# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of steel wire rope?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/steel-wire-rope-carbon-footprint-per-tonne

Start with the wire rod per tonne of rope and the steel supplier's figure. Add drawing, galvanising if used, stranding, closing and lubrication energy, then divide the plant's energy by tonnes dispatched.

## Material

- High carbon steel wire rod.
- Zinc for galvanised ropes.
- Fibre or steel core and lubricant.

## Process

- Drawing rod into wire with heat treatment.
- Galvanising.
- Stranding, closing and lubrication.

## Per tonne

Report per tonne by construction and finish. Galvanised rope adds zinc and the galvanising line.

## Worked example: plant energy per tonne (one month)

- Electricity: 200,000 kWh x 0.710 = 142,000 kg CO2
- PNG: 15,000 SCM x 2.05 = 30,750 kg CO2
- Tonnes dispatched: 3,000
- Plant total: 172,750 / 3,000 = 57.6 kg CO2 per tonne
- Add wire rod and zinc for the full figure

Inputs are illustrative; use your own bills and production records.

## 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.

- [Product carbon footprint calculator](https://senseible.earth/calculators/product-carbon-footprint)
- [Steel wire drawing footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/steel-wire-drawing-carbon-footprint-per-tonne)
- [Hot-dip galvanizing footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/hot-dip-galvanizing-carbon-footprint-per-tonne)
- [Synthetic rope footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/synthetic-rope-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Steel industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/steel)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Product Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/standards), [ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org)](https://www.iso.org), [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults)](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html), [CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-database/?lang=en)

Last reviewed 2026-10-21.