# How are emissions from making methanol calculated?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/methanol-production-emissions-per-tonne

Use a carbon balance: carbon in the gas or coal fed in, minus carbon leaving in the methanol, is emitted as CO2. Coal-based methanol emits far more than gas-based. Add grid power at 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh. Methanol is not a CBAM good today.

## Carbon balance

1. Carbon in feedstock and fuel, from quantity and carbon content.
2. Minus carbon in methanol and other products sold.
3. The rest, times 44/12, is CO2.

## CBAM

Methanol is not on the CBAM goods list. Hydrogen is, so a methanol plant selling hydrogen should check that stream separately.

## 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.

- [Gas used as feedstock or fuel](https://senseible.earth/answers/kakinada-urea-plant-gas-feedstock-vs-fuel)
- [Answer a chemical PCF request](https://senseible.earth/answers/answer-a-tfs-pcf-request-chemical-supplier)

Sources: [IPCC 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/), [CBAM Regulation (EU) 2023/956, consolidated](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/956/2025-10-20)

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.