# Which gases must Scope 3 cover, and what happens to biogenic CO2 from a supplier's biomass boiler?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/scope-3-six-gases-and-biogenic-separate

Scope 3 covers six gases where they are emitted in the value chain: CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, HFCs, PFCs and SF6. CO2 from a supplier burning biomass stays out of your Scope 3 total but must appear separately in your public report. The boiler's methane and nitrous oxide stay in.

## The six gases

The Scope 3 Standard requires CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, HFCs, PFCs and SF6 wherever they occur in the value chain. Other gases with IPCC 100-year GWP values, such as NF3, are optional and listed if you include them. If you also file in India, check BRSR's own gas list rather than assuming it matches.

## What "separately" means for biomass CO2

- CO2 from burning or decomposing biomass is not counted in any scope.
- It must still be reported, per category, as its own line in the public report.
- The rule covers that CO2 only. Methane and nitrous oxide from the same boiler count in the category total.
- Other emissions in the biomass chain also count: diesel to haul briquettes, power to make them.

## Removals are not netted

Carbon taken up by trees or crops in your value chain is not subtracted from Scope 3. You may report it on a separate line. The standard's own example: a transporter running on diesel and biodiesel puts the diesel in Category 4, the biodiesel CO2 on the separate line, and no removal from growing the biodiesel crop in Scope 3.

## What to ask a supplier with a biomass boiler

- Fuel tonnes by type, fossil and biomass kept apart.
- Methane and nitrous oxide from the boiler, in CO2e.
- Biogenic CO2 as a separate figure, split to your purchases on the same basis as the rest.
- Fuel invoices or a fuel register that back the tonnes.

## Worked example: a supplier's share for your orders

- Boiler on rice husk briquettes: methane and nitrous oxide 1.9 t CO2e; biogenic CO2 72 t
- Diesel to haul the briquettes: 4.0 t CO2
- Into your Category 1 total: 1.9 + 4.0 = 5.9 t CO2e
- Separate line in your report: 72 t biogenic CO2, not added to any scope

Example figures for the supplier's share. The point is where each number goes, not its size.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads a supplier's fuel invoices line by line, so fossil fuel and biomass purchases show as separate lines with their quantities. Where it has no published factor for a fuel, it shows no figure rather than a guess.

- [Scope 3 supplier evidence](https://senseible.earth/scope-3-supplier-evidence)
- [Biomass boiler methane and N2O](https://senseible.earth/answers/biomass-boiler-ch4-n2o-still-scope-1)
- [Evidence for biomass fuel](https://senseible.earth/answers/biomass-fuel-supplier-evidence)
- [Which gases BRSR asks for](https://senseible.earth/answers/brsr-which-greenhouse-gases-to-include)
- [What a Scope 3 report must show](https://senseible.earth/answers/scope-3-required-public-report-items)

Sources: [GHG Protocol, Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, sections 6.2 (boundary requirements), 6.5 (biogenic emissions and removals, example 6.1) and 11.1](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-31.