ISO 19694-1:2021

Overview

ISO 19694-1:2021 - Stationary source emissions: Determination of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in energy‑intensive industries - Part 1: General aspects - is a generic, sector‑level standard that sets out principles and requirements for quantifying GHG emissions from major industry sectors (steel & iron, cement, aluminium, lime, ferroalloys). It provides a harmonized framework to ensure accuracy, precision and reproducibility across the sector‑specific parts of the ISO 19694 series.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Principles: Relevance, completeness, consistency, accuracy and transparency for GHG inventories.
• Inventory boundaries: Guidance on organizational and reporting boundaries; treatment of direct (category 1) and indirect emissions (categories 2–6), and electricity/on‑site power.
• Measurement & calculation methods: Harmonized methodological options including mass‑balance based methods and stack emission measurement‑based methods.
• Monitoring plan: Minimum content requirements (Annex A) to document measurement methods, frequencies, QA/QC and data management.
• Sampling, analyses and laboratory competency: Requirements and references to standard test methods and evidence of laboratory technical competence.
• Uncertainty assessment: General guidance and an example uncertainty calculation (Annex D) to support robust reporting.
• Reference factors: Use of Global Warming Potential (GWP) and process, electricity, fuel and biomass emission factors.
• Biomass considerations: Treatment, reporting and analytical methods for biogenic carbon (Annex E and informative lists).
• Verification & assurance: Guidance on preparing documentation suitable for verification and assurance (Annex C), aligned with ISO 14064 series.

Practical applications - who uses ISO 19694-1

• Environmental, EHS and sustainability managers at energy‑intensive plants use the standard to develop site inventories and monitoring plans.
• Emissions analysts and measurement engineers apply the mass‑balance and stack‑measurement guidance to calculate emissions accurately.
• Laboratories and testing providers follow the laboratory competency and sampling requirements.
• Third‑party auditors, verifiers and regulators use the documented methods to assess conformity and to avoid double‑counting across organizational boundaries.
• Consultants and corporate sustainability teams adopt the standard for performance benchmarking, internal reporting, and to support low‑carbon technology development.

Related standards

• ISO 14064-1:2018 - Organization-level GHG quantification and reporting (harmonized).
• ISO 14064-3 - Guidance on verification (for assurance activities).
• ISO 16911-1 / ISO 16911-2 - Flow/volume measurement in ducts (referenced for stack measurements).
• ISO 14956 - Evaluation of measurement procedures vs required uncertainty.

ISO 19694-1 is designed to deliver consistent, auditable GHG inventories for energy‑intensive industries - supporting regulatory compliance, corporate reporting, and performance improvement.