UBA (DE) - Umweltbundesamt (UBA)

Germany's emission factors for renewable and conventional energy carriers in electricity, heat and transport, from the Umweltbundesamt's annual emissions balance of renewable energy and the German electricity mix.

GovernmentSpecialistOpen licence
Factors
95
Values
97

One per year and method

Countries
1

1 region, sub-national included

Edition
data-year-2024

published 1 Sept 2025 · all versions

Last loaded
15 Sept 2026

Report a newer version

Overview

The Umweltbundesamt (UBA), Germany's Environment Agency, publishes the "Emissionsbilanz erneuerbarer Energieträger" every year with data from AGEE-Stat. Each edition comes as a CLIMATE CHANGE report with background spreadsheets, around December or January. A separate series gives the specific emission factors of the German electricity mix, around March. The files are on umweltbundesamt.de.

We load two layers. The background spreadsheets are open data. The report annex, with a finer split by technology, is In Copyright and is loaded under a restricted tier.

At a glance

Publisher
Umweltbundesamt (UBA)
Kind
Government
Scope
Specialist3 categories each hold at least 5% of its factors; the largest, Fuels, holds 72.8%. A generalist needs 4.
Home region
Germany
Edition
data-year-2024
Licence
Open licence (egovg-12a)

Standardised file

Umweltbundesamt (UBA), 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 data-year-2024xlsxen95 rows · built 2026-09-01 · e96663161d94free account required
  • Edition data-year-2024csven95 rows · built 2026-09-01 · a00c862b2d04free account required

What open-climate.ai standardised

over the publisher's own fileHow we standardise

Warming potentials

None is converted: every value keeps the publisher's GWP.

505 factor values left on the publisher's GWP

7 more things standardised

Parts and parents

343 factor values grouped under 162 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 · 3 in this library · 12 in all libraries

  • No default value is withheld for poor quality

    Known limitation · 12 in this library

  • Translations match the current source text

    Known limitation · 222 in this library · 286,941 in all libraries

  • Factors are searched on their English name where one exists

    Known limitation · 1 in this library · 7 in all libraries

  • No duplicate factors are served

    Known limitation · 29 in this library · 302 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 · 3 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

    Passed · 3,229 in all libraries

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

    Passed · 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

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 · 12 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 · 222 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

    Known limitation · 1 in this library · 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

    Known limitation · 29 in this library · 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

  • Summed totals keep their parts' classification

    Passed

  • Every summed total has a classification when its parts do

    Passed

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

    Passed

  • Every value is typed as specific, generic or average

    Passed

  • Summed totals equal their parts on every gas

    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 · Restricted licence · credit the publisher

xlsx

Open licence · egovg-12a
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
Unclear: ask Umweltbundesamt (UBA)
Put the factors in a product I sell
Unclear: ask Umweltbundesamt (UBA)
Modify it or combine it with my own data
Unclear: ask Umweltbundesamt (UBA)

Statute, checked on 31 Jul 2026

UBA: "Soweit nicht anders gekennzeichnet, ist die Nutzung von Daten im Sinne des § 12a EGovG zulässig" (reuse with the source named). The spreadsheets hang off a report marked In Copyright, and nothing says whether § 12a covers them.

Credit line

Data: Source: Umweltbundesamt (UBA), Emissionsbilanz erneuerbarer Energieträger, under Verwendung von Daten der AGEE-Stat. Data reused under § 12a EGovG (Open Data). Values converted from g/kWh to kg/kWh; no other change. Normalised by open-climate.ai, https://open-climate.ai/factors/libraries/uba_de (CC BY 4.0)

Not legal advice: the publisher's terms prevail.

Full terms

report-annex

Restricted licence · rightsstatements-inc-1.0
Use it to calculate my own footprint
Yes, if
  • you credit the publisher
Publish my footprint results
Yes, if
  • you credit the publisher
Share the file with my customers
Ask Umweltbundesamt (UBA)
Put the factors in a product I sell
Ask Umweltbundesamt (UBA)
Modify it or combine it with my own data
Ask Umweltbundesamt (UBA)

Publisher's published terms, checked on 26 Aug 2026

The report is marked rightsstatements.org InC/1.0 (In Copyright); the publisher's website terms are CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Credit line

Data: Source: Umweltbundesamt (UBA), Emissionsbilanz erneuerbarer Energieträger in Deutschland im Jahr 2022, CLIMATE CHANGE 49/2023, Anhang. Values converted from g/kWh to kg/kWh; no other change. Normalised by open-climate.ai, https://open-climate.ai/factors/libraries/uba_de (CC BY 4.0)

Not legal advice: the publisher's terms prevail.

Full terms

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

Fuels: 118Electricity: 30Heat and cooling: 14
162factors

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

By boundary

Energy, full chain: 161Direct only: 1
162factors

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 (2 signals watched)

VersionPublishedLoadedStatusSource
data-year-2024xlsx1 Sept 202515 Sept 2026ServedSource

Methodology

How this works
  • Values are CO2e, printed in g per kWh and served in kg. The characterisation uses IPCC AR5 at 100 years, with methane at 28 and nitrous oxide at 265. The methane and nitrous oxide columns are gas masses, not CO2e legs. No per-gas CO2e is stored, so no AR6 version can be derived.
  • Biogenic CO2 is excluded under the wood carbon-neutrality convention. Methane and nitrous oxide from biomass are included.
  • Factors are published with and without upstream chains, as two separate factors per carrier.
  • Three kWh bases sit under the same printed unit, 1.8 to 3.0x apart: gross electricity generation for power, final energy for heat and transport, and primary energy for the report annex. We keep them as distinct units.
  • Heat values sit on the net calorific basis. UBA does not state it, but its natural gas factor matches net calorific value factors from other publishers within 0.5%.
  • The German electricity mix is a consumption mix, location-based.
  • A few values are credits. Transport biomethane with upstream chains is -0.235 kg CO2e per kWh, a manure-management credit, and is kept with its sign.
  • The reference year is the data year.

Data year: the release's data year, and each electricity-mix sibling's own snapshot year.

What we import

  • The data year 2024 spreadsheet (CLIMATE CHANGE 11/2026): 49 carriers, of which 17 for gross electricity generation, 24 for heat and cooling and 8 for transport, with and without upstream chains, 94 values. The four transport biofuels publish no value without upstream chains.
  • The electricity mix spreadsheet: one factor with values for 1990, 2000 and 2021. The open layer totals 95 factors and 97 values.
  • The report annex of CLIMATE CHANGE 49/2023, data year 2022: 422 factors over 112 technology blocks, per kWh of primary energy. Restricted.
  • Kept with each spreadsheet value but not served as separate fields: sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, dust, carbon monoxide and NMVOC, and the methane and nitrous oxide masses.
  • Not imported: the avoided-emission and substitution sheets, the air-quality rows of the electricity mix, the 2022 and 2023 spreadsheet editions, and the two newer report annexes.
  • Names are the publisher's German. English and French names are machine translated.

Two tiers. Open: the spreadsheets are reused under § 12a EGovG, the German open data clause, which allows commercial use, modification and redistribution with attribution and a note of changes: "Source: Umweltbundesamt (UBA), Emissionsbilanz erneuerbarer Energieträger, under Verwendung von Daten der AGEE-Stat. Data reused under § 12a EGovG (Open Data). Values converted from g/kWh to kg/kWh; no other change." UBA has not confirmed that the clause covers spreadsheets attached to an In Copyright report; this reading is ours.

Restricted: the report is marked rightsstatements.org InC/1.0 (In Copyright), and the publisher's website terms are CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We do not redistribute the annex factors. Attribution: "Source: Umweltbundesamt (UBA), Emissionsbilanz erneuerbarer Energieträger in Deutschland im Jahr 2022, CLIMATE CHANGE 49/2023, Anhang. Values converted from g/kWh to kg/kWh; no other change."

What can I do with this data?

Credit line: Source: Umweltbundesamt (UBA), Emissionsbilanz erneuerbarer Energieträger, under Verwendung von Daten der AGEE-Stat. Data reused under § 12a EGovG (Open Data). Values converted from g/kWh to kg/kWh; no other change.

egovg-12a

Limitations

  • Using the wrong kWh basis gives an error of 1.8 to 3.0x. Check whether a factor is per gross generation, final energy or primary energy.
  • The sector block changes the meaning. Grid electricity without upstream chains is 0.372 kg per kWh under heat and 0 under transport, and biomethane ranges from +0.259 to -0.235 across blocks.
  • UBA treats the 2024 data year as preliminary, with later revisions of 1.8 to 3.0%. The values do not carry that flag.
  • No conversion to mass or volume: UBA ships no calorific value or density.
  • Each edition revises past years, and the electricity mix spreadsheet stops at 2021.

Changelog

  • 2026-09-10: published zeros no longer down-rated.
  • 2026-09-08: report annex factors served again after a gap.
  • 2026-09-05: validity dates the report never printed removed from the annex values.
  • 2026-08-26: report annex of CLIMATE CHANGE 49/2023 loaded, restricted.
  • 2026-08-18: solar thermal, geothermal and ambient heat moved to the heat generation category.
  • 2026-07-31: data year 2024 spreadsheets loaded.

Know a newer edition?

If UBA (DE) has published an edition we do not serve yet, tell us where to find it.