Actual Values vs Default Values

Direct answer

Actual values reflect installation-specific monitored or calculated emissions and generally require independent verification where legally required.

Default values are official fallbacks that depend on multiple regulatory dimensions — not a single universal CN number.

Who is affected

Producers choosing a reporting pathway, importers assessing evidence strength, and reviewers who must prevent silent default substitution.

Regulatory rule

Pathway choice is a methodology decision. Switching from actual to default (or the reverse) changes evidence burden, verification expectations, and often the numeric result.

2026 definitive-period impact

Definitive-period declarations amplify the cost of undocumented pathway switches. Record the choice before sealing 2026 reporting packages.

Required data

• Evidence quality assessment for actual pathway
• Dimensional keys for any default lookup
• Documented reason for the selected pathway
• Ruleset version pinning both calculation and defaults

Decision tree

• 1. Can actual evidence support verification for material sources? If yes, prefer actual.
• 2. If not, confirm defaults are allowed for that goods/context under the ruleset.
• 3. Apply full dimensional lookup — never CN-only.
• 4. Log rejected alternatives and residual uncertainty.
• 5. Recalculate and reseal if the pathway changes.

Practical example

An aluminium smelter has strong electricity metering (actual indirect) but incomplete anode evidence. The team keeps actual electricity data and applies an allowed default only to the unsupported process component, with explicit methodology notes — not a blended invented factor.

Common errors and risks

• Treating defaults as “good enough actuals”
• CN-only default tables on websites
• Changing pathway after seal without a new release
• Hiding mark-ups that the rules require

Official EU sources

Follow Regulation (EU) 2023/956 and the implementing acts governing calculation and default publication; see also the default-values guide on this site.

Related CN and methodology

Pair this page with `/cbam-default-values` and `/methodology`. Goods scope must be settled before pathway choice matters.

How CBAMValid handles it

CBAMValid records pathway decisions, binds engine versions, and keeps actual vs default explicit in traces and sealed outputs.

Product boundary

CBAMValid does not decide legal acceptability of a pathway for a specific declarant; that remains with the operator, importer, and accredited verifier where required.