What emissions should an opencast coal mine report besides diesel?
Diesel for dumpers, shovels and drills is usually the largest on site source. Methane released from the coal seam is the second: the IPCC Tier 1 average for surface mining is 1.2 cubic metres per tonne mined, about 24 kg CO2e. Add explosives, grid power for conveyors, and any coal fires.
Sources to count
- Diesel: litres from fuel logs x 2.68 kg CO2 per litre.
- Seam methane: tonnes mined x emission factor, measured where possible.
- Explosives, mainly ammonium nitrate based, from consumption records.
- Electricity for conveyors and pumps x 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh.
Methane defaults
IPCC 2006 gives low, average and high factors of 0.3, 1.2 and 2.0 cubic metres per tonne for surface mines, plus a small post mining amount. Convert at 0.67 kg per cubic metre and weight by the methane GWP.
Contractors
If a contractor runs the fleet, its diesel is the contractor's Scope 1 and the mine's Scope 3, unless the mine supplies and controls the fuel.
Worked example: methane per tonne
- 1.2 m3 CH4 per tonne x 0.67 kg per m3 = 0.80 kg CH4
- 0.80 kg x 29.8 (AR6 fossil methane GWP100) = about 24 kg CO2e per tonne mined
Uses the IPCC average; a measured factor for your seam is better.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel, electricity and freight invoices into a dated, fingerprinted record per site, so each figure you send a buyer can be traced back to the documents behind it.
Sources: IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults), IPCC AR6 WG1, Chapter 7, Table 7.15 (GWP100)
Last reviewed 2026-10-21.