Data sources and licences
Every figure in Carbon Recycling comes from a published dataset. Before we use one, we save a dated copy of its licence or terms of use, read it, and record what it lets us do. Each time we download a new edition we check the terms again and keep a record of the file we took. This page lists the sources in use today.
UK Government GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting
- Publisher
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0
- What we use it for
- All UK Scope 1, 2 and 3 calculations, the SECR and CRP reports, and the /emission-factors pages.
- Credit
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DESNZ, Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors.
- Terms last checked
- 10 October 2026
Spend-based emissions multipliers (UK's carbon footprint)
- Publisher
- Defra and the University of Leeds
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0
- What we use it for
- Spend-based Scope 3 estimates and the accounts import.
- Credit
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Defra, UK's carbon footprint.
- Terms last checked
- 10 October 2026
Carbon Intensity API (GB electricity, live and forecast)
- Publisher
- National Energy System Operator (NESO)
- Licence
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
- What we use it for
- The live grid widget on the app dashboard and the /app/grid page.
- Credit
- Carbon intensity data from the National Energy System Operator's Carbon Intensity API (carbonintensity.org.uk), CC BY 4.0.
- Terms last checked
- 10 October 2026
Ember Yearly Electricity Data (grid intensity by country)
- Publisher
- Ember Energy Research CIC
- Licence
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
- What we use it for
- Electricity factors for sites outside the UK and the /emission-factors/electricity country pages.
- Credit
- Contains data from Ember, licensed under CC BY 4.0 (ember-energy.org).
- Terms last checked
- 10 October 2026
EPA eGRID and GHG Emission Factors Hub (to the 2025 edition)
- Publisher
- US Environmental Protection Agency
- Licence
- US government work, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105
- What we use it for
- Electricity factors for US sites by power region and the /emission-factors/us pages.
- Credit
- Source: US EPA, eGRID and GHG Emission Factors Hub. Not required by law, but we credit it.
- Terms last checked
- 10 October 2026
Emission Factors Hub 2026 (eGRID2024 electricity, AR6 GWPs)
- Publisher
- Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative
- Licence
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
- What we use it for
- The 2026 US electricity rates in the same data file as EPA's.
- Credit
- Emission Factors Hub 2026, Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative, CC BY 4.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.20403776).
- Terms last checked
- 10 October 2026
Sources we don't use
These came up in our research. We don't use them because of their licence or cost.
- EXIOBASE 3 multi-regional input-output (spend factors for every country): v3.8.x and earlier: CC BY-SA 4.0 (share-alike). v3.9 and later: customised CC BY-NC-SA that excludes any use by for-profit entities.
- IEA emission factors: Paid licence
- ecoinvent: Paid licence
- Climatiq API: Paid licence
How each figure is used is explained on the methodology page, and the sources for sites outside the UK are in section 14 of our terms. Nothing here suggests any publisher endorses Carbon Recycling.