EPA Hub - U.S. EPA GHG Emission Factors Hub (Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative)

The US Environmental Protection Agency's GHG Emission Factors Hub: physical factors for fuels, electricity, steam, transport, business travel and waste, for corporate greenhouse gas inventories in the United States.

GovernmentGeneralistOpen licence
Factors
500
Values
528

One per year and method

Countries
1

28 regions, sub-national included

Edition
2026.01

published 26 May 2026 · all versions

Last loaded
22 Sept 2026

Report a newer version

Overview

The Emission Factors Hub is EPA's annual set of default factors for organisations building a US inventory: stationary and mobile combustion, purchased electricity by eGRID subregion, steam and heat, and a few Scope 3 categories (freight, business travel, commuting and end-of-life waste).

From the 2026 edition the Hub is maintained and published by the Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative, the Hub's long-time maintainers, on Zenodo. It ships a machine-readable workbook beside the human one.

At a glance

Publisher
U.S. EPA GHG Emission Factors Hub (Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative)
Kind
Government
Scope
Generalist4 categories each hold at least 5% of its factors; the largest, Waste treatment, holds 50.8%. A generalist needs 4.
Home region
United States
Edition
2026.01
Licence
Open licence (cc-by-4.0)

Standardised file

U.S. EPA GHG Emission Factors Hub (Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative), standardised by open-climate.ai

The publisher's file, re-cut into the schema every library on open-climate.ai shares: one category axis, coded regions, canonical units, AR6 warming potentials, the source row kept beside each value. What is in the file

  • Edition 2026.01xlsxen360 rows · built 2026-09-01 · 505e26ad6816free account required
  • Edition 2026.01csven360 rows · built 2026-09-01 · 3f37272d1154free account required

What open-climate.ai standardised

over the publisher's own fileHow we standardise
8 more things standardised

Parts and parents

140 factor values grouped under 360 parents

Use a part on its own, or the parent when you want the whole.

Audit checks

87 passed5 known limitations3 enforced when loadedlast run 25 Sept 2026

Checks we run on every load to keep the data above trustworthy. Counts are for this library; the grey figure is the same check across all libraries. Point at the i to see why a check matters.

What the statuses meanHow checks are countedWhy we checkHow checks are grouped

Needs attention

  • Each biofuel follows one convention for biogenic CO2

    Known limitation · 8 in this library · 12 in all libraries

  • CO2e totals agree with their gases

    Known limitation · 322 in this library · 3,229 in all libraries

  • Fossil-only values list the gases that back the label

    Known limitation · 84 in this library · 19,942 in all libraries

  • No default value is withheld for poor quality

    Known limitation · 191 in this library

  • Translations match the current source text

    Known limitation · 119 in this library · 286,941 in all libraries

One category axis

Learn more
  • Every source category maps to our vocabulary

    Enforced when loaded

  • The publisher's classification is kept

    Passed

  • Every classification level has a valid parent

    Passed

  • Every product code comes with the codes above it

    Passed

  • A publisher's own classification is used only by that publisher

    Passed

  • A standard classification code has one label in every library

    Passed

Coded regions

Learn more
  • Every region is a known code

    Enforced when loaded

  • No named region is filed under a broader one

    Passed

  • Every region sits in the world hierarchy

    Passed

Canonical units

Learn more
  • Every unit is a known code

    Enforced when loaded

  • One source unit maps to one unit

    Passed

  • A unit label means the same in every library

    Passed

  • A unit label that names no basis folds one way

    Passed · 1 in all libraries

Declared boundaries

Learn more
  • Every boundary states what it includes

    Passed

  • Boundary scope terms are known codes

    Passed

  • No two factors for the same activity partly overlap in scope

    Passed

  • Separate stages of one activity are linked as parts

    Passed

  • Every part of a factor states its boundary

    Passed

  • Each biofuel follows one convention for biogenic CO2

    Known limitation · 8 in this library · 12 in all libraries

  • No recycling credit is hidden inside a life-cycle total

    Passed

Warming potentials

Learn more
  • Methane and nitrous oxide figures match the stated GWP

    Passed

  • Every convertible value has its AR6 version

    Passed

  • CO2e totals agree with their gases

    Known limitation · 322 in this library · 3,229 in all libraries

  • Fossil-only values list the gases that back the label

    Known limitation · 84 in this library · 19,942 in all libraries

  • Standardised figures keep every gas the publisher lists

    Passed

  • Every value states what its CO2e total includes

    Passed

  • A library with no AR6 version at all has a recorded reason

    Passed

Parts and parents

Learn more
  • Every part links to a valid parent

    Passed

  • No factor is an unlinked part of another factor

    Passed

  • Every factor points to its top parent

    Passed

Summed totals

Learn more
  • Summed totals equal their parts on every gas

    Passed

  • Every summed total has a classification when its parts do

    Passed

  • Summed totals keep their parts' classification

    Passed

Electricity mix

Learn more
  • Every electricity factor states its mix

    Passed

  • The market-based value is the default

    Passed

  • One default value per factor and year

    Passed

  • Every green-electricity zero is a market-based value

    Passed

  • Green-electricity zeros are not rated below market-based peers

    Passed

Data quality

Learn more
  • Quality ratings fall inside their scale

    Passed

  • Every zero value is explained

    Passed

  • No default value is withheld for poor quality

    Known limitation · 191 in this library

  • No implausibly high per-kilogram value is rated reliable

    Passed

  • Every quality level gives a recognised reason

    Passed

  • A zero that is only a gap in the source is withheld

    Passed

  • The library is not rated entirely on one fallback quality level

    Passed

Languages

Learn more
  • Every factor has an English name

    Passed

  • Translations match the current source text

    Known limitation · 119 in this library · 286,941 in all libraries

  • Every served factor has a name

    Passed

  • Factors are searched on their English name where one exists

    Passed · 7 in all libraries

  • Every language with a main name also has a full name

    Passed

  • Full names are built from their parts in the same language

    Passed

  • Every text is labelled with its real language

    Passed

  • Every description is available for display and translation

    Passed

  • Every usage note is available for display and translation

    Passed

Traceable to the source

Learn more
  • Values traced to one source row agree with each other

    Passed

  • No duplicate factors are served

    Passed · 302 in all libraries

  • No factor value claims two things that cannot both be true

    Passed · 5,836 in all libraries

  • No factor value the publisher has withdrawn is still served

    Passed · 556 in all libraries

Other checks

  • An activity's grouping key names only the activity

    Passed · 6 in all libraries

  • A Creative Commons credit names its licence

    Passed

  • No note of ours appears in the credit or licence notice

    Passed

  • The credit line carries no terms of use

    Passed

  • Every impact assessment method is a recognised code

    Passed

  • An avoided credit is linked to the burden it belongs to

    Passed

  • Every value is typed as specific, generic or average

    Passed

  • Validity dates are the publisher's own, never guessed

    Passed

  • Quality breakdowns use their scheme's axes

    Passed

  • No battery-electric vehicle carries tailpipe emissions

    Passed

  • The text of each estimated factor matches its current figures

    Passed

  • A total built on an estimated part is marked as estimated

    Passed

  • Every estimate is built only from data we may redistribute

    Passed

  • No estimated factor is rated above the data it was built from

    Passed

  • No estimate is served where the publisher printed the figure

    Passed

  • Every estimated factor still matches the inputs it was computed from

    Passed

  • Every factor with a current value has a default

    Passed

  • Every factor has a value, in a library that publishes values

    Passed

  • Every fixed group of regions lists what it covers

    Passed

  • Where both exist, the residual mix is shown before the green-tariff zero

    Passed

  • The newest edition of each value is the one marked current

    Passed

  • Factor descriptions describe the factor, not the whole library

    Passed

  • Every library's licence has its rights recorded

    Passed

  • Every green-electricity zero is exactly zero and says why

    Passed

  • Green-electricity zeros cover power generation only

    Passed

  • Only a total we computed may mix GWP vintages

    Passed

  • Spend factors state their price year and basis

    Passed

  • Every value has a number, a GWP version and a reference year

    Passed

  • No factor description is too long to display in full

    Passed · 4 in all libraries

  • Every excused arithmetic disagreement is stated

    Passed

  • Every reference year falls between 1960 and next year

    Passed

  • The parts of a total are never listed twice under one label

    Passed

  • Every residual mix has its green-tariff counterpart

    Passed

  • Every publisher's quality rating system is read

    Passed

  • A supplier named in the source is linked to the factor

    Passed

  • A part covering the same scope as its total is linked to it

    Passed

  • A year in a factor's name matches its reference year

    Passed

How the audit works

What can I do with this data?

Open licence · credit the publisher

Your rights

Open licence · cc-by-4.0
Use it to calculate my own footprint
Yes
Publish my footprint results
Yes, if
  • you credit the publisher
  • you say what you changed
Share the file with my customers
Yes, if
  • you credit the publisher
  • you say what you changed
Put the factors in a product I sell
Yes, if
  • you credit the publisher
  • you say what you changed
Modify it or combine it with my own data
Yes, if
  • you credit the publisher
  • you say what you changed

Named licence, checked on 2 Aug 2026

CC BY 4.0 §2(a)(1) grants the right to reproduce and Share the Licensed Material and to produce and Share Adapted Material, for any purpose, commercial included; §3(a) requires attribution and an indication of changes.

Credit line

Data: Emission factors: U.S. EPA GHG Emission Factors Hub (2026 edition), published by the Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative, CC BY 4.0. Underlying data is public-domain U.S. EPA. Normalised by open-climate.ai, https://open-climate.ai/factors/libraries/epa (CC BY 4.0)

Not legal advice: the publisher's terms prevail.

Full termsWhere this answer comes from

How to read these answers

Coverage

What the library covers, by category and by boundary. Click a slice to drill in, then a sub-category or a boundary to filter the factors below.

By category

Waste treatment: 183Fuels: 129Electricity: 28Transport: 19Heat and cooling: 1
360factors

Click a slice to see what is under it. Click a name to hide it from the ring.

By boundary

End of life / waste: 183Direct only: 149Energy, full chain: 28
360factors

Click a slice to see what is under it. Click a name to hide it from the ring.

Browse factors

top 0 matches

SavedUnfoldActivitySub-categoryRegionBoundaryUnitGWP

Checked for updates 18 Sept 2026: the publisher still shows the edition we serve (1 signal watched)

VersionPublishedLoadedStatusSource
2026.0126 May 202622 Sept 2026ServedSource

Methodology

How this works
  • Values are kg of greenhouse gas per physical unit: per mmBtu, short ton, gallon, standard cubic foot, MWh, vehicle-mile, passenger-mile, short ton-mile or short ton of waste material. There are no spend-based factors.
  • Combustion rows give CO2, CH4 and N2O separately. We build the CO2e total from those gases with IPCC AR6 100-year GWPs, the same values as the Hub's own GWP sheet, and keep each gas beside the total.
  • Waste factors come from EPA's WARM model and arrive as a ready-made CO2e total on IPCC AR4 GWPs, with no split by gas. The GWP basis is stamped on each factor.
  • Energy in mmBtu is on a higher heating value basis and is stored as such, so it never matches a net calorific value factor by mistake.
  • Electricity factors are location-based. Each subregion has a total output value, the default, and a non-baseload value beside it.
  • The Hub prints no data year, so the reference year is the edition year.

Publication year: the edition of the EPA Emission Factors Hub, which prints no data year of its own.

What we import

  • Edition 2026.01, the machine-readable workbook.
  • Every factor row on the eight category sheets. A fuel priced on two bases, such as per mmBtu and per short ton, is two factors.
  • Electricity is placed in its eGRID subregion; every other factor is placed in the United States.
  • Loaded but not served: rows that give CH4 and N2O with no CO2 (mostly vehicle rows by model year), because a total without CO2 would understate, and municipal solid waste combustion, whose CO2 mixes fossil and biogenic carbon with no split.
  • Not imported as factors: the Read Me, GWP, heat content and footnote sheets, which are reference inputs.
  • French names are machine translated.

The Hub's electricity values are generation only. Beside each total output value, open-climate.ai adds three legs the Hub never printed, each as its own factor marked as an estimate: grid losses, the fuel chain (extracting, refining and transporting the fuel the plants burn) and the fuel chain of the losses, plus a delivered total. They are computed by a stated rule from the Hub's value, eGRID's grid gross loss and resource mix for 2023, and Ember's mix for the United States as a whole. They are rated low quality, and very low for Puerto Rico (PRMS), whose loss share is the national one. Non-baseload values get no legs. How the legs are estimated.

Open. The data is a work of the US federal government and in the public domain; the Cornerstone release adds CC BY 4.0, which allows commercial use and redistribution with attribution: "Emission factors: U.S. EPA GHG Emission Factors Hub (2026 edition), published by the Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative, CC BY 4.0." No ShareAlike applies.

What can I do with this data?

Credit line: Emission factors: U.S. EPA GHG Emission Factors Hub (2026 edition), published by the Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative, CC BY 4.0. Underlying data is public-domain U.S. EPA.

cc-by-4.0

Limitations

  • The factors describe the United States: its fuels, its grid and its vehicle fleet.
  • The waste factors use AR4 GWPs and cannot be restated in AR6, because no split by gas is published.
  • The electricity sheet cites an eGRID2024 edition that EPA itself had not published as of August 2026. Its values differ from EPA's eGRID2023 by 4.6% on average, with no exact match.
  • EPA's eGRID guidance says non-baseload rates should not be used for GHG inventories. Keep to the total output default.
  • A factor per mmBtu is not converted to per short ton or per gallon for you; the Hub's heat content table is not applied.
  • No uncertainty or data quality rating is published.
  • A delivered total over the estimated legs mixes GWP sets: the Hub's electricity value is AR6, the fuel-chain legs are AR5.
  • Only the 2026.01 edition is loaded so far.

Changelog

  • 2026-09-25: estimated legs for grid losses and the fuel chain, and delivered totals, added beside the electricity total output values.
  • 2026-07-31: fossil equipment rows no longer marked biogenic; municipal solid waste combustion withdrawn from serving.
  • 2026-07-29: edition 2026.01 loaded.

Know a newer edition?

If EPA Hub has published an edition we do not serve yet, tell us where to find it.