# How does the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) turn my coal tonnes and diesel litres into energy and emissions?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/higg-fem-converts-coal-tonnes-diesel-litres

You enter tonnes of coal and litres of diesel. The Higg FEM turns each into megajoules of heat, then multiplies by its own emission figure. These can come out higher than the figures we use (1.76 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) per kilogram of Indian coal, 2.645 per litre of diesel), so do not convert first.

## The two steps

1. Heat: your quantity times an energy figure for the fuel. A megajoule (MJ) is a unit of heat, like counting calories in food. In Cascale's FEM 2024 paper, coal is 24.8766 MJ a kilogram and diesel is 38.2903 MJ a litre.
2. Emissions: heat times a figure in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per MJ. The same paper gives 0.0950 for coal and 0.0750 for diesel.
3. Diesel blends are adjusted: if you use B20, a blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% diesel, you enter 20 as the biodiesel share and the form splits the heat between the two fuels.
4. The guide says the form uses 100-year warming figures from the sixth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for each gas.

## Why your own total may read lower

Take Indian coal at 1.76 kilograms of CO2 per kilogram, the figure we use. Divided by the form's 0.0950 per MJ, that works out to about 18.5 MJ a kilogram. The form assumes 24.9. That is our own reading, not a Cascale statement, but it points to the likely reason: the form assumes more heat in each kilogram of coal than Indian coal usually gives.

Diesel is closer. Our figure is 2.645 kilograms of CO2 per litre. The form's two numbers multiply to about 2.87 kilograms of CO2e per litre. This page does not claim to trace the whole difference; it only shows both so you are not surprised.

## What this means for you

- Enter quantities in the units on your invoices. Never enter emissions.
- If a buyer compares the Higg FEM total with another report from you, tell them the factors differ, and give both.

## 1,500 tonnes of coal and 60,000 litres of diesel

- Form, coal: 1,500,000 kilograms x 24.8766 = 37,314,900 MJ; x 0.0950 = 3,544,916 kilograms, about 3,544.9 tonnes of CO2e
- Form, diesel: 60,000 litres x 38.2903 = 2,297,418 MJ; x 0.0750 = 172,306 kilograms, about 172.3 tonnes
- Form total: 3,544.9 + 172.3 = 3,717.2 tonnes of CO2e
- Own factors: coal 1,500 tonnes x 1.76 = 2,640 tonnes; diesel 60,000 litres x 2.645 = 158.7 tonnes; total 2,798.7 tonnes
- The form's total is about 33% higher: (3,717.2 minus 2,798.7) divided by 2,798.7

Quantities are an example. Form figures are from the FEM 2024 paper; the current form may differ.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so the coal tonnes and diesel litres bought each month are in one place to total. Its totals can differ from the form's, because the form uses its own table. The self-serve product does not enter anything into the Higg FEM.

- [Higg FEM energy and GHG data](https://senseible.earth/answers/higg-fem-energy-and-emissions-data)
- [Higg FEM line for pet coke and furnace oil](https://senseible.earth/answers/higg-fem-petcoke-furnace-oil-which-energy-line)
- [Higg FEM does not use your grid factor](https://senseible.earth/answers/higg-fem-uses-country-grid-factor-not-yours)

Sources: [Cascale, FEM 2024 Energy and Global Warming Calculations](https://howtohigg.cascale.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FEM-2024-Energy-and-Global-Warming-Calculations.pdf), [Cascale, Higg FEM How to Higg Guide 2026 (English)](https://howtohigg.cascale.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Higg-FEM-How-to-Higg-Guide-2026-October-1st-2026-English-Final.pdf)

Last reviewed 2026-11-07. Factors are from Cascale's FEM 2024 calculations paper; the 2026 guide may use updated tables. The reason given for the coal gap is our own reading, labelled as such. Re-check each cycle.