Locational Marginal Emissions

Measuring emissions displacement on a global scale is challenging, mainly because the amount of carbon emissions that a given megawatt-hour (MWh) of clean energy avoids varies widely, even across projects within the same region. To build on our emissions-first approach in 2024, we continued integrating Locational Marginal Emissions (LMEs) into our workstream from REsurety to track our emissions displacement activities more closely across our active purchaser-caused renewable portfolio.

Under the reporting provided by REsurety, LMEs are an innovative way to measure the metric tonnes of carbon emissions displaced by 1 MWh of clean energy added to the grid at a specific location at one particular time. LMEs are calculated at each power system node like the Locational Marginal Prices (LMPs) used to set wholesale electricity market prices. LMEs measure emissions by identifying the marginal generators that would have been producing energy if not for the renewable injection to the grid at that location.

The LME data that REsurety provides enables Akamai to calculate the estimated impact of our activities at each location on the grid. LME reports also offer visibility into specific emissions values abated for each MWh generated by our renewable energy projects. For example, they show how much gas or coal is displaced, or how much wind energy is curtailed, due to our activities. Utilizing this data allows us to increase the accuracy of our carbon accounting and analyze our renewable energy portfolio in a more real-time fashion. These reports also provide insight that helps Akamai evaluate new market opportunities and make strategic decisions on renewable energy procurement. Using LMEs ensures we focus on locations and technologies that can significantly impact our carbon emissions reduction efforts.

Akamai’s Active Clean Energy Projects

Understanding our renewable abatement impact helps us to make meaningful progress toward our net-zero goals. With our ongoing incorporation of LMEs into our long-term approach, we can better understand the full impact of our renewable projects based on their hourly displacement over the 8,760 hours in a year. Getting to a highly precise measurement helps us track our progress and be more deliberate in reaching a net-zero future for Akamai.

The previous graphic highlights each project’s total MWh production during 2024. It also includes two different emissions factors, including market-based emissions values based on the project location and generation profile and the LME values, which highlight a closer-to-reality market abatement. Between the market-based emissions factor from the site location and LME values, we highlight the difference between the impact of each applied method. As we continue to form our emissions-first approach, we will look for ways to use innovative emissions abatement measurements, such as LMEs, across our global footprint.