# How much CO2 does a powder coating line emit per square metre coated?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/powder-coating-line-emissions-per-square-metre

Work it out from your own line: add a month's oven and pretreatment fuel (LPG kg x 2.98 or PNG scm x 2.05) and the line's kWh x 0.710, then divide by square metres coated. Add the powder's own footprint per square metre for a product figure. Oven loading drives the result.

## What to measure on the line

- Fuel for the curing oven, drying oven and any heated pretreatment tanks: LPG in kg, PNG in scm or diesel in litres.
- Electricity for booth fans, cyclone recovery, conveyor, compressors and pretreatment pumps. A sub-meter on the line is best; otherwise allocate from the plant meter by connected load and running hours.
- Square metres coated: from the job cards or dispatch records, using the coated surface area of each part, not its footprint on the floor.

## The formula

kg CO2 per m2 = (LPG kg x 2.98 + PNG scm x 2.05 + diesel litres x 2.68 + line kWh x 0.710) / m2 coated.

For a product footprint add powder per m2 x the powder's footprint per kg, from the powder supplier. Powder per m2 is powder issued minus reclaimed powder, divided by m2 coated.

## Why the figure moves from month to month

- Oven loading: an oven at temperature with a half-empty conveyor burns nearly the same fuel for fewer square metres.
- Start-up and idle time: heating up for a short run adds fuel with no output.
- Part mass: heavy castings take more heat to reach curing temperature than thin sheet of the same area.
- Tracking the figure by shift or by job shows which of these is costing you.

## Square metres, kilograms or pieces

Job coaters usually charge per square metre, so per m2 is the natural unit. A component maker answering a buyer may need per piece: multiply the per m2 figure by the coated area of that part. State the unit and whether powder material is included.

## Worked example: one month on an LPG-fired line

- LPG for oven and pretreatment: 3,000 kg x 2.98 = 8,940 kg CO2
- Line electricity: 18,000 kWh x 0.710 = 12,780 kg CO2
- Energy total: 8,940 + 12,780 = 21,720 kg CO2
- Area coated: 40,000 m2
- Energy per m2: 21,720 / 40,000 = 0.543 kg CO2 per m2
- Powder used: 6,000 kg net of reclaim / 40,000 m2 = 0.15 kg per m2, times the supplier's factor

Quantities are illustrative. Replace them with your month's bills and job records.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads the LPG, PNG, diesel and electricity invoices for the line (Scope 1 at IPCC 2006 defaults, Scope 2 at 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh) and keeps powder purchases in a Scope 3 evidence trail. Square metres coated come from your own job records, and product reports are self-declared drafts.

- [Allocating factory electricity to products](https://senseible.earth/answers/how-to-allocate-factory-electricity-to-products)
- [LPG emission factor](https://senseible.earth/emission-factors/lpg)
- [Product carbon footprint calculator](https://senseible.earth/calculators/product-carbon-footprint)

Sources: [2006 IPCC Guidelines, Vol. 2 Energy, Ch. 2 Stationary Combustion](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html), [CEA CO2 Baseline Database](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-database/?lang=en), [ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products](https://www.iso.org)

Last reviewed 2026-10-18.