Greenhouse Gas Conversions

Greenhouse gas conversion factors are used to determine the carbon dioxide emissions caused by the use of energy. In order to convert energy consumed in kWh to kg of carbon dioxide, the energy use should be multiplied by a conversion factor. For example the conversion factor for natural gas is 0.185kgCO2/kWh, so the use of 1,000 kWh of gas is responsible for the production of 0.185 x 1000 = 185kg CO2.

Greenhouse gas conversion factors are published by Defra to supplement their Environmental Reporting Guidelines.

The most useful factors are contained in CTL018 - Energy and Carbon Conversions fact sheet and are summarised below:

Conversion to CO2 (gross CV basis) 
 
Energy source 		 Units-Kg CO2/unit
Grid Electricity  kWh            0.537
Natural Gas  kWh            0.185
LPG  kWh            0.214
  litres           1.495
Gas Oil  kWh            0.252
  litres           2.674
Fuel Oil  kWh            0.268
  litres           3.179
Burning Oil kWh            0.245
  litres           2.518
Diesel  kWh            0.250
  litres           2.630
Petrol  kWh            0.240
  litres           2.315    
Industrial Coal  kWh            0.330
  tonnes        2,457
Wood Pellets kWh            0.025
  tonnes          132

A more comprehensive list of 2008 conversion factors can be found on the Defra website.

Example

To convert from litres of fuel oil to kgCO2 emissions multiply by 3.179, so for example: 200 litres fuel oil = 200 x 3.179 = 635.8 kgCO2

Note: Carbon emissions are usually quoted in kg CO2/kWh.  If you wish to convert the carbon dioxide factors into carbon equivalents (ie kgC/kWh), multiply the figure by 12 and divide by 44. 



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