How much methane comes from a Salem sago unit's effluent lagoon, and does biogas capture help?

Open anaerobic lagoons release methane from the effluent's organic load. The IPCC method is COD removed × 0.25 kg CH4 per kg COD × a correction factor, up to 0.8 for deep anaerobic lagoons. Covering the lagoon and burning the biogas turns most of that methane into CO2.

Steps

1. Effluent volume and COD in and out, from lab tests.
2. COD removed in the lagoon, in kg.
3. CH4 = COD removed × 0.25 × the correction factor.
4. CO2e = CH4 × its GWP.

Capture

Biogas used in a boiler can replace fuel too. Projects that capture and use it may earn carbon credits under approved methodologies.

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.

• Wastewater biogas carbon credits
• Sago starch footprint
• Biomass in a boiler

Sources: 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, GHG Protocol Corporate Standard

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.