Does switching between Afghan, imported and local coal change a Pakistani cement plant's CO2?
Per unit of heat the difference is modest, since most bituminous and subbituminous coals sit near 95 kg CO2 per GJ; per tonne it can be large, because heat content varies. Work out CO2 from each lot's tonnes and lab tested heat value or carbon content, not from a single factor per tonne.
Why per tonne misleads
A tonne of high ash local coal and a tonne of imported coal give very different heat. A per tonne factor overstates one and understates the other.
What to keep
- Tonnes per lot from weighbridge and invoices.
- Lab gross calorific value, ash and moisture per lot.
- Carbon content if tested.
Lignite
Thar lignite has a higher CO2 per GJ than bituminous coal. Treat it as its own fuel.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel, raw material and electricity invoices into a dated, fingerprinted record per plant, so the clinker and cement figures can be traced back to the documents behind them.
Sources: IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2: Energy, IPCC 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Last reviewed 2026-10-21.