GreenCalculus — UK Spend-Based GHG Intensity by SIC 2007 Industry Section (ONS)

Greenhouse gas intensity for 18 UK industry sections in kg CO2e per pound ofGROSS VALUE ADDED, from the ONS Atmospheric Emissions framework, 5 June 2026release. Ranges from 2.71 for agriculture to 0.01 for information andcommunication — a 271-fold spread, which means sector selection dominates aspend-based estimate far more than the precision of the spend figure. The denominator is value added, NOT invoice value. Gross value added is anindustry's output minus what it bought in to produce that output, so applyingthese intensities directly to a supplier invoice understates the result by asector-specific margin. This matters when combining sources: US EPA spend-basedfactors are published per dollar of purchaser price, which is the invoice basis,and the two are not interchangeable. Three sections are absent and that is the source's position, not an omission.ONS marks K (financial and insurance) and L (real estate) as "low" — defined inthe source as "a low figure but not a real zero" — in every published year, andtreats U (extra-territorial bodies) as negligible. Section J (information andcommunication) is carried at its 2023 value because 2024 is also marked "low";each row carries its own reference year. AR5 GWP-100 per the DEFRA and Ricardo convention. UK residence basis — emissionsattributed to UK-resident economic units wherever they occur. Supports GHGProtocol Scope 3 spend-based estimation and PCAF data quality score 4.they occur. Supports GHGProtocol Scope 3 spend-based estimation and PCAF data quality score 4. Live page:https://greencalculus.com/data/uk-sic-spend-based-ghg-intensity/ API:https://greencalculus.com/wp-json/greencalculus/v1/ons-sic-factors Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.