# How much CO2 does kaolin (china clay) processing emit per tonne?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/kaolin-china-clay-processing-co2-per-tonne

Washed kaolin goes through slurrying, settling, filter pressing and drying. Drying fuel usually dominates, followed by pumping electricity. Calcined kaolin adds a kiln step that burns far more fuel per tonne, so report the two grades separately.

## Records

- Dryer and kiln fuel by grade.
- Electricity for blungers, pumps and filter presses.
- Tonnes dispatched by grade, dry basis.

## Calcining

Calcining drives off water bound in the clay; it is fuel heavy but not a carbonate, so there is no process CO2 like limestone.

## 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.

- [Ceramic spray dryer CO2](https://senseible.earth/answers/ceramic-spray-dryer-co2-per-tonne-powder)
- [Limestone calcination CO2](https://senseible.earth/answers/process-co2-from-limestone-calcination)

Sources: [IPCC 2006 Guidelines](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/), [CEA CO2 Baseline Database](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-database/?lang=en)

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.