# Is diesel burned in a rented generator during load shedding our Scope 1 or Scope 3?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/rented-diesel-generator-scope-1-or-scope-3

Under the operational control approach, which most companies use, it is your Scope 1 if your people run the rented generator and you buy the diesel, even though you do not own it. It becomes Scope 3 Category 8 only if you use a boundary approach that leaves the leased asset out, such as financial control with an operating lease.

## Ownership does not decide the scope

The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard sets the boundary by control, not by who holds the title. Under operational control, an asset you lease and operate is treated as yours, so its fuel combustion is Scope 1. The Standard's guidance on leased assets (Appendix F) covers this case.

## Decide by how the rental works

- You rent the set, your staff start and run it, and you buy the diesel: Scope 1 under operational control.
- A vendor brings the set with its own operator and fuel and bills you per kWh supplied: you are buying electricity, so report it as Scope 2, calculated from the vendor's fuel use per kWh where you can get it.
- You use financial control or equity share and hold the set on an operating lease: Scope 3 Category 8, upstream leased assets.
- The generator belongs to your landlord and serves a shared building: follow the lease and your boundary approach; see the leased factory guidance.

## Do not count it twice

If the diesel is in Scope 1, it does not also go in Category 8. Category 8 is only for leased assets not already in your Scope 1 and 2. Once you choose a treatment, apply it to every rented set across all sites and every year.

## What to keep as evidence

- Fuel slips or invoices in litres, dated within the reporting period.
- The rental agreement, which shows who operates the set and who supplies fuel.
- Run-hour logs, useful when one fuel purchase covers several sets or sites.

## Worked example: one month of load shedding

- Diesel bought for the rented set: 2,000 L
- Factor: 2.68 kg CO2 per litre (IPCC 2006 default for diesel)
- 2,000 x 2.68 = 5,360 kg CO2, 5.36 tonnes, reported as Scope 1 under operational control

Methane and nitrous oxide from diesel combustion add a small amount on top of the CO2 figure; include them if your report uses CO2e.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel slips and invoices in litres and counts diesel at 2.68 kg CO2 per litre as Scope 1. Choosing the boundary approach, and moving a rented set to Category 8 if your approach requires it, is your decision.

- [Diesel generator: Scope 1 or Scope 2](https://senseible.earth/answers/diesel-generator-scope-1-or-scope-2)
- [Leased factory: which scope](https://senseible.earth/answers/leased-factory-emissions-which-scope)
- [Diesel emission factor](https://senseible.earth/emission-factors/diesel)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Corporate Standard (2004), chapter 3 and Appendix F, leased assets](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard), [GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard (2011), Category 8](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard), [2006 IPCC Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html)

Last reviewed 2026-10-15.