Methodology for PCF Calculations of Lubricants, Greases and other Specialties
Primary Data:
Primary data refers to quantified value of a process or an activity obtained from direct measurement or calculation based on direct measurementwithin the life cycle of the product being studied or within a different but comparable product system (cf. Section 3.1.2 for data quality). If practicable primary data shall be collected to quantify the input and output flows in the foreground system of the lubricant manufacturers’ production system (cf. Figure 3). In addition, where applicable and available, supplier-specific primary data, such as raw material PCFs, may also be included as part of the background system.
The data is gathered for all processes that are either owned or controlled by the reporting
company.Measured data shall be collected over a period of one year, e.g. data from ERP systems. For non-continuous or irregular production years, e.g. pandemic years, recessions, etc., production data shall be averaged for a longer period of up to three production years for use in a PCF calculation. The collected data and thereof calculated PCF shall be validated by e.g. checking against other data sources, (cf. Section 5). Primary data used in the PCF calculation shall be as recent as practicable and not older than five years related to the PCF’s reference year.
Specific Secondary Data:
Specific secondary datamay include supplier-specific and technology-specific data that is derived from detailed data at the plant or site level, as well as market reports, patents, industry averages, or literature studies. Commonly, specific secondary data are sourced from third-party database providers such as Carbon Minds, Ecoinvent, Sphera or other suitable database providers. Specific secondary data should be independently reviewed for increased reliability and data quality rating. Specific secondary data can have the same or sometimes even higher data quality rating than primary data and vice versa. Depending on the process of data generation and sources, data quality can vary for both data sources. Thus, specific secondary data as well as primary data should be evaluated and checked for plausibility, as per GHG PPS.
For specific secondary data used in PCF calculation, the most recent activity data and LCIs should be considered, ensuring they are both temporally and geographically representative of the product system under study. Data should ideally reflect the conditions of the reference year or be as recent as possible within a 10-year window and should correspond to the geographical region where the production and supply chain activities take place. The data quality rating will be influenced by the choice of data. If the specific secondary data is older, more recent proxies should be used instead. For instance, if a lubricant manufacturer intends to use a specific secondary dataset from 2005 as a representative of raw material to calculate a PCF for the year 2020, it is recommended to use proxy data fromat least 2010 or amore recent dataset instead.
Version 1.2, 15.10.2025 © ATIEL and UEIL Page 15 of 40 This document is a controlled document only in electronic form. Printed versions or copies are not subject to change service
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
