ADEME v23.6 - methods and details
Base Carbone® – ADEME CADv2025
| Publisher | Agence de l'environnement et de la maîtrise de l'énergie (ADEME), operating as Agence de la transition écologique |
| Full name | ADEME Base Carbone v23.6 |
| Description |
The emission factors from the ADEME Base Carbone dataset, covering both activity-based and spend-based factors. For additional details, please refer to the factor source information.
|
| Version nr. | ADEME v23.6 |
Source Documents
- Base Carbone® V23.6 (July 2025)
Publication and Version Reference
Base Carbone® is updated continuously rather than on a fixed annual cycle, and individual factors carry their own reference years (factors from 2015, 2022 and 2023 all coexist in the same version). There is therefore no single "data based on" year for the database as a whole.
| Version name | Data published in | Data based on | Used in C+A+D for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Carbone V23.6 | July 2025 | Mixed, per-factor. | All CCFs. |
Methodology Readout Notes
General Methodology
Base Carbone® organises emission factors by category, mapped to the GHG Protocol scopes and sub-scopes. A single category can hold several factors covering different units and reference years. Each factor is broken down by poste (lifecycle stage component).
GWP weighting and AR version: Most factors use AR5, but occastionally factors use AR4 or AR6 as-published in the source. Where highly relevant, e.g. in Fugtive emissions, this was indicated by a note in the keyword (e.g. "Ethane (GIEC AR6)"). In all other cases, the GWP was indicated by the GWP Method field (available in library). A subset of the emissions factors is marked as "IPCC AR Unknown (AR4 or AR5 or AR6) 100a".
Biogenic emissions. Biogenic CO₂ was read out from the source where the source provides it. In cases where the biogenic emission was expected (biogenic fuels) but not available, a comment is used to flag its absence.
Staging / poste mapping: The Amortissement (amortisation) poste was dropped for all factors, as this is not a part of the GHGP boundaries.
Transport: operational transport factors (Vehicles) exclude the Fabrication (vehicle/infrastructure manufacturing) stage, since these are used in scope 1, while downstream transport factors (Freight and Transport) include it, as these are used in scope 3.
Isolated postes for Good and services: For Goods and services, all isolated stages were made available, as well as the sum of all stages as a "totality des postes". These can be used to either select certain sub-steps of the total life cycle, or to represent the entire lifecycle of the product.
For example:
Appareil photo - Compact - Analyse global (totalité des postes) -> To be used to represent full life cycle of the product.
Approximation of upstream electricity emissions (electricity abroad)
As the ADEME publishes factors for electricity abroad but does not publish any lifecycle stage emission factors, upstream generation and T&D emissions are estimated via a loss factor approach (GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance, p. 96). A fixed proportional increase was applied to the core electricity production emission factor:
| Lifecycle stage | Loss factor |
|---|---|
| Transmission & Distribution | 10% |
| Generation (fuel-cycle) | 30% |
These ratios were applied uniformly across all countries and years.
Justification:
- Comparison with IEA dataset values showed similar ratios: both 10% (T&D) and 30% (generation) represent mean + 1 standard deviation, making them a conservative (slightly overestimating) estimate.
Data Considerations and Notes
Excluded factors (filtered out)
The following factors were removed before readout:
| Filter | Criterion | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Statut de l'élément = Archive | Archived factors are no longer valid |
| Programme | AGRIBALYSE 3.1 | Agribalyse is already available in the app |
| Source | GLEC Framework, Février 2020 | A more recent GLEC version is already in the app |
| Contributor | ASTREDHOR-RATHO (11 horticultural-plant factors) | Too small and not useful enough |
| Contributor | Florentaise (3 horticulture-peat factors) | Too small and not useful enough |
Factors removed or refused on methodological grounds
- Land use change scenarios (Changement d'affectation des sols, scénario optimiste and scénario maximum): removed. Assumptions are unclear, and emissions and removals were combined and summed.
- Biométhane injecté dans les réseaux: refused. Conflicting biogenic data prevented a correct readout.
- Negative biogenic emissions in products (e.g. Bois d'oeuvre (construction)): removed. They do not meet the removal criteria of the GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard (LSRS).
Biogenic CO₂ and CH₄ treatment
- Where the source provides no gross biogenic information, the factor is flagged: "WARNING: gross biogenic information in source is absent for this factor."
- BioCO₂ and bioCH₄ values of 0 are read out as null, as the least inconsistent readout option.
- Some products had their bioCO₂ component read out as a land emission, and some as a land removal. These cases are noted separately.
- Per-hectare land use change and land use change removal factors are likely unreliable.
- Biogenic removal claims at product level are treated with caution; for example the claims in Pneumatiques usagés non réutilisables are not relied on.
Inconsistent source methodology (organics)
Source methodologies in the organics section are highly inconsistent. Biopropane, biodiesel and HVO 100 specifically are flagged.
Aviation factors
Only the 2023 factor is retained. The Fabrication stage is included within Amont (upstream). CO₂e* denotes radiative forcing.
For ASTEE-sourced items, the individual postes are ignored and only the element total is taken.