Distinguish allocation conventions from avoided emissions

Define the useful service

A process can supply more than one useful output. Assigning its whole burden to each output would double count; dividing its burden requires an explicit convention or a justified expanded-system comparison. Electricity and low-temperature heat carry different service quality, so equal energy is not the only relevant measure.

Construct the comparable ledger

The original combined process supplies 100 kWh electricity and 200 kWh useful heat. Energy allocation gives electricity one third of the burden. Revenue allocation weights electricity by its per-kWh price relative to heat: with ratio r, the electricity share is 100 r/(100 r+200). Prices alter attribution without physically changing the process.

Interpret the competing metrics

Both allocated burdens must sum to the original inventory. An electricity intensity divides its allocated burden by 100 kWh, not by the combined 300 kWh. A heat intensity would use its own 200 kWh denominator. Report whole-system results alongside allocated values so a favorable convention cannot hide the total.

Challenge the boundary and scenario

System expansion instead asks which alternative heat or electricity production is displaced. That counterfactual needs evidence about actual substitution, timing and service quality. It is not interchangeable with allocation, and an avoided-emissions credit cannot be inferred from product revenue. This packet does not establish which convention a particular standard requires.

Worked original packet

For total burden 1000 kg CO₂e and electricity/heat price ratio 3, energy allocation assigns 333.33 to electricity and 666.67 to heat. Revenue allocation assigns 600 and 400; electricity intensity is 6 kg CO₂e/kWh. Whole-system burden stays 1000.

Investigation

Vary price ratio at constant whole burden. Reconcile both output sums and explain why attributed electricity emissions change without a physical emission reduction.

Changed-case transfer

At total burden 1200 and price ratio 4, calculate energy- and revenue-allocated electricity burdens and revenue-based intensity.

Feedback

Energy allocation 400; revenue allocation 1200×4/6=800 kg CO₂e. Revenue-based electricity intensity is 8 kg CO₂e/kWh; heat receives 400 and the sum remains 1200.

Sources and evidence boundary

Original prose, numerical packets and exercises. Primary method/mechanism source, checked 30 October 2026. Supplied values are not measured operating data, universal coefficients or recommendations. No physical equipment work, chemical application, organism manipulation or water extraction is requested. Retain first reasoning and critique in the course workspace; public feedback is practice, not independent assessment.