Which fuel emission factors does the UK CBAM accept by default?
HMRC's UK CBAM guidance lists IPCC 2006 standard factors: diesel 74.1 tCO2 per TJ at 43.0 TJ per thousand tonnes, natural gas 56.1 and 48.0, petroleum coke 97.5 and 32.5, other bituminous coal 94.6 and 25.8, LPG 63.1 and 47.3. Per tonne of fuel, diesel works out at 3.186 tCO2.
Standard values, Annex VI
- Gas or diesel oil: 74.1 tCO2/TJ, net calorific value 43.0 TJ/Gg.
- Residual fuel oil (furnace oil): 77.4 and 40.4.
- Natural gas: 56.1 and 48.0.
- LPG: 63.1 and 47.3.
- Petroleum coke: 97.5 and 32.5.
- Other bituminous coal: 94.6 and 25.8.
- Lignite: 101.0 and 11.9.
Per tonne of fuel
Multiply the factor by the calorific value: tCO2 per TJ times TJ per Gg gives tCO2 per thousand tonnes, so divide by 1,000 for per tonne. Diesel 3.186, furnace oil 3.127, natural gas 2.693, LPG 2.985, pet coke 3.169, bituminous coal 2.441, lignite 1.202 tCO2 per tonne.
When to use your own values
Indian coal often has a very different calorific value from the IPCC default. Where your monitoring plan calls for analysed values, lab results for each lot replace the standard values.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel quantities from invoices and applies named, sourced factors; its default diesel factor is 2.645 kg CO2 per litre. We build the figure from your records and check every figure in-house; for the UK it must then be verified by a verifier accredited for UK CBAM. Have your own verifier? Send it to them.
Sources: HMRC, UK CBAM monitoring, reporting and verification technical guidance (October 2026)
Last reviewed 2026-11-02.