Sources are the individual activities or processes that generate greenhouse gas emissions. Examples include electricity consumption, natural gas usage, fleet vehicle fuel, business travel, and employee commuting. Sources are always tied to a specific location.
Sources Table
The Sources tab displays all emission sources across your organization with columns including:
Source Name — A descriptive name for the emission source.
Location — Which location this source belongs to.
Category — The emission category (e.g., Stationary Combustion, Purchased Electricity, Transportation) according to the GHG Protocol
Scope — The GHG Protocol scope: Scope 1 (direct), Scope 2 (indirect from energy), or Scope 3 (other indirect) as per GHG Protocol
Status
Draft: Not being counted against your reporting totals, may also not have configuration complete
Active: Currently in use and fully configured, counts towards reporting totals
Inactive: Was formerly in use, still would count towards reporting totals in previous reporting periods, note: ensure you delete sources to remove them from reporting historically
Creating a New Source
Click "+ Create Source" to open the source creation modal. You'll need to specify:
Source Name — A clear, descriptive name ideally unique
Location — Select which location this source belongs to
Category — The type of emission activity
Scope — Automatically determined based on the category you select
Emission Factor — The calculation factor applied to convert activity data to emissions
Tip: CarbonHound automatically suggests appropriate emission factors based on the category and location you select for sources created via the new location flow. You can also request custom emission factors if needed from your customer success agent. If you aren't sure what emission factor to choose, contact your success contact or log a case.
Source Detail Page
Click on any source to open its detail page, which contains two important sub-tabs:
Activity Data Tab: This is where you enter the actual consumption or usage data for the source. For example, if the source is electricity consumption, you would enter kilowatt-hours (kWh) used each month. Activity data can be entered manually or imported via the Data Imports feature.
Related Emission Factor Tab: This tab shows which emission factor is applied to this source's activity data to calculate the resulting emissions. Emission factors convert raw activity data (like kWh of electricity) into greenhouse gas emissions (tCO₂e).
Important: Accurate activity data is essential for reliable emissions reporting. Double-check units (kWh, litres, km, etc.) when entering data to avoid calculation errors.