# Which emits less: laser, plasma or gas cutting of steel?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/laser-plasma-gas-cutting-emissions-compared

Laser and plasma run on electricity, so their emissions sit in Scope 2 at 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh. Gas cutting burns acetylene or LPG, which is Scope 1, plus bought oxygen in Scope 3. Compare per metre cut at your plate thickness, from meter readings and gas invoices.

## What each uses

- Laser: electricity for the source and chiller; assist gas such as nitrogen or oxygen.
- Plasma: electricity and compressed air or gas.
- Gas cutting: acetylene (about 3.38 kg CO2 per kg burned) or LPG (2.98 kg CO2 per kg), plus oxygen.

## Thickness matters

Gas cutting is often used on very thick plate where other methods are slow. Compare on the jobs you actually cut.

## How to measure

1. Log metres cut per machine for a month.
2. Read kWh from a sub-meter, and gas from cylinder invoices.
3. Divide each by metres cut.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills and applies IPCC 2006 factors and the CEA grid factor (0.710 kg CO2 per kWh), so you can compare Scope 1 and 2 before and after a change from the documents themselves.

- [Acetylene cylinder CO2](https://senseible.earth/answers/acetylene-gas-cylinder-co2)
- [Industrial gases in Scope 3](https://senseible.earth/answers/industrial-gases-oxygen-nitrogen-scope-3)
- [Inverter welding machine](https://senseible.earth/answers/inverter-welding-machine-vs-transformer-welder)

Sources: [2006 IPCC Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html), [CEA CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-database/?lang=en), [GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.