Methodologies to assess the effects of energy projects on global carbon dioxide emissions will be an important feature of a future international carbon dioxide trading system. In this paper, we present and discuss four different models for assessing the net carbon dioxide emissions resulting from a certain energy project. These models are applied to different district heating technologies. To judge the mitigation performance of a project, the amount of carbon dioxide released in kilograms is expressed per megawatt-hour of useful district heating produced. All the models consider the marginal change caused by the project on the electric power system. The different model perspectives are discussed, and it is shown that the choice of model is very critical for assessing the net carbon dioxide emissions from an energy project. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.