# How much gas and electricity does a Morbi tile unit use for each square metre of tile, and how much carbon dioxide is that?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/morbi-tile-gas-and-power-per-square-metre

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) Morbi manual prints 1.51 to 2.11 standard cubic metres (scm) of gas and 3.71 to 5.01 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity for each square metre of vitrified tile, and 1.28 to 1.8 scm and 1.51 to 1.92 kWh for wall and floor tile.

## First, the units in plain words

A standard cubic metre (scm) is the amount of gas that fills a box one metre long, one metre wide and one metre high, measured at a fixed standard temperature and pressure so that every bill counts the same way. Your gas bill shows it.

A kilowatt hour (kWh) is one unit on your electricity bill.

Carbon dioxide is the gas that leaves a chimney whenever fuel is burnt, and the one buyers ask you to count. Gas and power are counted differently, so the page keeps them apart.

## What the manual prints

- Vitrified tile, the glass-hard floor tile that is polished after firing: 3.71 to 5.01 kWh and 1.51 to 2.11 scm for each square metre.
- Wall and floor tile together: 1.51 to 1.92 kWh and 1.28 to 1.8 scm for each square metre.
- Sanitary ware, counted by the tonne: 57 to 128 kWh and 81.48 to 110 scm for each tonne.
- The manual says the figures come from data the units gave, and that solid fuel is converted to the gas it would equal. My reading: the gas column therefore covers spray dryer and dryer heat, not only the kiln.

## Turning the ranges into carbon dioxide

Multiply gas by the factor for piped natural gas, 2.05 kilograms of carbon dioxide for each scm, and electricity by 0.675 kilograms for each kWh (the grid factor for financial year (FY) 2025-26). The two columns then add. The low ends are added to each other and so are the high ends, so each total is a band, not a promise for any one unit.

The gas factor only fits gas. If your spray dryer burns lignite or coal, the manual's gas-equivalent column hides that, and 2.05 is the wrong factor for the solid fuel share. Use your own fuel invoices for that part.

## Do not set this beside the kiln-only figure

The same study's polishing report says kiln gas alone runs 1.01 to 1.4 scm for each square metre of tile. That is lower than the 1.28 to 1.8 above for wall and floor tile. The manual does not say why, or which tile type the kiln-only range is for; set against the vitrified range of 1.51 to 2.11 it is also lower. My reading, not the manual's, is that the larger table also counts the spray dryer and the dryer. Quote the one that matches the meter you have.

## Before you quote it

- These are 2009 to 2010 audit figures. Kilns, burners and fuel mix have changed since.
- Use the ranges to sense-check your own bills. A figure far outside the range is a reason to look at the meters, not proof of an error.
- Divide by square metres packed and sold, not square metres pressed.

## A wall tile unit, example numbers

- Example month: 90,000 square metres of wall tile packed (an example, not a Morbi average)
- Gas at 1.28 to 1.8 scm: 115,200 to 162,000 scm
- Gas carbon dioxide at 2.05: 236,160 to 332,100 kg
- Power at 1.51 to 1.92 kWh: 135,900 to 172,800 kWh
- Power carbon dioxide at 0.675: 91,733 to 116,640 kg
- Together: 327.9 to 448.7 tonnes, or 3.64 to 4.99 kg for each square metre

Per square metre, the same factors give vitrified tile 5.60 to 7.71 kg and wall and floor tile 3.64 to 4.99 kg. Sanitary ware comes to about 205.5 to 311.9 kg for each tonne. These are energy only, from the manual's ranges, at today's factors. If part of the heat is solid fuel, the carbon dioxide at 2.05 is not right for that part.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so a unit's own gas, oil and power lines are on file to set beside the report's figures. It does not measure a kiln or replace an audit.

- [Morbi kiln and spray dryer gas per square metre](https://senseible.earth/answers/morbi-tile-kiln-gas-carbon-per-square-metre)
- [Carbon footprint of ceramic tiles per square metre](https://senseible.earth/answers/ceramic-tile-carbon-footprint-per-square-metre)
- [Morbi cluster energy and carbon](https://senseible.earth/answers/morbi-ceramic-cluster-carbon-footprint)
- [Calculators](https://senseible.earth/calculators)

Sources: [BEE, Manual on Energy Conservation Measures in Ceramic Industry, Morbi cluster (SAMEEEKSHA)](https://sameeeksha.org/pdf/clusterprofile/Morbi_Ceramic_Cluster.pdf), [BEE, Detailed project report: energy conservation in polishing section, Morbi (SAMEEEKSHA)](https://sameeeksha.org/pdf/dpr/MRV_CRM3.pdf), [IPCC, 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, 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-view?mappingId=234&lang=en)

Last reviewed 2026-11-07. Ranges are from BEE's 2009 to 2010 Morbi audits (manual dated April 2010), table 7. Gas factor from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 defaults; grid factor from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) for FY 2025-26. Check both for the year you report.