# How do I count emissions from refining crude glycerine?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/crude-glycerine-refining-emissions-per-tonne

Refining crude glycerine is mostly vacuum distillation and bleaching, so steam and electricity are your own emissions. The crude glycerine is a by-product of biodiesel or soap, and how much of that process it carries depends on the allocation rule you choose.

## Your own share

- Steam for distillation, from boiler fuel.
- Electricity for vacuum pumps.
- Activated carbon and chemicals, in Scope 3.

## By-product burden

Ask the supplier how the crude was allocated. A mass basis gives glycerine more burden than an economic basis.

## 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.

- [Soap footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/soap-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Biodiesel blend in fleets](https://senseible.earth/answers/biodiesel-blend-fleet-scope-1)

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.