Which scope does renewable energy fall under?

Renewable energy is not a scope of its own. It changes the emissions that you report for the energy that you use, mostly in Scope 2. Solar panels that you own and use cause no Scope 2 for that electricity, and certificates or green tariffs lower your market-based Scope 2.

Energy that you generate yourself

If you own or operate rooftop solar and use the electricity on site:

• The solar electricity that you use has no Scope 2, because you did not buy it.
• Solar panels burn no fuel, so they add nothing to Scope 1 either.
• Count your grid purchases in full. The GHG Protocol asks for gross grid purchases, not purchases minus the solar that you export.

If you sell the renewable energy certificates (RECs) from your panels, you give away the right to claim that electricity as renewable. In your market-based figure, you then report it like other electricity.

If a third party owns and runs the panels on your roof and sells you the electricity, that electricity is Scope 2 for you.

A biomass boiler is different. It burns fuel, so its methane and nitrous oxide are Scope 1. Its CO₂ is biogenic and is reported separately from the scopes.

Energy that you buy

Your Scope 2 has 2 figures:

• Location-based uses the average factor of the grid where you use the electricity. Green tariffs and RECs do not change it.
• Market-based uses the factors in your contracts. RECs, green tariffs and power purchase agreements (PPAs) that meet the GHG Protocol's quality criteria can lower it.

IFRS S2 requires the location-based figure and information about any contracts. So renewable purchases appear in your report, but they do not lower the location-based number.

Options in Malaysia

• Solar ATAP, which replaced Net Energy Metering (NEM) from 1 January 2026, for rooftop solar
• Green Electricity Tariff (GET), which adds RECs to your TNB bill
• RECs, bought separately from your electricity
• Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS), for large users that buy renewable electricity directly from a developer through the grid

Renewable energy in your value chain

If your suppliers use renewable energy, their emissions fall. That can lower your Scope 3, but only if you use supplier-specific data. Average factors do not show it.

In Carbon GPT

Record grid electricity as Scope 2 measures in Measures. The GHG Protocol and the 3 scopes explains the 2 Scope 2 methods.

Sources

• GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance, chapters 5–7
• IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures, paragraphs 29(a)(v) and B30–B31
• TNB: Solar Accelerated Transition Action Programme (Solar ATAP)
• TNB: Green energy, including the Green Electricity Tariff and CRESS