# What are the emissions from delinting cottonseed?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/cottonseed-delinting-emissions-per-tonne

Delinting strips short fibres from cottonseed, by machine or with acid. Machine delinting uses electricity at 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh. Acid delinting adds the bought acid, a Scope 3 material, plus heat for drying the seed. Divide by tonnes of seed processed.

## Count

- Electricity for delinting machines and dryers.
- Fuel for drying, if fired.
- Sulphuric acid bought, for acid delinting.

## Linters

The short fibres removed are sold for cellulose and paper. Treat them as a co-product and allocate if a buyer asks.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads the plant's electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and fuel invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record, the plant-level input to a per-unit figure. Bought-in materials go to the supplier evidence trail; product reports are self-declared drafts.

- [Cotton ginning per bale](https://senseible.earth/answers/cotton-ginning-emissions-per-bale)
- [Seed processing plant](https://senseible.earth/answers/seed-processing-plant-emissions-per-tonne)

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)

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.