Approach to Quantify Net Material Emissions Impact of Renewable Energy Purchases

This document proposes a quantitative methodology, the Renewable Energy (RE) Emissions Score, to measure the net material emissions impact of corporate renewable energy procurement. It aims to move beyond qualitative assessments and traditional GHG accounting by using marginal emissions factors and procurement factors to incentivize the addition of new renewable capacity in high-emissions grids.

• The RE Emissions Score is a composite percentage that compares Weighted Avoided Emissions to Total Induced Emissions. Weighted Avoided Emissions are calculated by multiplying renewable energy purchased by the marginal emissions factor of the location and a procurement factor, while Total Induced Emissions are the total electricity purchases multiplied by the marginal emissions factor of the power usage location.
• The methodology introduces a Procurement Factor (PF) to ensure purchases contribute to new generation rather than just shifting emissions attribution. This factor is a ratio of the price of the Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC) to the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), which incentivizes the purchase of EACs from renewables with a low LCOE to better finance new projects.
• The approach utilizes marginal emissions factors instead of average emissions factors to accurately reflect the impact of adding or removing load from a grid. This incentivizes companies to locate operations in areas with low marginal emissions and source renewables from areas with high marginal emissions to drive broader grid decarbonization.
• The RE Emissions Score is designed to be sector-agnostic and is particularly applicable to high-power users with flexible load deployment, such as data centers, cryptocurrency miners, manufacturing facilities, and commercial real estate owners.
• To achieve a higher score, the document recommends time-dependent procurement and load matching. Matching electricity usage to periods of renewable curtailment (low induced emissions) and procurement to periods of low renewable generation (high marginal emissions) demonstrates greater material impact.
• The framework identifies several accepted renewable energy procurement mechanisms, ranging from high-impact options like self-generation and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to lower-impact options such as unbundled EACs and green electricity products from utilities.

APA

Huestis, S., Cannon, C., & Pingali, S. (2022). Approach to Quantify Net Material Emissions Impact of Renewable Energy Purchases. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2022/10/renewable_energy_emissions_score_approach.pdf

Chicago

Huestis, Samuel, Charles Cannon, and Sahithi Pingali. Approach to Quantify Net Material Emissions Impact of Renewable Energy Purchases. RMI, 2022. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2022/10/renewable_energy_emissions_score_approach.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Huestis |first1=Samuel |last2=Cannon |first2=Charles |last3=Pingali |first3=Sahithi |title=Approach to Quantify Net Material Emissions Impact of Renewable Energy Purchases |publisher=RMI |date=May 2022 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2022/10/renewable_energy_emissions_score_approach.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{huestis2022approach, author = {Huestis, Samuel and Cannon, Charles and Pingali, Sahithi}, title = {{Approach to Quantify Net Material Emissions Impact of Renewable Energy Purchases}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2022/10/renewable_energy_emissions_score_approach.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }