# How do I calculate the emissions of moving chemicals by road tanker per tonne?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/chemical-road-tanker-emissions-per-tonne

Take the diesel for the whole trip, including the empty return a dedicated tanker makes, and multiply by 2.68 kg CO2 per litre. Divide by tonnes delivered. Owned tankers are Scope 1; hired tankers are Scope 3 transport, backed by the transporter's data.

## Empty running

A dedicated chemical tanker may return empty, since cleaning between products limits backloads. Include the return leg; leaving it out understates each tonne.

## Data to collect

- Diesel per trip, from fuel slips or the transporter.
- Loaded and empty km.
- Tonnes per load, from weighbridge slips.
- Washing or cleaning between loads, if done by you.

## Which scope

Tankers you own or lease and run are Scope 1. Hired tankers sit in Scope 3, category 4 or 9 depending on who pays for the freight.

## Worked example: one 600 km delivery (illustrative inputs)

- Round trip: 600 km loaded + 600 km empty = 1,200 km at 3.5 km per litre = 342.9 litres
- Diesel: 342.9 x 2.68 = 918.9 kg CO2
- Per tonne delivered: 918.9 / 25 t = 36.8 kg CO2
- Per tonne-km, loaded distance: 36.8 / 600 = 0.0613 kg CO2

Mileage and load are illustrative; use fuel slips, trip sheets and weighbridge records.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and fuel card statements (diesel 2.68 and CNG 2.69 kg CO2, IPCC 2006 defaults) into a fingerprinted Scope 1 record. Hired transport goes to the Scope 3 evidence trail, and distance or tonne-km estimates are labelled as estimates.

- [Hired trucks scope](https://senseible.earth/answers/hired-trucks-scope-1-or-scope-3)
- [Rail vs road freight India](https://senseible.earth/answers/rail-vs-road-freight-emissions-india)
- [Multi-product plant allocation](https://senseible.earth/answers/multi-product-chemical-plant-emissions-allocation)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Corporate Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard), [GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard), [GLEC Framework for logistics emissions (Smart Freight Centre)](https://www.smartfreightcentre.org/en/our-programs/emissions-accounting/global-logistics-emissions-council/), [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults)](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html)

Last reviewed 2026-10-21.