# What raw materials and carbon dioxide does the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change count per tonne of calcium carbide?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/ipcc-calcium-carbide-materials-and-co2-per-tonne

Per tonne of calcium carbide the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 Guidelines list 1,750 kilograms of limestone, 640 kilograms of petroleum coke and 20 kilograms of carbon electrodes. Its default is 1.09 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the coke, plus 1.10 where the carbide is later used.

## The mass balance in the guide

To make 1 tonne of carbide, the guide gives 1,750 kilograms of limestone (or 950 kilograms of calcium oxide), 640 kilograms of petroleum coke and 20 kilograms of carbon electrodes. Limestone is about 98 percent calcium carbonate, and the guide says its CO2 is accounted for elsewhere.

## The two defaults

- Petroleum coke use: 1.70 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of coke, which is 1.090 per tonne of carbide (640 kilograms x 1.70 = 1.088).
- The 1.09 covers petroleum coke only: the guide lists the 20 kilograms of electrodes but gives no CO2 figure for them.
- Use of the product, as acetylene: 1.100 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of carbide. It is not given per tonne of raw material.
- The guide says the coke factor is higher than the stoichiometric figure because excess carbon is oxidised in the process. It comes from a Norwegian plant's actual raw material use, and the acetylene figure from the actual carbon content of carbide.
- It notes CO2 can be lowered by using the gas to make dicyanodiamide.

## Who owns each part

On our reading, the 1.09 from coke is released in your furnace, so it is your Scope 1; the guide itself does not assign scopes. The 1.10 is released where the carbide is used to make acetylene, at the buyer's plant, so it is not part of your furnace figure. If you run your own lime kiln, count the limestone CO2 once, in the kiln line, using your lime tonnes and the lime factor, and do not add it again here.

## A plant making 10,000 tonnes of carbide a year (example output)

- Coke: 10,000 x 1.090 = 10,900 tonnes of CO2 (6,400 tonnes of coke x 1.70 = 10,880)
- Limestone via own kiln: 950 kilograms of calcium oxide x 0.785 = about 746 kilograms per tonne, so 7,460 tonnes, counted in the kiln line
- Electricity is on top of this, from the furnace meter and bills

Output is an example number. The 0.785 is tonnes of CO2 per tonne of calcium oxide, from the guide's lime table.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so the petroleum coke, fuel and furnace power are on file month by month. Limestone and electrode tonnes come from your stock records.

- [Free calculators](https://senseible.earth/calculators)
- [Calcium carbide furnace emissions per tonne](https://senseible.earth/answers/calcium-carbide-furnace-emissions-per-tonne)
- [Default emission factor for lime, by lime type](https://senseible.earth/answers/ipcc-lime-default-emission-factors-by-lime-type)
- [Silicon carbide furnace CO2 per tonne](https://senseible.earth/answers/silicon-carbide-acheson-furnace-co2-per-tonne)

Sources: [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 3 chapter 3: Chemical Industry Emissions, section 3.6 (Table 3.8)](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/pdf/3_Volume3/V3_3_Ch3_Chemical_Industry.pdf), [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 3 chapter 2: Mineral Industry Emissions (lime, 0.785 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of calcium oxide)](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/pdf/3_Volume3/V3_2_Ch2_Mineral_Industry.pdf)

Last reviewed 2026-11-04. Factors are from the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, which cite the 1996 revised guidelines. Replace them with your own coke and furnace records where a buyer accepts that.