Applicability of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol to Estimate Scope 3.11 and 3.12 for Product Systems : A case study at DeLaval, a dairy equipment company

Sammanfattning: The standardized guidelines within the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) categorize companies' greenhouse gas emissions into three different scopes: 1, 2 and 3. Scope 3, the indirect upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions, may represent the largest source of a company's total emissions but are often perceived as the most difficult scope to appreciate. Previous case studies focused on scope 1, scope 2 and upstream 3; emissions before the products are manufactured, and to some extent scope 3 downstream; emissions after the products are sold, although not for energy intensive product systems. This work therefore investigates the applicability of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol for two categories in scope 3 downstream in the form of a single case study at the dairy equipment company DeLaval with a product portfolio consisting of energy intensive electrical products that are sold as interconnected product systems. In the study, relevant calculation methods and available data sources were identified for scope 3.11 - use of sold products and scope 3.12 - end-of-life treatment of sold products. Participatory modeling was used to obtain and validate data. For scope 3.11, the case study resulted in two quantitative concepts: Concept Orange built on product groups and proxy data for one representative product, and Concept Blue based on product-specific data. Concept Orange had the advantage of being less resource intensive in terms of data collection, but with greater uncertainty in the factors compared to Concept Blue. Concept Blue had a lower degree of extrapolation but required extensive data collection. A final concept, a combination of the two previous concepts, enabled refinement over time since Concept Orange worked as a basis while Concept Blue was used when product-specific data was available. As a result of the case study, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol was found to be applicable to a certain extent to estimate scope 3.11 for product systems and completely applicable for 3.12. Scope 3.11 posed more challenges than 3.12 due to the higher number of estimations needed, product grouping, and need for extrapolation. For scope 3.11, the calculation formula provided by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol needed to be altered to fit the data format of electricity consumption of dairy equipment. The system boundary for one product needed to be clearly defined in the case study since the company sells interconnected product systems, which is not given guidance on in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Further, challenges arose due to the lack of compliance between the company’s internal systems and the requirements of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol since neither a distinction between active and passive products nor homogenous product groups were available.