Glossary
The terms you will meet, in plain English.
A
- ACVA
- Accredited Carbon Verification Agency. An independent agency accredited to verify an obligated entity's reported emissions and production.
B
- Baseline year
- The reference year that targets are set against. Under CCTS this is FY 2023-24.
- BEE
- Bureau of Energy Efficiency. Publishes the Detailed Procedure for the compliance mechanism and runs the official Indian Carbon Market portal.
- Biogenic CO2
- CO2 released by burning biomass. It is reported separately and excluded from intensity, with documentation.
C
- CCTS
- Carbon Credit Trading Scheme. India's compliance carbon market for industry.
- CEA
- Central Electricity Authority. Its grid emission factor is used for purchased electricity, frozen at the baseline year.
E
- Emission factor
- The amount of greenhouse gas released per unit of activity, for example per tonne of fuel burned. Default factors are Type I; site-specific factors are Type II.
- Equivalent product
- A common unit used to compare different products on one scale, so production can be normalised.
G
- Gate-to-gate
- A boundary covering the plant from where inputs enter to where products leave.
- GEI
- GHG emission intensity. Emissions per unit of production.
- GHG
- Greenhouse gas.
M
- MRV
- Monitoring, Reporting and Verification. The system that measures, records, reports and independently checks a plant's emissions data.
N
- NABL
- National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories. Fuel analysis goes through NABL-accredited labs.
- NCV
- Net calorific value. The usable energy released per unit of fuel burned.
O
- Obligated entity
- A unit notified under CCTS with a binding emission-intensity target. About 490 units are notified.
- Oxidation factor
- The fraction of a fuel's carbon that is actually oxidised when it burns.
P
- PPA
- Power purchase agreement. A contract to buy electricity, for example from a renewable generator.
R
- Reasonable assurance
- The higher level of assurance a verifier gives. CCTS verification is at reasonable assurance, with a 2% materiality threshold.
- REC
- Renewable Energy Certificate. Under CCTS, RECs alone do not count as renewable electricity.
S
- Scope 1
- Direct emissions from sources the plant owns or controls, such as boilers and furnaces.
- Scope 2
- Indirect emissions from purchased electricity and heat.
T
- TFO
- Two-for-one twisting. A yarn-twisting process, and one of the activities BEE defines for textiles.
Need help applying this at your plant?
General information only; not legal or compliance advice for a specific plant. Refer to the official notifications and the Indian Carbon Market portal.