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Last reviewed September 2026
Authored by Jeremiah Say

Founder and Lead Systems Architect of GreenCalculus. Translates GHG Protocol methodology into high-precision JavaScript calculation engines. Architect of the MasterBrain data layer covering 16,686 sourced emission factors, aligned with IPCC AR6 and the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard.

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Biomass Burning Emission Factors

Biomass burning emission factors dataset: IPCC 2006 Guidelines Volume 4 Chapter 2 — greenhouse-gas and precursor emission factors per kilogram of dry matter burnt by vegetation type, combustion factors and fuel-load defaults, 122 parameters. A subset of the IPCC AFOLU Tier-1 dataset. Source lineage from IPCC Guidelines through the GreenCalculus MasterBrain and REST API/CSV to your biomass-burning emissions total.
MB v2026.203 · updated 22 Sep 2026

Burning vegetation — savanna fires, crop-residue burning, forest fires and fuelwood — releases carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and a range of precursor gases in one event. The IPCC estimates the emissions from three things: how much fuel is available to burn, what fraction of it actually combusts, and how much of each gas that combustion releases per kilogram of dry matter.

This page publishes the complete IPCC biomass-burning parameter set implemented in the GreenCalculus MasterBrain v2026.203 — 122 parameters covering the emission factors for five gases by vegetation type, the combustion factors, and the fuel-load defaults. It is a subset of the IPCC AFOLU Tier-1 emission factors dataset.

Quick Answer

Fire emissions are burnt area × fuel load × combustion factor × an emission factor per gas. Savanna releases about 1,613 g CO2, 2.3 g CH4 and 0.21 g N2O per kg of dry matter burnt. The CO2 is biogenic and usually netted against regrowth.

SourceIPCC 2006 · Vol.4 Ch.2
Metricg gas / kg DM burnt
Parameters122 · 5 gases
GC ImplementationMasterBrain v2026.203
Part ofAFOLU dataset (DOI)

The IPCC biomass-burning model

The IPCC estimates the greenhouse gases from a fire with a single equation combining the three parameter families on this page: the area burnt, the fuel available, the fraction that combusts, and the emission factor for each gas.

The calculation

Lfire = A × MB × Cf × Gef × 10−3

where A is the area burnt (ha), MB the mass of fuel available (t dry matter/ha), Cf the combustion factor (proportion consumed), and Gef the emission factor (g gas per kg dry matter). A × MB × Cf is the mass of dry matter burnt; the 10−3 converts grams to kilograms.

Which gases you count

Biomass CO₂ is biogenic: for savanna, grassland and agricultural-residue burning it is usually assumed to be re-absorbed by regrowth within a year and is not counted (or is netted to zero), whereas methane and nitrous oxide are always reported as real emissions. CO and NOx are precursor gases for air-quality inventories, not direct greenhouse gases. Apply a GWP to the CH₄ (biogenic, AR6 = 27.9) and N₂O (AR6 = 273) to reach CO₂e.

Emission factors (Gef)

The emission factor Gef is the mass of each gas released per kilogram of dry matter burnt, tabulated by vegetation type. CO₂ from vegetation is biogenic (and usually netted against regrowth over time), but the non-CO₂ gases — methane and nitrous oxide especially — are always counted; CO and NOx are precursor gases reported for air-quality inventories.

Biomass burning emission factors Gef (grams of gas per kg dry matter burnt), by vegetation type IPCC 2006 Vol.4 Ch.2 Table 2.5
Vegetation type CO₂ CH₄ CO N₂O NOx
Savanna & grassland 1613 2.3 65 0.21 3.9
Agricultural residues 1515 2.7 92 0.07 2.5
Tropical forest 1580 6.8 104 0.2 1.6
Extratropical forest 1569 4.7 107 0.26 3
Biofuel burning 1550 6.1 78 0.06 1.1

Combustion factors (Cf)

The combustion factor Cf is the proportion of the available fuel that actually burns — higher for light, dry agricultural residues and grassland, lower for dense forest where much of the biomass survives the fire. It varies by vegetation type, fire type and season.

Combustion factors Cf (proportion of prefire fuel consumed), by vegetation and fire type IPCC 2006 Vol.4 Ch.2 Table 2.6
Parameter Value Unit
Combustion factor — Agricultural residues (post-harvest field burning), Maize residues 0.8 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Agricultural residues (post-harvest field burning), Rice residues 0.8 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Agricultural residues (post-harvest field burning), Sugarcane 0.8 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Agricultural residues (post-harvest field burning), Wheat residues 0.9 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — All boreal forest 0.34 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Boreal forest, Crown fire 0.43 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Boreal forest, Land-clearing fire 0.59 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Boreal forest, Post-logging slash burn 0.33 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Boreal forest, Surface fire 0.15 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Boreal forest, Wildfire (general) 0.4 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — All Eucalypt forests 0.63 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Eucalypt forests, Land-clearing fire (felled and burned) 0.49 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Eucalypt forests, Post-logging slash burn 0.68 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Eucalypt forests, Prescribed fire (surface) 0.61 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — All other temperate forests 0.45 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Other temperate forests, Land-clearing fire (felled and burned) 0.51 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Other temperate forests, Post-logging slash burn 0.62 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Other vegetation, Peatland 0.5 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Other vegetation, Tropical wetlands 0.7 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — All primary tropical forests 0.36 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Primary tropical forest, Primary open tropical forest 0.45 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Primary tropical forest, Primary tropical forest 0.32 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Primary tropical forest, Primary tropical moist forest 0.5 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — All savanna grasslands (early dry season burns) 0.74 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Savanna grasslands (early dry season), Tropical/sub-tropical grassland 0.74 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — All savanna grasslands (mid/late dry season burns) 0.77 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Savanna grasslands (mid/late dry season), Savanna 0.86 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Savanna grasslands (mid/late dry season), Tropical pasture (slashed forest residue) 0.35 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Savanna grasslands (mid/late dry season), Tropical/sub-tropical grassland 0.92 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — All savanna woodlands (early dry season burns) 0.4 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Savanna woodlands (early dry season), Other savanna woodlands 0.37 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Savanna woodlands (early dry season), Savanna parkland 0.73 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Savanna woodlands (early dry season), Savanna woodland 0.22 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — All savanna woodlands (mid/late dry season burns) 0.74 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Savanna woodlands (mid/late dry season), Other savanna woodlands 0.68 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Savanna woodlands (mid/late dry season), Savanna parkland 0.82 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Savanna woodlands (mid/late dry season), Savanna woodland 0.72 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Savanna woodlands (mid/late dry season), Tropical savanna 0.73 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Secondary tropical forest, Advanced (14-17 yrs) 0.5 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — All secondary tropical forests 0.55 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Secondary tropical forest, Intermediate (6-10 yrs) 0.67 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Secondary tropical forest, Young (3-5 yrs) 0.46 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — All Shrublands 0.72 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Shrublands, Calluna heath 0.71 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Shrublands, Fynbos 0.61 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — Shrublands, Shrubland (general) 0.95 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)
Combustion factor — All Tertiary tropical forest 0.59 dimensionless (proportion of prefire fuel consumed)

Fuel load (mass of fuel available, MB)

The mass of fuel available for combustion MB is the biomass (live and dead) that could burn, in tonnes of dry matter per hectare, by vegetation type and condition. Multiplied by the combustion factor it gives the mass actually burnt per hectare.

Fuel load MB — mass of fuel available for combustion (tonnes dry matter per hectare), by vegetation type IPCC 2006 Vol.4 Ch.2 Table 2.4
Parameter Value Unit
Fuel biomass consumption — Agricultural residues (post-harvest field burning), Maize residues 10 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Agricultural residues (post-harvest field burning), Rice residues 5.5 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Agricultural residues (post-harvest field burning), Sugarcane 6.5 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Agricultural residues (post-harvest field burning), Wheat residues 4 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — All boreal forest 41 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Boreal forest, Crown fire 25.1 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Boreal forest, Land-clearing fire 87.5 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Boreal forest, Post-logging slash burn 69.6 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Boreal forest, Surface fire 21.6 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Boreal forest, Wildfire (general) 52.8 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — All Eucalypt forests 69.4 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Eucalypt forests, Land-clearing fire (felled, wood removed, burned) 132.6 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Eucalypt forests, Post-logging slash burn 168.4 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Eucalypt forests, Prescribed fire (surface) 16 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Eucalypt forests, Wildfire 53 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — All other temperate forests 50.4 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Other temperate forests, Land-clearing fire (felled and burned) 48.4 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Other temperate forests, Post-logging slash burn 77.5 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Other temperate forests, Wildfire 19.8 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Other vegetation, Peatland 41 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Other vegetation, Tundra 10 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — All primary tropical forests 119.6 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Primary tropical forest, Primary open tropical forest 163.6 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Primary tropical forest, Primary tropical forest 83.9 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Primary tropical forest, Primary tropical moist forest 160.4 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — All savanna grasslands (early dry season burns) 2.1 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Savanna grasslands (early dry season), Tropical/sub-tropical grassland 2.1 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — All savanna grasslands (mid/late dry season burns) 10 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Savanna grasslands (mid/late dry season), Grassland 4.1 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Savanna grasslands (mid/late dry season), Savanna 7 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Savanna grasslands (mid/late dry season), Tropical pasture (slashed forest residue) 23.7 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Savanna grasslands (mid/late dry season), Tropical/sub-tropical grassland 5.2 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — All savanna woodlands (early dry season burns) 2.6 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Savanna woodlands (early dry season), Savanna parkland 2.7 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Savanna woodlands (early dry season), Savanna woodland 2.5 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — All savanna woodlands (mid/late dry season burns) 4.6 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Savanna woodlands (mid/late dry season), Other savanna woodlands 5.3 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Savanna woodlands (mid/late dry season), Savanna parkland 4 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Savanna woodlands (mid/late dry season), Savanna woodland 3.3 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Savanna woodlands (mid/late dry season), Tropical savanna 6 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Secondary tropical forest, Advanced (14-17 yrs) 46.4 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — All secondary tropical forests 42.2 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Secondary tropical forest, Intermediate (6-10 yrs) 41.1 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Secondary tropical forest, Young (3-5 yrs) 8.1 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — All Shrublands 14.3 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Shrublands, Calluna heath 11.5 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Shrublands, Fynbos 12.9 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Shrublands, Sagebrush 5.7 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — Shrublands, Shrubland (general) 26.7 tonnes dry matter per hectare
Fuel biomass consumption — All Tertiary tropical forest 54.1 tonnes dry matter per hectare

Application — formula & worked example

The calculation

mass burnt (kg) = A × MB × Cf × 1000, then per gas kg gas = mass burnt × Gef ÷ 1000, then CO₂e = kg gas × GWP.

A savanna fire. One hectare of savanna grassland with a fuel load MB = 4.1 t d.m./ha and combustion factor Cf = 0.9 burns 4.1 × 0.9 = 3.69 t = 3,690 kg of dry matter. Methane: 3,690 × 2.3 ÷ 1000 = 8.49 kg CH₄ → at AR6 (27.9) 237 kg CO₂e. Nitrous oxide: 3,690 × 0.21 ÷ 1000 = 0.775 kg N₂O → at AR6 (273) 212 kg CO₂e. Non-CO₂ total ≈ 449 kg CO₂e per hectare.

The CO₂ you don’t add. The same fire also releases 3,690 × 1,613 ÷ 1000 ≈ 5,950 kg of biogenic CO₂, but for savanna that carbon is taken to be re-fixed by the next season’s regrowth, so it is netted to zero in the inventory — the reportable warming impact is the methane and nitrous oxide.

Framework requirements

Biomass-burning emissions are a Scope 1 emission for the operation managing the land, and appear across the Agriculture and Land categories in national inventories (savanna burning, field burning of agricultural residues, and fire in the land categories).

Where the biomass-burning factors apply
Framework Role Basis
IPCC 2006 National Inventories Agriculture & Land — biomass burning (CRF 3C1, 3B/3C) These ARE the methods
IPCC 2019 Refinement Updated fire and vegetation defaults Refines the 2006 fire method
GHG Protocol Corporate Standard Scope 1 (land management & burning) IPCC methods; GWP per latest assessment

Common reporting errors

  1. Counting biogenic CO₂ that regrows. For savanna, grassland and agricultural-residue burning the CO₂ is assumed re-absorbed by regrowth and netted to zero — the reportable emissions are CH₄ and N₂O. (Where vegetation does not regrow, the CO₂ loss belongs under land-use change, not here.)
  2. Reporting grams as kilograms. The emission factors are grams of gas per kilogram of dry matter; divide by 1,000 to get kilograms of gas.
  3. Forgetting the combustion factor. Not all available fuel burns — multiply the fuel load by Cf before applying the emission factor, or you overstate the emission.
  4. Using a fossil-methane GWP. Fire methane is biogenic — use the biogenic CH₄ GWP (AR6 = 27.9), and N₂O = 273; disclose the assessment.
  5. Applying one vegetation’s factors to another. Emission factors, combustion factors and fuel loads all vary by vegetation type — forest, savanna and agricultural residues differ substantially.
  6. Ignoring fire type and season. Combustion factors depend on fire type (crown vs surface) and on early- vs late-dry-season burning — use the matching value.
  7. Double-counting with land-use change. The combustion emission (this dataset) is distinct from the carbon-stock loss of a permanent land conversion — account for each once.
  8. Treating CO and NOx as greenhouse gases. They are precursor/air-quality pollutants, reported separately — they do not carry a GWP and are not added to the CO₂e total.

Methodology, boundaries & uncertainty

What this dataset is. The IPCC biomass-burning parameter set — emission factors for five gases (CO₂, CH₄, CO, N₂O, NOx) by vegetation type, combustion factors, and fuel-load defaults — from IPCC 2006 Guidelines Vol.4 Ch.2 (generic methodologies), as implemented in the GreenCalculus MasterBrain. Part of the IPCC AFOLU Tier-1 dataset.

Boundary. Gases released by the combustion of vegetation and residues, reported in Scope 1. The reportable greenhouse gases are CH₄ and N₂O (and CO₂ where the vegetation does not regrow). Excludes the carbon-stock change of a permanent land conversion (see the land-use change and forest-land datasets) and energy-use CO₂.

Rounding policy. Values are reproduced at IPCC precision. Emission factors are grams of gas per kilogram of dry matter; combustion factors are dimensionless; fuel loads are tonnes of dry matter per hectare.

Uncertainty. Fire parameters are highly variable — fuel loads and combustion factors can vary by a factor of two or more with fuel condition, moisture and fire behaviour, and emission factors carry substantial spread. Tier-1 defaults suit national and screening estimates; measured or region-specific values are expected where burning is a key category.

Applicability. Vegetation-type defaults; match the vegetation, fire type and season, and use measured fuel loads where available.

Implementation & provenance chain

  1. Primary source — IPCC 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 4 (AFOLU), Chapter 2 (Generic methodologies applicable to multiple land-use categories), Tables 2.4–2.6 (fuel load, combustion factor, emission factor).
  2. MasterBrain — each parameter is curated under a stable afolu.biomass_burning.* key with its source reference and GHG scope/category; current version v2026.203 (2026-09-22).
  3. REST & CSV — the /afolu-biomass-burning-factors endpoint projects these rows as JSON; the CSV button below serves the identical set.
  4. Calculators — GreenCalculus land-sector tools read the same keys, so a published inventory and this page cannot diverge.
  5. Update plan — static reference; revalued on a new IPCC refinement to the AFOLU biomass-burning method. Logged in the version history and bumps the dataset version.

Data access — REST API & CSV

The full 122-row dataset is available as a machine-readable REST endpoint and as a flat CSV download — the same rows shown above, versioned and citable.

JSON — REST API
All 122 biomass-burning parameters with keys, values, units, gas, GHG scope/category and source references. Cache-Control: max-age=3600; X-GC-Version header signals dataset updates.

/wp-json/greencalculus/v1/afolu-biomass-burning-factors

Open API endpoint →

CSV — flat dataset
Flat CSV of all 122 rows (key, name, value, unit, gas, GHG scope/category, source, note) — ready for spreadsheet import.

Click to generate ↓

Citation guidance

Cite the IPCC primary source. These factors are a subset of the GreenCalculus IPCC AFOLU Tier-1 dataset, which holds the citable DOI — cite the parent dataset, not a separate biomass-burning DOI.

IPCC (2006). 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 4: Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use, Chapter 2 (Generic methodologies applicable to multiple land-use categories), §2.4 (biomass burning). Prepared by the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme, IGES, Japan.

IPCC 2006 Guidelines Vol.4 primary citation

Say, Jeremiah (2026). IPCC AFOLU Tier-1 emission factors (machine-readable). GreenCalculus. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20621658

Parent dataset DOI — includes the biomass-burning subset

Browse the full IPCC AFOLU Tier-1 emission factors dataset, of which this page is a part.

Frequently asked questions

With the IPCC fire equation L = A × MB × Cf × Gef. The burnt area (A) times the fuel load (MB, tonnes dry matter per hectare) times the combustion factor (Cf, the fraction that actually burns) gives the mass of dry matter combusted; multiplying by the emission factor for each gas (Gef, grams per kilogram) gives the emission of that gas.

Usually not, for vegetation that regrows. Savanna, grassland and agricultural-residue fires release biogenic CO₂ that is taken to be re-absorbed as the vegetation grows back within a year, so it nets to zero in the inventory. What is always counted is the methane and nitrous oxide, which are not part of that fast carbon cycle. Where vegetation does not regrow — permanent deforestation — the CO₂ loss is captured as a land-use-change carbon-stock change instead.

It is the proportion of the available fuel that actually burns in a fire — a dimensionless number between 0 and 1. Light, dry agricultural residues and grassland burn almost completely (0.8–0.9), while dense forest burns only partially (as low as ~0.3) because much of the biomass is too large or too moist to combust. It depends on vegetation type, fire type and season.

Apply the biogenic methane GWP (AR6 = 27.9) to the CH₄ and the nitrous-oxide GWP (AR6 = 273) to the N₂O, then sum to CO₂e; disclose the assessment (AR5 or AR6). CO and NOx are precursor gases without a GWP and are not added to the CO₂e total. See the IPCC AR6 GWP values dataset.

Because fuel chemistry and how completely it burns differ. Smouldering, incomplete combustion — more common in dense, moist forest fuels — produces relatively more methane and carbon monoxide, while hotter, more complete savanna fires produce relatively more CO₂ and less methane per kilogram. The IPCC therefore tabulates a separate set of emission factors for savanna, agricultural residues, tropical forest, extratropical forest and biofuel.

Carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides are included in the dataset because fires are a major source of them and they matter for air quality and atmospheric chemistry. They are precursor gases, not direct greenhouse gases, so they do not carry a global warming potential and are reported separately rather than added to the CO₂e total.

The same emission, combustion and fuel-load factors apply to any vegetation fire, managed or wild. Whether a given fire falls inside your inventory boundary is a scoping question — national inventories report managed-land fires (including controlled savanna burning and field burning of residues), and the treatment of wildfire on managed land follows the relevant guidance. The factors here let you quantify the emission once the fire is in scope.

No — it is a subset. The biomass-burning factors here are part of the GreenCalculus IPCC AFOLU Tier-1 emission factors dataset, which carries the single citable Zenodo DOI. This page presents the biomass-burning portion in full with its own machine-readable endpoint and CSV, but for citation you reference the parent AFOLU dataset DOI, not a separate biomass-burning DOI.

Version history

Substantive revisions to this dataset reference page
Version Date MasterBrain Summary
1.0 2026-07-21 v2026.59 Initial publication. Complete IPCC 2006 Vol.4 Ch.2 biomass-burning parameter set (122 parameters): emission factors for five gases by vegetation type, combustion factors and fuel-load defaults. Formula, worked example, framework mapping, 8-item FAQ, REST + CSV access. Subset of the IPCC AFOLU Tier-1 dataset.

Explore the full AFOLU dataset

Biomass burning is one part of the IPCC AFOLU Tier-1 emission factors — the parent dataset also covers enteric fermentation, manure management, agricultural soils, rice cultivation, land-use change and forest land, all with machine-readable access and the citable DOI.

Primary source. IPCC (2006). 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 4: Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use, Ch.2 (Generic methodologies), §2.4 (biomass burning), Tables 2.4–2.6. National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme, IGES, Japan. Available at: ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp. Licence: CC BY 4.0.

Reporting basis. Emission factors g gas per kg dry matter; combustion factors dimensionless; fuel loads t dry matter per hectare. Reportable greenhouse gases are CH₄ and N₂O (biogenic CO₂ netted against regrowth for regrowing vegetation); CO and NOx are precursors. Scope 1 land-management emissions.

GreenCalculus implementation. MasterBrain v2026.203 (2026-09-22). All 122 parameters reproduced cell-for-cell from IPCC 2006 Vol.4 Ch.2, verified against the MasterBrain data layer by Jeremiah Say, July 2026. Part of the IPCC AFOLU Tier-1 dataset (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20621658). Revalued on a new IPCC refinement.

Disclaimer. Published for reference and calculation. Apply the combustion factor, count CH₄ and N₂O (netting biogenic CO₂ where vegetation regrows), match the vegetation and fire type, and disclose the GWP basis before finalising your methodology.

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