# What is the diesel emission factor per litre, and how do I use it?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/diesel-emission-factor-per-litre-and-how-to-use-it

Burning one litre of diesel gives off about 2.645 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2). Multiply your litres by that number: 1,000 litres is 2,645 kilograms, or 2.645 tonnes. The figure is built from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defaults and counts CO2 only, not the smaller amounts of other gases.

## The sum, in three steps

1. Find the litres on the fuel invoice. If it says kilolitres, multiply by 1,000. If it gives kilograms only, convert to litres first.
2. Multiply litres by 2.645. The answer is kilograms of CO2.
3. Divide by 1,000 for tonnes. Write down the factor, its unit (kilograms of CO2 per litre) and where it came from, so anyone can redo the sum.

## Where 2.645 comes from

Diesel is mostly carbon. When it burns, the carbon joins oxygen from the air and leaves the exhaust as CO2. A factor is simply how much CO2 comes out for each unit of fuel, like a recipe that says how much dough one cup of flour makes.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 guidelines print two defaults for gas or diesel oil: 43.0 terajoules (TJ) of heat per gigagram (Gg) in Table 1.2, and 74,100 kilograms of CO2 per TJ in Table 1.4. Together that is 3.1863 kilograms of CO2 for each kilogram of diesel. A litre weighs less than a kilogram, so Senseible multiplies by the density, 0.83 kilograms a litre, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) figure. The result is 3.1863 x 0.83 = 2.6446, rounded to 2.645. The full working is on the linked page below.

The IPCC says these defaults are suggested only if country-specific factors are not available. If your country publishes its own diesel factor, or a fuel test gives you one, use that and name it.

## CO2 or CO2e: what the number leaves out

Burning diesel also releases tiny amounts of methane and nitrous oxide, which warm the air far more than CO2 weight for weight. CO2 equivalent (CO2e) turns every gas into CO2 units using a warming multiplier, the way you turn dollars and euros into one currency before adding them.

For a factory engine the IPCC default adds about 0.33% on top, which moves 2.645 to about 2.654. Off-road machines such as forklifts add near 10%. The forklift page linked below shows the sums, including the multipliers and which IPCC Fifth Assessment Report values they are (100-year values without climate-carbon feedback).

So 2.645 is a CO2 factor. Write 'CO2' beside it unless you add the other gases.

## Why you may see 2.67 elsewhere

The litre figure moves with the density you assume. At a density near 0.837 kilograms a litre, which the litres-in-a-tonne page below works out from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell table, the same 3.1863 gives about 2.667 (3.1863 x 0.837 = 2.6669). That table counts 1,210 litres to the tonne at 29.5 degrees C, which is 0.826 kilograms a litre, so 0.83 and 0.837 differ mainly by the temperature at which the litres are counted. They are under 1% apart. Neither is wrong. What matters is that you name the factor and keep to one for the whole year.

## Example: a workshop's diesel generator over three months

- Invoices (example quantities): 1,850 litres, 1,400 litres and 2,100 litres
- Litres: 1,850 + 1,400 + 2,100 = 5,350
- CO2: 5,350 x 2.645 = 14,150.75 kilograms, about 14.15 tonnes
- Check by the energy route: 5,350 x 0.83 = 4,440.5 kilograms of diesel; x 3.1863 = 14,149 kilograms (the small gap is rounding)

The litres are example quantities. 2.645 kilograms of CO2 a litre is the diesel factor Senseible uses.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so the diesel litres you bought each month are on file. Its diesel figure is CO2 only, at 2.645 kilograms a litre. It does not add methane or nitrous oxide.

- [Why diesel makes three times its weight in CO2](https://senseible.earth/answers/why-diesel-makes-three-times-its-weight-in-co2)
- [Litres in a tonne of diesel in India](https://senseible.earth/answers/litres-in-a-tonne-of-diesel-india)
- [How far off a default fuel factor can be](https://senseible.earth/answers/ipcc-default-fuel-factor-95-percent-range-by-fuel)
- [Forklift methane and nitrous oxide](https://senseible.earth/answers/diesel-forklift-methane-and-nitrous-oxide-add-ten-percent)
- [Convert diesel kilograms to litres](https://senseible.earth/answers/diesel-kg-to-litres-conversion)

Sources: [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Chapter 1, Introduction (Tables 1.2 and 1.4)](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/pdf/2_Volume2/V2_1_Ch1_Introduction.pdf), [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Chapter 2, Stationary Combustion (Table 2.3)](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/pdf/2_Volume2/V2_2_Ch2_Stationary_Combustion.pdf), [IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, Working Group 1, Chapter 8 (GWP values)](https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/WG1AR5_Chapter08_FINAL.pdf)

Last reviewed 2026-11-07. IPCC figures are the 2006 defaults as printed. The 0.83 density is the CEA figure Senseible uses, so check it against your supplier's invoice if it prints one. Re-check if your buyer or country names a different diesel factor or global warming set.