How much CO2 does a powder coating line emit per square metre coated?
Work it out from your own line: add a month's oven and pretreatment fuel (LPG kg x 2.98 or PNG scm x 2.05) and the line's kWh x 0.710, then divide by square metres coated. Add the powder's own footprint per square metre for a product figure. Oven loading drives the result.
What to measure on the line
- Fuel for the curing oven, drying oven and any heated pretreatment tanks: LPG in kg, PNG in scm or diesel in litres.
- Electricity for booth fans, cyclone recovery, conveyor, compressors and pretreatment pumps. A sub-meter on the line is best; otherwise allocate from the plant meter by connected load and running hours.
- Square metres coated: from the job cards or dispatch records, using the coated surface area of each part, not its footprint on the floor.
The formula
kg CO2 per m2 = (LPG kg x 2.98 + PNG scm x 2.05 + diesel litres x 2.68 + line kWh x 0.710) / m2 coated.
For a product footprint add powder per m2 x the powder's footprint per kg, from the powder supplier. Powder per m2 is powder issued minus reclaimed powder, divided by m2 coated.
Why the figure moves from month to month
- Oven loading: an oven at temperature with a half-empty conveyor burns nearly the same fuel for fewer square metres.
- Start-up and idle time: heating up for a short run adds fuel with no output.
- Part mass: heavy castings take more heat to reach curing temperature than thin sheet of the same area.
- Tracking the figure by shift or by job shows which of these is costing you.
Square metres, kilograms or pieces
Job coaters usually charge per square metre, so per m2 is the natural unit. A component maker answering a buyer may need per piece: multiply the per m2 figure by the coated area of that part. State the unit and whether powder material is included.
Worked example: one month on an LPG-fired line
- LPG for oven and pretreatment: 3,000 kg x 2.98 = 8,940 kg CO2
- Line electricity: 18,000 kWh x 0.710 = 12,780 kg CO2
- Energy total: 8,940 + 12,780 = 21,720 kg CO2
- Area coated: 40,000 m2
- Energy per m2: 21,720 / 40,000 = 0.543 kg CO2 per m2
- Powder used: 6,000 kg net of reclaim / 40,000 m2 = 0.15 kg per m2, times the supplier's factor
Quantities are illustrative. Replace them with your month's bills and job records.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads the LPG, PNG, diesel and electricity invoices for the line (Scope 1 at IPCC 2006 defaults, Scope 2 at 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh) and keeps powder purchases in a Scope 3 evidence trail. Square metres coated come from your own job records, and product reports are self-declared drafts.
Sources: 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Vol. 2 Energy, Ch. 2 Stationary Combustion, CEA CO2 Baseline Database, ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products
Last reviewed 2026-10-18.