surface, marginal emissions are the emissions caused by the power plant ramping up (or down) in response to a change in consumption. In reality, the electricity grid is a vast and complex interconnected system, having many interdependent components that all affect each others.

Grid operators acknowledge the marginal concept is an oversimplification of the reality they operate in. They state that the accuracy of these signals can't be assessed and verified in practice and therefore caution against their use.

Scientific experts warn about flaws of marginal emissions that prevent them from accurately estimating the impact of load shifting.

The Grid Operator 50 Hertz states that “Determining the correct [marginal] power plant is extremely complex or even impossible. [...] Furthermore, it is never possible to find out retrospectively whether the signal is correct”.

The Grid Operator PJM states that "Because of the various constraints and complexities involved, PJM cannot and does not make any guarantees as to the accuracy of the information nor that it is fit for any purpose."

The Princeton University & NREL state that “Short-run marginal emission factors neglect impactful phenomena and are unsuitable for assessing the power sector emissions impacts of hydrogen electrolysis”.

Public relations risks

At a time when sustainability claims come under heavy scrutiny, verifiability and auditability are key. Auditing a product feature based on marginal emissions is very difficult.

Financial Times Big Tech’s bid to rewrite the rules on net zero: [...] will allow companies to report emissions numbers that bear little relation to their real-world pollution.”

National Resources Defense Council The once in a generation chance to fix corporate emissions reporting: "Some of those global corporate giants are proposing an emissions offsetting approach that will weaken climate targets and open loopholes that allow them to claim success without delivering more ambitious – yet still attainable – climate outcomes."

Action Speaks Louder Hidden Power, Broken Rules: How companies are gaming emissions reporting rules and undermining global climate targets: “[...] pushing for new accounting rules that would allow companies to underreport their emissions by up to 90%.”

Challenging user experience

Marginal emissions can't be used to calculate end-users' footprint as presented in a historical usage dashboard. Recommendations based on marginal emissions factors may worsen the user’s historical footprint (calculated with hourly flow-traced emissions factors).

Users receive multiple other sources of information in their lives such as alerts from their electricity provider, or records of renewable generation in the news. These often contradict the recommendations formulated based on a marginal signal. Marginal emissions factors are commonly perceived as unintuitive and confusing for users, hindering trust and reducing engagement.