Estimated electricity legs: parameters and sources
Numbers checked against the live data on
This page lists every number the estimated electricity legs multiply by, with where it came from. Each row is a parameter as loaded on 2026-09-24; the reference tables grid_loss_share, generation_mix_share and electricity_constant in the open-data files hold the full series, and every leg's source_record names the rows it used.
Loss shares#
The share L of generated electricity the grid loses, one row per region and year. The loss factor is k = L / (1 - L).
| Region and year | L | Source and edition | How L was computed | Licence | Retrieved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium 2024 | 0.040755 | Eurostat, Complete energy balances (nrg_bal_c), electricity (siec E7000), dataset last updated 2026-08-27 | distribution losses over distribution losses plus electricity available for final consumption | CC BY 4.0 | 2026-09-24 |
| Belgium 2023 | 0.046359 | same | same | CC BY 4.0 | 2026-09-24 |
| Norway 2024 | 0.062890 | same | same | CC BY 4.0 | 2026-09-24 |
| Norway 2023 | 0.059800 | same | same | CC BY 4.0 | 2026-09-24 |
| Great Britain 2025 | 0.093349 | Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) 2026, table 5.1.2 | transmission and distribution losses over losses plus electricity available for consumption, the DESNZ conversion-factor method applied to DUKES 5.1.2 | Open Government Licence v3.0 | 2026-09-24 |
| Great Britain 2024 | 0.095591 | same | same | Open Government Licence v3.0 | 2026-09-24 |
| Switzerland 2024 | 0.069957 | Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), Schweizerische Elektrizitaetsbilanz, Jahreswerte, opendata.swiss | transmission and distribution losses over losses plus final consumption | opendata.swiss, open use with source stated | 2026-09-24 |
| United States, CAMX 2023 | 0.041497 | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, eGRID2023 rev2, sheet GGL23, grid gross loss by interconnection | the Western interconnection's estimated losses over total disposition less direct use; every subregion eGRID assigns to that interconnection takes its value | US Government work, public domain | 2026-08-05 |
| United States 2023 | 0.041999 | same | the national row of the same sheet | US Government work, public domain | 2026-08-05 |
| New Zealand 2024 | 0.070388 | Ministry for the Environment (New Zealand), Measuring Emissions Catalogue 2026-v2 | rung L0: the printed loss leg 0.007523 over the printed generation value 0.099360 gives k = 0.075718 directly, so L = k / (1 + k) | CC BY 4.0 | 2026-09-24 |
Eurostat has rows for 32 European regions and DUKES, SFOE and eGRID for their own; the table shows the rows the worked examples use, and one row per other statistic to show its form. Mexico's SENER loss statistic (PRODESEN) is loaded but never read, because its terms fail the input rule.
Where to find them: Eurostat at https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/product/page/NRG_BAL_C (doi 10.2908/NRG_BAL_C); DUKES at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes (table 5.1.2 workbook at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a6a36dfbf4a7aca8f8976c8/DUKES_5.1.2.xlsx); SFOE at https://opendata.swiss/en/dataset/schweizerische-elektrizitatsbilanz-jahreswerte (2024 balance at https://pubdb.bfe.admin.ch/de/publication/download/12228); eGRID at https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2025-06/egrid2023_data_rev2.xlsx.
Generation mixes#
Each fossil fuel's share of the grid's fossil combustion emissions (the weights on the ratios) and each fuel's share of generation (the biomass and nuclear shares). Ember's "other fossil" is a residual and is clamped to 0 where negative, the clamp recorded on the leg.
| Region and year | Fossil emission shares | Generation shares used | Source and edition | Licence | Retrieved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium 2025 | gas 1.000 | bioenergy 0.071681, nuclear 0.333697, hydro 0.007228, wind 0.185622, solar 0.144192 | Ember, Yearly electricity data, generation by fuel | CC BY 4.0 | 2026-09-18 |
| Norway 2024 | gas 0.582746, other fossil 0.417254 | bioenergy 0.001528, hydro 0.888271, wind 0.092888, solar 0.003374 | same | CC BY 4.0 | 2026-09-18 |
| New Zealand 2024 | coal 0.275572, gas 0.610308, other fossil 0.114120 | bioenergy 0.017723, hydro 0.532833, wind 0.097932, solar 0.008407, other renewables 0.202908 | same | CC BY 4.0 | 2026-09-18 |
| United States, CAMX 2023 | coal 0.103782, gas 0.871668, other fossil 0.024550 | bioenergy 0.021539, nuclear 0.080178, hydro 0.141042, wind 0.065546, solar 0.200898, other renewables 0.036428 | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, eGRID2023 rev2, subregion resource mix | US Government work, public domain | 2026-08-05 |
Ember covers every country in the target set and is at https://files.ember-energy.org/public-downloads/generation/outputs/release_generation_yearly_global.csv. Canadian provinces read the generation blocks of Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Inventory Report, Part 3, Annex 7 (Open Government Licence, Canada 2.0; retrieved 2026-08-07; https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/greenhouse-gas-emissions/inventory.html), where no printed intensity is reused.
Constants#
The ratios and factors every fuel-chain leg multiplies by, the same for every region and year.
| Code | Value | What it is | Source | Served value | Licence | Retrieved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| r_gas | 0.16570 | well-to-tank over combustion for natural gas, 0.03347 over 0.20199 kg CO2e per kWh | Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, UK Government GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting 2026, fuels, natural gas | 3cb9df53-af29-4d90-a39a-7a090d254ae1 over e3608393-779d-4d15-bd05-da608ea0a463 | Open Government Licence v3.0 | 2026-09-24 |
| r_coal | 0.17455 | the same for coal (electricity generation), 0.05925 over 0.33944 | same, coal (electricity generation) | 6b78ebe8-cba7-489b-8e66-678a3e9baca0 over edc68ce7-56f2-4d33-a2fb-85acd8592919 | Open Government Licence v3.0 | 2026-09-24 |
| r_fuel_oil | 0.22056 | the same for fuel oil, 0.06291 over 0.28523 | same, fuel oil | e3ba7fc1-b834-4d8b-8848-875f761db64b over 62a872ec-0598-44c4-8d13-6178bc15f2e2 | Open Government Licence v3.0 | 2026-09-24 |
| r_other_fossil | 0.22056 | the fuel-oil ratio, applied to other fossil generation | same | the fuel-oil pair above | Open Government Licence v3.0 | 2026-09-24 |
| c_bio | 0.071 | the well-to-tank factor of electricity from biomass, kg CO2e per kWh, 2024 (AR5), applied to every year | co2emissiefactoren.nl, Lijst emissiefactoren, elektriciteit uit biomassa | eb7e1772-1f5f-4c9c-b5d7-1f48d1362c1c | co2emissiefactoren.nl terms | 2026-09-24 |
| u_nuclear | 0 | the nuclear fuel chain per kWh of nuclear generation, a gap the owner recorded rather than an estimate | none: no full-rights figure is served | none | not applicable | not applicable |
The served value column is the identifier of the factor value in the open-data files and the API; a ratio is the first value divided by the second. The DESNZ factors are at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2026; the co2emissiefactoren.nl list at https://www.co2emissiefactoren.nl/lijst-emissiefactoren/.
Published values the examples scale#
| Factor | Value | Publisher and edition | license_code |
license_tier |
Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium 2025, production, residual, supplier_specific, green | 0.12186, 0.17101, 0.11413, 0 | Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB), European Residual Mixes 2025 | aib-attribution |
open |
medium |
| Norway 2024, consumption, residual | 0.01185, 0.53484 | NVE, Stroemdeklarasjoner (klimadeklarasjon and varedeklarasjon), 2025 release, data years 2019 to 2025 | offentleglova-7 |
open |
medium |
| United States, CAMX 2026, production | 0.18378 | U.S. EPA GHG Emission Factors Hub, 2026 edition, published by the Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative | cc-by-4.0 |
open |
high |
| New Zealand 2024, electricity used, annual and quarter to June | 0.099360, 0.134587 | Ministry for the Environment (New Zealand), Measuring Emissions Catalogue 2026-v2 | cc-by-4.0 |
open |
high |
| New Zealand 2024, losses, annual | 0.007523 | same | cc-by-4.0 |
open |
high |
Sources#
- Eurostat, Complete energy balances (nrg_bal_c), electricity: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/product/page/NRG_BAL_C. CC BY 4.0. Changed: a loss share was computed from the balance lines.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2026, table 5.1.2: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, UK Government GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting 2026: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2026, and its methodology report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a2940543b15d05a7ce3202e/2026-GHG-conversion-factors-methodology-report.pdf. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Emissions and Generation Resource Integrated Database, eGRID2023 rev2: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2025-06/egrid2023_data_rev2.xlsx. US Government work, public domain.
- Swiss Federal Office of Energy, Schweizerische Elektrizitaetsbilanz, Jahreswerte: https://opendata.swiss/en/dataset/schweizerische-elektrizitatsbilanz-jahreswerte. Open use, source stated.
- Ember, Yearly electricity data, generation by fuel: https://files.ember-energy.org/public-downloads/generation/outputs/release_generation_yearly_global.csv. CC BY 4.0. Changed: generation shares by fuel were computed from the yearly generation.
- co2emissiefactoren.nl, Lijst emissiefactoren 2026: https://www.co2emissiefactoren.nl/lijst-emissiefactoren/. The site's terms of use.
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Inventory Report, Part 3, Annex 7: https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/greenhouse-gas-emissions/inventory.html. Open Government Licence, Canada 2.0.
- GHG Protocol, Scope 2 Guidance (2015): https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/2023-03/Scope%202%20Guidance.pdf. Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard: https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/standards/Corporate-Value-Chain-Accounting-Reporing-Standard_041613_2.pdf. Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions: https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/standards/Scope3_Calculation_Guidance_0.pdf.