“A reporting organization should not purchase renewable electricity and simply apply it to scope 3 emissions without involvement from its supplier or customer.” Renewable Electricity Procurement on Behalf of Others: A Corporate Reporting Guide (page 4), EPA, 2022.

Microsoft’s 2021 Environmental Sustainability Report includes 11 of the 15 scope 3 categories (page 19), while Google reports business travel and employee commuting as one total and “other” scope 3 emissions in a second total (page 11). Apple(page 84) and Amazon (page 97) report lifecycle emissions from customer trips to physical stores under scope 3 which are not categories prescribed by the GHG

Certigy, a European EAC registry, has enabled hourly certification across many EU countries

Apple, which has a relatively long history of reporting its scope 3 emissions, states in its 2022 Environmental Progress Report that it is actively evolving its scope 3 accounting methodology. “In fiscal year 2017, we started calculating scope 3 emissions not listed above. In fiscal year 2021, these include electricity transmission and distribution losses [...] and life cycle emissions associated with renewable energy. We have not accounted for emissions resulting from employees working from home [...] we are still evolving our methodology.“ Environmental Progress Report (page 84), Apple, 2022

This also explains why, even though Norway’s grid-levelemissions factor is 10 kg CO2/MWh17 (98% carbon-free), the residual

emissions factor is 402 kg CO 2/MWh (7.4% renewable), reflectingthat most EACs produced within the Norwegian grid are claimedand retired outside of the country.

Data demonstrate that many companies do indeed pursue thispractice. For example, Norway was responsible for 43% of allguarantees of origin (GOs) exports in Europe in 2022, many ofwhich were purchased by companies whose operations have noconnection to the Norwegian grid on which these EACs wereproduced.