Data Quality & Sources
Our Approach
We believe carbon tracking should be both accessible AND credible. That's why we combine official data sources to give you cited, documented emission factors for Nordic freelancers and small businesses — every factor links back to its source.
Primary Data Sources
Full details for every source are in the methodology documentation.
Electricity (Nordic Grids)
- Finland: Fingrid Open Data, averaged over each billing period. If unavailable: the energy mix on the Helen invoice, then the Finnish grid average (Motiva)
- Sweden, Norway, Denmark and other countries: IEA / EEA national grid averages
Grid data reflects the actual energy mix in each country, including the high share of renewables in Nordic grids.
Transportation
- UK DEFRA Government Conversion Factors (2024 and 2025 editions): each figure records the edition it used
DEFRA factors are used by thousands of UK businesses and are recognized internationally. DEFRA publishes a new edition once a year.
Heating & Fuels
- UK DEFRA fuel conversion factors
- Finnish Energy (Energiateollisuus) district heating statistics
National statistics reflect how district heat is actually produced, and DEFRA fuel factors are recognized internationally.
Rented Premises
- Motiva: median service-sector energy use per cubic metre, applied to the premises you describe
When you describe the rooms you rent, rent is counted as the energy the room uses instead of an estimate from the rent amount.
Freight
- GLEC Framework v3.2: trucks and rail, per tonne-km
- UK DEFRA: vans and air freight, per tonne-km
When you enter a shipment's weight and distance, it is calculated per tonne-km instead of from the amount paid.
Food
- Open Food Facts, including Agribalyse LCA data (ADEME)
Product-level food data covers production, processing, packaging and transport.
Materials, Purchases & Supply Chain
- EXIOBASE 3.8.2 environmentally extended input–output database
- PRH trade register (TOL 2008 industry classification): the vendor's line of business narrows which spend factor applies to a service
- Boavizta: product footprints, offered as suggestions only and never applied without your confirmation
EXIOBASE uses environmentally extended input–output analysis to capture full supply-chain emissions per euro spent, not just direct emissions.
AI Usage
- Green Algorithms (Lannelongue et al. 2021) and Patterson et al. 2021: energy per token for Anthropic and GitHub Copilot usage
AI inference has a measurable energy cost. These estimates carry wide uncertainty and are marked as such.
Scope Definitions We Follow
Our calculations follow:
- GHG Protocol Corporate Standard: we are aligned with its scope definitions — Scope 1, 2 and 3 as it defines them, its 15 Scope 3 categories and location-based Scope 2 — and cite the emission factor used on every row
- VS (formerly VSME): reports under Delegated Act C(2026) 5011 use the standard's own disclosure structure (B1–B11, C1–C9)
All emissions are expressed in CO₂e using 100-year global warming potentials (GWP100). Factors taken directly from a source dataset keep the GWP values that dataset publishes: UK DEFRA and EXIOBASE use IPCC AR5.
How Often Factors Are Updated
- Finnish electricity: Fingrid data is read for each billing period
- Other factors: we check every source's release page twice a month and import a new edition after reviewing it. Most sources publish once a year (UK DEFRA around June)
- Spend-based factors (EXIOBASE): updated when a new version is released
- Each figure uses the factor version valid on the date of the activity and records which factor it used. Figures in a finalised VS Report are locked and do not change when factors are updated
Quality Assurance
- Multi-source verification where possible
- Every factor is stored with its source, methodology, and validity period
- Aligned with the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard's scope definitions
- Transparent methodology documentation
Limitations & Uncertainty
All emission factors have inherent uncertainty:
- Regional variations may exist within countries
- Actual emissions depend on specific circumstances
- Spend-based estimates (per euro spent) carry more uncertainty than activity-based entries
- We always use the most precise method available — a measured quantity over a spend estimate — even when it gives a lower figure. Where we have to rely on assumptions, we choose conservative ones, so estimates are more likely to be slightly high than too low
- Spend-based factors come from EXIOBASE 3.8.2 for Finland, reference year 2019, adjusted to 2025 prices with Eurostat's consumer price index for Finland (HICP). We will move to a newer version when one is available. Spend-based figures are the least precise tier and are marked as such on each transaction
Questions?
For detailed methodology questions, contact: info@susti.fi