How does an Ariyalur cement plant's mix of coal, pet coke and lignite change its CO2 per tonne of clinker?

Calcination CO2 stays about the same, roughly half a tonne per tonne of clinker. Fuel CO2 depends on heat per tonne and the fuel's factor: IPCC defaults are about 94.6 kg CO2 per GJ for bituminous coal, 97.5 for pet coke and 101 for lignite.

Steps

1. Heat per tonne of clinker, in GJ, from kiln fuel and output.
2. Share of heat from each fuel.
3. Fuel CO2 = heat × weighted factor.
4. Add calcination from clinker CaO and MgO.

What lowers it

Alternative fuels such as biomass or plastic waste, a lower heat rate, and less clinker per tonne of cement.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices into a dated, fingerprinted record, so each figure shows the quantity, factor and document it came from.

• CO2 per tonne of clinker
• Pet coke emission factor
• Lignite emission factor

Sources: 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Volume 2: Energy, GHG Protocol Corporate Standard

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.