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IPCC Industrial-Process (IPPU) Emission Factors — Complete Reference

Last reviewed September 2026

IPCC Industrial-Process (IPPU) Emission Factors — Complete Reference

IPCC industrial process and product use emission factors dataset: 224 factors covering cement and lime calcination, glass and ceramics, ammonia, nitric and adipic acid, petrochemicals, iron and steel, ferroalloys, aluminium smelting and fluorinated gases — reported per gas across CO2, N2O, CH4, CF4, C2F6, C3F8, HFC-23 and SF6 from IPCC 2006 Volume 3 and the 2019 Refinement, flowing through the GreenCalculus MasterBrain and REST API/CSV to your Scope 1 process total. — MasterBrain v2026.284 · updated 6 Nov 2026

Some emissions come out of a chemical reaction rather than out of a flue. When limestone is calcined to make cement, the CO₂ released is a product of the chemistry itself — it would happen even if the kiln ran on renewable electricity. The IPCC calls this sector IPPU, industrial processes and product use, and it is where a heavy-industry inventory is usually won or lost.

This page publishes the complete IPPU factor set held in MasterBrain: 224 parameters drawn from IPCC 2006 Guidelines Volume 3 and the 2019 Refinement, spanning the mineral, chemical and metal industries plus non-energy products and the carbonate stoichiometry underlying them all.

These factors are per gas, not CO₂e

Unlike a DEFRA-style conversion factor, nothing here is pre-converted to carbon dioxide equivalent. Eight gases appear — CO₂, N₂O, CH₄, CF₄, C₂F₆, C₃F₈, HFC-23 and SF₆ — and each factor stays in the units of the gas it describes. You apply the global warming potential your reporting framework requires. This matters enormously for the non-CO₂ categories: a nitric acid plant emitting 450 tonnes of N₂O is emitting about 273 [GreenCalculus gwp.N2O.ar6_100 · IPCC AR6 WGI Ch 7 Table 7.SM.7 (2021) — AR6 GWP-100 · v2026.284] × that mass in CO₂e terms. Treating a raw N₂O or PFC figure as though it were already CO₂e understates those categories by two orders of magnitude.

For developers

Get this dataset as JSON

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curl https://greencalculus.com/wp-json/greencalculus/v1/ippu-factors

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What counts as a process emission

A process emission arises from the chemical or physical transformation of a material, not from burning a fuel to supply heat. The distinction is not academic: the two are counted separately, use different factors, and respond to completely different mitigation measures.

Cement is the clearest case. A cement kiln emits CO₂ twice over. It burns fuel to reach 1,450 °C, and that combustion is ordinary stationary combustion. It also drives limestone to decompose — CaCO₃ becomes CaO plus CO₂ — and that release is inherent to making clinker at all. Decarbonising the kiln fuel eliminates the first and leaves the second untouched, which is why the calcination term is the hard part of cement decarbonisation and why it needs its own factor.

The same pattern recurs across the sector: ammonia and hydrogen release CO₂ from the feedstock rather than the fuel; nitric and adipic acid release N₂O from the reaction chemistry; aluminium smelting releases perfluorocarbons during anode effects; and lubricants and paraffin wax oxidise in use rather than being burned as fuel at all.

Where IPPU sits in your inventory

Process emissions from equipment you own or control are Scope 1, exactly like combustion. But they are a distinct category within Scope 1, and both the GHG Protocol and every national inventory expect them reported separately from stationary and mobile combustion.

Process versus combustion emissions at the same facility
	Process (IPPU)	Combustion
Cause	Chemical or physical transformation of the material	Oxidation of a fuel to supply energy
Driver	Tonnes of product or feedstock	Energy or fuel consumed
Scope	Scope 1, reported as a separate category	Scope 1, stationary or mobile combustion
Factor basis	Per gas — this page	CO₂e or per gas — IPCC fuel combustion factors
Fuel switching	No effect — the chemistry is unchanged	Directly reduces the emission

A facility that reports only fuel combustion is not reporting a partial figure — for cement, lime and ammonia it is omitting the majority of the emission.

Two IPCC editions in one table

This dataset draws on both current IPCC sources, and the split is clean rather than overlapping.

Source editions
Edition	Rows	Covers
IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Vol.3	170	The mineral, chemical and metal industries, non-energy products from fuels, and carbonate stoichiometry
IPCC 2019 Refinement	54	Categories the Refinement added or revised — aluminium PFCs, hydrogen production, rare earths, plus updated nitric-acid and fluorochemical factors

Where the Refinement supersedes a 2006 value, both are published rather than silently merged: national inventories still report on the edition their submission requires, and a value cannot be traced if the edition it came from has been erased. The source_id field in the API response distinguishes them on every row.

The factor tables

All 224 parameters, grouped by IPPU domain. Each row carries its own gas and its own unit — units are process-specific here rather than uniform, so read the unit column on every row.

Mineral industry — 30 rows

Cement, lime, glass and ceramics — CO₂ released when carbonates are calcined.

Mineral industry — IPCC industrial-process emission factors
Category	Process / parameter	Gas	Value	Unit
Carbonate other	Other process uses of carbonates — Tier 1 default limestone/dolomite blend	CO₂	0.44535	tonne CO₂ per tonne carbonate (85/15 blend)
Cement	Cement clinker fraction — Masonry cement default	—	0.64	tonne clinker per tonne cement
Cement	Cement clinker fraction — Portland cement default	—	0.95	tonne clinker per tonne cement
Cement	Cement clinker — base emission factor (uncorrected for CKD)	CO₂	0.51	tonne CO₂ per tonne clinker
Cement	Cement clinker — default CaO content fraction	—	0.65	tonne CaO per tonne clinker
Cement	Cement clinker — MgO carbonate-source correction (per 1% MgO)	CO₂	0.011	tonne CO₂ per tonne clinker per 1% MgO from carbonate
Cement	Cement clinker — Tier 1 default emission factor (CKD-corrected)	CO₂	0.52	tonne CO₂ per tonne clinker
Cement	Cement kiln dust (CKD) — default correction factor	CO₂	1.02	dimensionless multiplier
Ceramics	Ceramics — default carbonate content of clay	CO₂	0.1	tonne carbonate per tonne clay
Ceramics	Ceramics — default clay-loss multiplier (Tier 1)	CO₂	1.1	dimensionless multiplier
Glass	Glass production — Container (Amber/Green) (Tier 2)	CO₂	0.21	tonne CO₂ per tonne glass melted
Glass	Glass production — Container (Flint) (Tier 2)	CO₂	0.21	tonne CO₂ per tonne glass melted
Glass	Glass production — Fiberglass (E-glass) (Tier 2)	CO₂	0.19	tonne CO₂ per tonne glass melted
Glass	Glass production — Fiberglass (Insulation) (Tier 2)	CO₂	0.25	tonne CO₂ per tonne glass melted
Glass	Glass production — Float glass (Tier 2)	CO₂	0.21	tonne CO₂ per tonne glass melted
Glass	Glass production — Specialty (Lab/Pharma) (Tier 2)	CO₂	0.03	tonne CO₂ per tonne glass melted
Glass	Glass production — Specialty (Lighting) (Tier 2)	CO₂	0.2	tonne CO₂ per tonne glass melted
Glass	Glass production — Specialty (Tableware) (Tier 2)	CO₂	0.1	tonne CO₂ per tonne glass melted
Glass	Glass production — Specialty (TV Funnel) (Tier 2)	CO₂	0.13	tonne CO₂ per tonne glass melted
Glass	Glass production — Specialty (TV Panel) (Tier 2)	CO₂	0.18	tonne CO₂ per tonne glass melted
Glass	Glass production — Tier 1 default cullet ratio	CO₂	0.5	fraction (cullet mass / total furnace charge)
Glass	Glass production — Tier 1 default emission factor	CO₂	0.2	tonne CO₂ per tonne glass
Lime	Lime production — Dolomitic lime (developed-country technology)	CO₂	0.86	tonne CO₂ per tonne lime
Lime	Lime production — Dolomitic lime (developing-country technology)	CO₂	0.77	tonne CO₂ per tonne lime
Lime	Lime production — High-calcium lime (Tier 1)	CO₂	0.75	tonne CO₂ per tonne lime
Lime	Lime production — hydrated lime correction factor (default)	CO₂	0.97	dimensionless multiplier
Lime	Lime production — Hydraulic lime (Tier 1)	CO₂	0.59	tonne CO₂ per tonne lime
Lime	Lime production — Tier 1 composite default (85% high-calcium + 15% dolomitic)	CO₂	0.75	tonne CO₂ per tonne lime
Lime	Lime — stoichiometric ratio CO2 per CaO	CO₂	0.785	tonne CO₂ per tonne CaO
Lime	Lime — stoichiometric ratio CO2 per CaO·MgO	CO₂	0.913	tonne CO₂ per tonne CaO·MgO

Carbonate stoichiometry — 6 rows

Theoretical CO₂ yield per tonne of pure carbonate, used when a process-specific factor is unavailable.

Carbonate stoichiometry — IPCC industrial-process emission factors
Category	Process / parameter	Gas	Value	Unit
Calcite	Calcite / aragonite (CaCO3) — stoichiometric CO2 per carbonate	CO₂	0.43971	tonne CO₂ per tonne carbonate
Dolomite	Dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) — stoichiometric CO2 per carbonate	CO₂	0.47732	tonne CO₂ per tonne carbonate
Magnesite	Magnesite (MgCO3) — stoichiometric CO2 per carbonate	CO₂	0.52197	tonne CO₂ per tonne carbonate
Rhodochrosite	Rhodochrosite (MnCO3) — stoichiometric CO2 per carbonate	CO₂	0.38286	tonne CO₂ per tonne carbonate
Siderite	Siderite (FeCO3) — stoichiometric CO2 per carbonate	CO₂	0.37987	tonne CO₂ per tonne carbonate
Sodium carbonate	Sodium carbonate / soda ash (Na2CO3) — stoichiometric CO2 per carbonate	CO₂	0.41492	tonne CO₂ per tonne carbonate

Chemical industry — 80 rows

Ammonia, nitric and adipic acid, petrochemicals and carbide production.

Chemical industry — IPCC industrial-process emission factors
Category	Process / parameter	Gas	Value	Unit
Acrylonitrile	Acrylonitrile — CH4 (Tier 1 default)	CH₂	0.18	kg CH₂ per tonne acrylonitrile
Acrylonitrile	Acrylonitrile — CO2, acetonitrile + HCN recovered as product	CO₂	0.79	tonne CO₂ per tonne acrylonitrile
Acrylonitrile	Acrylonitrile — CO2, acetonitrile burned for energy recovery/flared	CO₂	0.83	tonne CO₂ per tonne acrylonitrile
Acrylonitrile	Acrylonitrile — CO2, secondary products burned/flared (default)	CO₂	1	tonne CO₂ per tonne acrylonitrile
Adipic acid	Adipic acid — net EF after catalytic destruction abatement	N₂O	53	kg N₂O per tonne adipic acid
Adipic acid	Adipic acid — net EF after recycle-to-feedstock abatement	N₂O	49	kg N₂O per tonne adipic acid
Adipic acid	Adipic acid — net EF after recycle-to-nitric-acid abatement	N₂O	22.2	kg N₂O per tonne adipic acid
Adipic acid	Adipic acid — net EF after thermal destruction abatement	N₂O	13.4	kg N₂O per tonne adipic acid
Adipic acid	Adipic acid — nitric acid oxidation, uncontrolled (no abatement)	N₂O	300	kg N₂O per tonne adipic acid
Ammonia	Ammonia — average value, partial oxidation	CO₂	3.273	tonne CO₂ per tonne NH₃
Ammonia	Ammonia — European average value, natural gas (mix of modern and older plants)	CO₂	2.104	tonne CO₂ per tonne NH₃
Ammonia	Ammonia — modern autothermal reforming, natural gas	CO₂	1.694	tonne CO₂ per tonne NH₃
Ammonia	Ammonia — modern conventional reforming, natural gas	CO₂	1.694	tonne CO₂ per tonne NH₃
Ammonia	Ammonia — modern excess air reforming, natural gas	CO₂	1.666	tonne CO₂ per tonne NH₃
Ammonia	Ammonia — modern partial oxidation	CO₂	2.772	tonne CO₂ per tonne NH₃
Caprolactam	Caprolactam — Raschig process	N₂O	9	kg N₂O per tonne caprolactam
Carbide	Calcium carbide production — CO2 from petroleum coke use	CO₂	1.09	tonne CO₂ per tonne calcium carbide produced
Carbide	Calcium carbide use — CO2 from acetylene production downstream	CO₂	1.1	tonne CO₂ per tonne calcium carbide used
Carbide	Silicon carbide production — CH4	CH₂	11.6	kg CH₂ per tonne silicon carbide produced
Carbide	Silicon carbide production — CO2	CO₂	2.62	tonne CO₂ per tonne silicon carbide produced
Carbon black	Carbon black — CH4, no thermal treatment	CH₂	28.7	kg CH₂ per tonne carbon black
Carbon black	Carbon black — CH4, thermal treatment (default)	CH₂	0.06	kg CH₂ per tonne carbon black
Carbon black	Carbon black — CO2 from Acetylene Black process (total)	CO₂	0.78	tonne CO₂ per tonne carbon black
Carbon black	Carbon black — CO2 from Furnace Black process (default, total)	CO₂	2.62	tonne CO₂ per tonne carbon black
Carbon black	Carbon black — CO2 from Thermal Black process (total)	CO₂	5.25	tonne CO₂ per tonne carbon black
Carbon content	Acetonitrile — carbon content	CO₂	0.5852	tonne carbon per tonne acetonitrile
Carbon content	Acrylonitrile — carbon content	CO₂	0.6664	tonne carbon per tonne acrylonitrile
Carbon content	Butadiene — carbon content	CO₂	0.888	tonne carbon per tonne butadiene
Carbon content	Carbon black feedstock — carbon content	CO₂	0.9	tonne carbon per tonne carbon black feedstock
Carbon content	Carbon black — carbon content	CO₂	0.97	tonne carbon per tonne carbon black
Carbon content	Ethane — carbon content	CO₂	0.856	tonne carbon per tonne ethane
Carbon content	Ethylene dichloride — carbon content	CO₂	0.245	tonne carbon per tonne ethylene dichloride
Carbon content	Ethylene glycol — carbon content	CO₂	0.387	tonne carbon per tonne ethylene glycol
Carbon content	Ethylene oxide — carbon content	CO₂	0.545	tonne carbon per tonne ethylene oxide
Carbon content	Ethylene — carbon content	CO₂	0.856	tonne carbon per tonne ethylene
Carbon content	Hydrogen cyanide — carbon content	CO₂	0.4444	tonne carbon per tonne hydrogen cyanide
Carbon content	Methane — carbon content	CO₂	0.749	tonne carbon per tonne methane
Carbon content	Methanol — carbon content	CO₂	0.375	tonne carbon per tonne methanol
Carbon content	Propane — carbon content	CO₂	0.817	tonne carbon per tonne propane
Carbon content	Propylene — carbon content	CO₂	0.8563	tonne carbon per tonne propylene
Carbon content	Vinyl chloride monomer — carbon content	CO₂	0.384	tonne carbon per tonne VCM
Edc / vcm	EDC/VCM — CH4 from integrated production plant	CH₂	0.0226	kg CH₂ per tonne VCM produced
Edc / vcm	EDC/VCM — CO2 from Balanced Process (default, VCM basis)	CO₂	0.294	tonne CO₂ per tonne VCM produced
Edc / vcm	EDC/VCM — CO2 from Direct Chlorination process (VCM basis)	CO₂	0.286	tonne CO₂ per tonne VCM produced
Edc / vcm	EDC/VCM — CO2 from Oxychlorination process (VCM basis)	CO₂	0.302	tonne CO₂ per tonne VCM produced
Edc / vcm	EDC/VCM — ethylene feedstock consumption, Balanced Process (VCM basis)	CO₂	0.47	tonne ethylene per tonne VCM produced
Ethylene	Ethylene — CH4 from steam cracking, all other feedstocks	CH₂	3	kg CH₂ per tonne ethylene
Ethylene	Ethylene — CH4 from steam cracking, ethane feedstock	CH₂	6	kg CH₂ per tonne ethylene
Ethylene	Ethylene — CH4 from steam cracking, naphtha feedstock	CH₂	3	kg CH₂ per tonne ethylene
Ethylene	Ethylene — CO2 from steam cracking, butane feedstock	CO₂	1.07	tonne CO₂ per tonne ethylene
Ethylene	Ethylene — CO2 from steam cracking, ethane feedstock	CO₂	0.95	tonne CO₂ per tonne ethylene
Ethylene	Ethylene — CO2 from steam cracking, gas oil feedstock	CO₂	2.29	tonne CO₂ per tonne ethylene
Ethylene	Ethylene — CO2 from steam cracking, naphtha feedstock	CO₂	1.73	tonne CO₂ per tonne ethylene
Ethylene	Ethylene — CO2 from steam cracking, propane feedstock	CO₂	1.04	tonne CO₂ per tonne ethylene
Ethylene oxide	Ethylene oxide — CH4, no thermal treatment (default)	CH₂	1.79	kg CH₂ per tonne ethylene oxide
Ethylene oxide	Ethylene oxide — CH4, thermal treatment of process vents	CH₂	0.79	kg CH₂ per tonne ethylene oxide
Ethylene oxide	Ethylene oxide — CO2 from Air Process (default catalyst selectivity 70%)	CO₂	0.863	tonne CO₂ per tonne ethylene oxide
Ethylene oxide	Ethylene oxide — CO2 from Oxygen Process (default catalyst selectivity 75%)	CO₂	0.663	tonne CO₂ per tonne ethylene oxide
Fluorochemical	HFC-23 byproduct from HCFC-22 production — global average 1978-1995	HFC-23	0.02	kg HFC-23 per kg HCFC-22 produced
Fluorochemical	HFC-23 byproduct from HCFC-22 production — old, unoptimised plants	HFC-23	0.04	kg HFC-23 per kg HCFC-22 produced
Fluorochemical	HFC-23 byproduct from HCFC-22 production — recent design, not optimised	HFC-23	0.03	kg HFC-23 per kg HCFC-22 produced
Glyoxal	Glyoxal production — Tier 1 net EF (post-destruction)	N₂O	0.1	tonne N₂O per tonne glyoxal
Glyoxylic acid	Glyoxylic acid production — Tier 1 net EF (post-destruction)	N₂O	0.02	tonne N₂O per tonne glyoxylic acid
Methanol	Methanol production — CH4 (Tier 1 default)	CH₂	2.3	kg CH₂ per tonne methanol
Methanol	Methanol — conventional steam reforming with primary reformer, natural gas	CO₂	0.497	tonne CO₂ per tonne methanol
Methanol	Methanol — conventional steam reforming, no primary reformer, natural gas (default)	CO₂	0.67	tonne CO₂ per tonne methanol
Methanol	Methanol — integrated with ammonia production, natural gas	CO₂	1.02	tonne CO₂ per tonne methanol
Methanol	Methanol — Lurgi Combined Steam Reforming process, natural gas	CO₂	0.396	tonne CO₂ per tonne methanol
Methanol	Methanol — Lurgi Conventional process, natural gas	CO₂	0.385	tonne CO₂ per tonne methanol
Methanol	Methanol — Lurgi Low Pressure process, natural gas	CO₂	0.267	tonne CO₂ per tonne methanol
Methanol	Methanol — Lurgi Mega Methanol process, natural gas	CO₂	0.31	tonne CO₂ per tonne methanol
Nitric acid	Nitric acid — atmospheric (low) pressure plants	N₂O	5	kg N₂O per tonne nitric acid (100% pure)
Nitric acid	Nitric acid — high pressure plants	N₂O	9	kg N₂O per tonne nitric acid (100% pure)
Nitric acid	Nitric acid — medium pressure combustion plants	N₂O	7	kg N₂O per tonne nitric acid (100% pure)
Nitric acid	Nitric acid — plants with NSCR abatement	N₂O	2	kg N₂O per tonne nitric acid (100% pure)
Nitric acid	Nitric acid — plants with process-integrated or tailgas N2O destruction	N₂O	2.5	kg N₂O per tonne nitric acid (100% pure)
Soda ash	Natural soda ash — CO2 per tonne natural soda ash produced (output basis)	CO₂	0.138	tonne CO₂ per tonne natural soda ash produced
Soda ash	Natural soda ash — CO2 per tonne Trona consumed (input basis)	CO₂	0.097	tonne CO₂ per tonne Trona
Tio2	Titanium dioxide — rutile via chloride route	CO₂	1.34	tonne CO₂ per tonne rutile TiO2 produced
Tio2	Titanium dioxide — synthetic rutile production	CO₂	1.43	tonne CO₂ per tonne synthetic rutile produced

Metal industry — 46 rows

Iron and steel, ferroalloys, aluminium, magnesium, lead and zinc.

Metal industry — IPCC industrial-process emission factors
Category	Process / parameter	Gas	Value	Unit
Aluminium	Primary aluminium PFC — C2F6 (CWPB)	C₂F₆	0.04	kg C₂F₆ per tonne Al
Aluminium	Primary aluminium PFC — C2F6 (HSS)	C₂F₆	0.03	kg C₂F₆ per tonne Al
Aluminium	Primary aluminium PFC — C2F6 (SWPB)	C₂F₆	0.4	kg C₂F₆ per tonne Al
Aluminium	Primary aluminium PFC — C2F6 (VSS)	C₂F₆	0.04	kg C₂F₆ per tonne Al
Aluminium	Primary aluminium PFC — CF4 (CWPB)	CF₄	0.4	kg CF₄ per tonne Al
Aluminium	Primary aluminium PFC — CF4 (HSS)	CF₄	0.4	kg CF₄ per tonne Al
Aluminium	Primary aluminium PFC — CF4 (SWPB)	CF₄	1.6	kg CF₄ per tonne Al
Aluminium	Primary aluminium PFC — CF4 (VSS)	CF₄	0.8	kg CF₄ per tonne Al
Aluminium	Primary aluminium — CO2 (Prebake cells)	CO₂	1.6	tonne CO₂ per tonne Al
Aluminium	Primary aluminium — CO2 (Søderberg cells)	CO₂	1.7	tonne CO₂ per tonne Al
Ferroalloys	Ferrochromium — CO2 (with sinter plant)	CO₂	1.6	tonne CO₂ per tonne product
Ferroalloys	Ferrochromium — CO2 (without sinter plant)	CO₂	1.3	tonne CO₂ per tonne product
Ferroalloys	Ferromanganese (1% C) — CO2	CO₂	1.5	tonne CO₂ per tonne product
Ferroalloys	Ferromanganese (7% C) — CO2	CO₂	1.3	tonne CO₂ per tonne product
Ferroalloys	Ferrosilicon 45% Si — CO2	CO₂	2.5	tonne CO₂ per tonne product
Ferroalloys	Ferrosilicon 65% Si — CH4	CH₂	1	kg CH₂ per tonne product
Ferroalloys	Ferrosilicon 65% Si — CO2	CO₂	3.6	tonne CO₂ per tonne product
Ferroalloys	Ferrosilicon 75% Si — CH4	CH₂	1	kg CH₂ per tonne product
Ferroalloys	Ferrosilicon 75% Si — CO2	CO₂	4	tonne CO₂ per tonne product
Ferroalloys	Ferrosilicon 90% Si — CH4	CH₂	1.1	kg CH₂ per tonne product
Ferroalloys	Ferrosilicon 90% Si — CO2	CO₂	4.8	tonne CO₂ per tonne product
Ferroalloys	Silicomanganese — CO2	CO₂	1.4	tonne CO₂ per tonne product
Ferroalloys	Silicon metal — CH4	CH₂	1.2	kg CH₂ per tonne product
Ferroalloys	Silicon metal — CO2	CO₂	5	tonne CO₂ per tonne product
Iron steel	Basic oxygen furnace steel — CO2	CO₂	1.46	tonne CO₂ per tonne steel
Iron steel	Blast furnace iron production — CO2	CO₂	1.35	tonne CO₂ per tonne pig iron
Iron steel	Coke oven production — CO2	CO₂	0.56	tonne CO₂ per tonne coke
Iron steel	Coke production — CH4	CH₂	0.1	g CH₂ per tonne coke
Iron steel	Direct reduced iron production — CH4	CH₂	1	kg CH₂ per TJ
Iron steel	Direct reduced iron production — CO2	CO₂	0.7	tonne CO₂ per tonne DRI
Iron steel	Electric arc furnace steel — CO2	CO₂	0.08	tonne CO₂ per tonne steel
Iron steel	Global average steel (65% BOF / 30% EAF / 5% OHF) — CO2	CO₂	1.06	tonne CO₂ per tonne steel
Iron steel	Iron ore pellet production — CO2	CO₂	0.03	tonne CO₂ per tonne pellet
Iron steel	Open hearth furnace steel — CO2	CO₂	1.72	tonne CO₂ per tonne steel
Iron steel	Sinter production — CH4	CH₂	0.07	kg CH₂ per tonne sinter
Iron steel	Sinter production — CO2	CO₂	0.2	tonne CO₂ per tonne sinter
Lead	Lead production — CO2 (direct smelting)	CO₂	0.25	tonne CO₂ per tonne Pb
Lead	Lead production — CO2 (Imperial Smelting Furnace)	CO₂	0.59	tonne CO₂ per tonne Pb
Lead	Lead production — CO2 (secondary / recycled)	CO₂	0.2	tonne CO₂ per tonne Pb
Lead	Lead production — CO2 (weighted default)	CO₂	0.52	tonne CO₂ per tonne Pb
Magnesium	Magnesium casting — SF6 cover gas	SF₆	1	kg SF₆ per tonne Mg cast
Magnesium	Primary magnesium — CO2 (from dolomite)	CO₂	5.13	tonne CO₂ per tonne Mg
Magnesium	Primary magnesium — CO2 (from magnesite)	CO₂	2.83	tonne CO₂ per tonne Mg
Zinc	Zinc production — CO2 (Imperial Smelting Furnace)	CO₂	0.43	tonne CO₂ per tonne Zn
Zinc	Zinc production — CO2 (Waelz Kiln)	CO₂	3.66	tonne CO₂ per tonne Zn
Zinc	Zinc production — CO2 (weighted default)	CO₂	1.72	tonne CO₂ per tonne Zn

Non-energy products from fuels — 8 rows

Lubricants and paraffin wax oxidised in use rather than burned as fuel.

Non-energy products from fuels — IPCC industrial-process emission factors
Category	Process / parameter	Gas	Value	Unit
Lubricants	Lubricants — default mass fraction of grease in total lubricants	CO₂	0.1	dimensionless mass fraction
Lubricants	Lubricants — default mass fraction of lubricating oil in total lubricants	CO₂	0.9	dimensionless mass fraction
Lubricants	Lubricants — IPCC default ODU factor for total lubricants	CO₂	0.2	dimensionless ODU fraction
Lubricants	Lubricants — ODU factor for grease	CO₂	0.05	dimensionless ODU fraction
Lubricants	Lubricants — ODU factor for lubricating oil (motor / industrial)	CO₂	0.2	dimensionless ODU fraction
Paraffin wax	Paraffin wax — default carbon content	CO₂	20	kg C per GJ (Lower Heating Value basis)
Paraffin wax	Paraffin wax — default combustion emission factor (full oxidation)	CO₂	73.3	kg CO₂ per GJ (NCV basis)
Paraffin wax	Paraffin wax — IPCC default ODU factor	CO₂	0.2	dimensionless ODU fraction

2019 Refinement additions — 54 rows

Categories added or revised by the 2019 Refinement — aluminium PFCs, hydrogen production, rare earths, and updated nitric-acid and fluorochemical factors.

2019 Refinement additions — IPCC industrial-process emission factors
Category	Process / parameter	Gas	Value	Unit
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — HSS HVAE-C2F6 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	C₂F₆	0.033	kg C₂F₆ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — HSS HVAE-CF4 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	CF₄	0.477	kg CF₄ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — HSS LVAE-CF4 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	CF₄	0.026	kg CF₄ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — PFPBL HVAE-C2F6 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	C₂F₆	0.001	kg C₂F₆ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — PFPBL HVAE-CF4 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	CF₄	0.016	kg CF₄ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — PFPBL LVAE-CF4 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	CF₄	0.009	kg CF₄ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — PFPBM HVAE-C2F6 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	C₂F₆	0.001	kg C₂F₆ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — PFPBM HVAE-CF4 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	CF₄	0.011	kg CF₄ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — PFPBM LVAE-CF4 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	CF₄	0.018	kg CF₄ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — PFPBMW HVAE-C2F6 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	C₂F₆	0.013	kg C₂F₆ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — PFPBMW HVAE-CF4 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	CF₄	0.161	kg CF₄ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — SWPB HVAE-C2F6 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	C₂F₆	0.093	kg C₂F₆ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — SWPB HVAE-CF4 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	CF₄	0.354	kg CF₄ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — SWPB LVAE-CF4 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	CF₄	0.01	kg CF₄ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — VSS HVAE-C2F6 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	C₂F₆	0.009	kg C₂F₆ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — VSS HVAE-CF4 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	CF₄	0.159	kg CF₄ per tonne aluminium
Aluminium pfc	Aluminium PFC — VSS LVAE-CF4 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement	CF₄	0.001	kg CF₄ per tonne aluminium
Fluorochemical	All other fluorochemicals — Tier 1 default EF (total mass), 2019 Refinement	mixed F-gases	0.04	kg fluorinated GHG per kg fluorochemical produced
Fluorochemical	NF3 production EF — CF4 by-product (Tier 1), 2019 Refinement	CF₄	0.01	kg CF₄ per kg NF₃ produced
Fluorochemical	NF3 production EF — N2O by-product (Tier 1), 2019 Refinement	N₂O	0.03	kg N₂O per kg NF₃ produced
Fluorochemical	NF3 production EF — NF3 emission (Tier 1), 2019 Refinement	NF₃	0.02	kg NF₃ per kg NF₃ produced
Fluorochemical	SF6 production EF — Tier 1 alternative (Suizu 1999), 2019 Refinement	SF₆	0.08	kg SF₆ per kg SF₆ produced
Fluorochemical	SF6 production EF — Tier 1 default (O’Connell 2002), 2019 Refinement	SF₆	0.03	kg SF₆ per kg SF₆ produced
Hfc-23 / hcfc-22	HFC-23 emission from HCFC-22 production — global average 1978-1995, 2019 Refinement	HFC-23	0.02	kg HFC-23 per kg HCFC-22 produced
Hfc-23 / hcfc-22	HFC-23 emission from HCFC-22 production — old unoptimised plants, 2019 Refinement	HFC-23	0.04	kg HFC-23 per kg HCFC-22 produced
Hfc-23 / hcfc-22	HFC-23 emission from HCFC-22 production — recent design plants (not specifically optimised), 2019 Refinement	HFC-23	0.03	kg HFC-23 per kg HCFC-22 produced
Hydrogen	Hydrogen — biosteam reforming of bioethanol (Tier 1 CCF), 2019 Refinement	CO₂	0.0217	tonne C per GJ feedstock
Hydrogen	Hydrogen — gasification of black liquor (Tier 1 CCF), 2019 Refinement	CO₂	0.026	tonne C per GJ feedstock
Hydrogen	Hydrogen — gasification of coking coal (Tier 1 CCF), 2019 Refinement	CO₂	0.0258	tonne C per GJ feedstock
Hydrogen	Hydrogen — gasification of mixed plastic (Tier 1 CCF), 2019 Refinement	CO₂	0.02	tonne C per GJ feedstock
Hydrogen	Hydrogen — gasification of mixed waste (non-biomass fraction) (Tier 1 CCF), 2019 Refinement	CO₂	0.025	tonne C per GJ feedstock
Hydrogen	Hydrogen — gasification of wood sludge (Tier 1 CCF), 2019 Refinement	CO₂	0.0305	tonne C per GJ feedstock
Hydrogen	Hydrogen — gasification of wood waste (Tier 1 CCF), 2019 Refinement	CO₂	0.0305	tonne C per GJ feedstock
Hydrogen	Hydrogen — general default (mixed-feedstock global average) (Tier 1 CCF), 2019 Refinement	CO₂	0.0183	tonne C per GJ feedstock
Hydrogen	Hydrogen — steam reforming of LPG (Tier 1 CCF), 2019 Refinement	CO₂	0.0172	tonne C per GJ feedstock
Hydrogen	Hydrogen — steam reforming of methanol (Tier 1 CCF), 2019 Refinement	CO₂	0.0188	tonne C per GJ feedstock
Hydrogen	Hydrogen — steam reforming of naphtha (Tier 1 CCF), 2019 Refinement	CO₂	0.02	tonne C per GJ feedstock
Hydrogen	Hydrogen — steam reforming of natural gas (Tier 1 CCF), 2019 Refinement	CO₂	0.0153	tonne C per GJ feedstock
Nitric acid	Nitric acid — dual L/M pressure with N2O abatement, 2019 Refinement	N₂O	1.5	kg N₂O per tonne 100% nitric acid
Nitric acid	Nitric acid — dual low/medium pressure (L/M), 2019 Refinement	N₂O	7	kg N₂O per tonne 100% nitric acid
Nitric acid	Nitric acid — dual M/H pressure with N2O abatement, 2019 Refinement	N₂O	2.5	kg N₂O per tonne 100% nitric acid
Nitric acid	Nitric acid — dual medium/high pressure (M/H), 2019 Refinement	N₂O	9	kg N₂O per tonne 100% nitric acid
Nitric acid	Nitric acid — old (pre-1975) plants (all processes), 2019 Refinement	N₂O	14.5	kg N₂O per tonne 100% nitric acid
Nitric acid	Nitric acid — single high pressure plants (H/H), 2019 Refinement	N₂O	9	kg N₂O per tonne 100% nitric acid
Nitric acid	Nitric acid — single low pressure plants (L/L), 2019 Refinement	N₂O	5	kg N₂O per tonne 100% nitric acid
Nitric acid	Nitric acid — single medium pressure plants (M/M), 2019 Refinement	N₂O	8	kg N₂O per tonne 100% nitric acid
Nitric acid	Nitric acid — single pressure plants with N2O abatement, 2019 Refinement	N₂O	2.5	kg N₂O per tonne 100% nitric acid
Rare earths	Rare earth metal production — CO2 from anode consumption (Tier 1), 2019 Refinement (NEW)	CO₂	0.56	tonne CO₂ per tonne RE metal
Rare earths	Rare earth — Other rare earth metals/alloys C2F6 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement (NEW)	C₂F₆	5.2	g C₂F₆ per tonne RE metal
Rare earths	Rare earth — Other rare earth metals/alloys C3F8 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement (NEW)	C₃F₈	0.21	g C₃F₈ per tonne RE metal
Rare earths	Rare earth — Other rare earth metals/alloys CF4 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement (NEW)	CF₄	35.8	g CF₄ per tonne RE metal
Rare earths	Rare earth — Rare-earth-iron C2F6 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement (NEW)	C₂F₆	14.6	g C₂F₆ per tonne RE metal
Rare earths	Rare earth — Rare-earth-iron C3F8 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement (NEW)	C₃F₈	0.05	g C₃F₈ per tonne RE metal
Rare earths	Rare earth — Rare-earth-iron CF4 Tier 1 EF, 2019 Refinement (NEW)	CF₄	146.1	g CF₄ per tonne RE metal

Application — worked examples

Process emissions are an activity rate multiplied by a factor, then converted to CO₂e using your own GWP set. Both examples use values exactly as published in the tables.

Cement — clinker-based (IPCC Tier 2)

A plant produces 100,000 tonnes of ordinary Portland cement. The factor applies to clinker, not to cement, so the clinker fraction comes first.

clinker = 100,000 t cement x 0.95 t clinker/t cement = 95,000 t clinker
CO2     = 95,000 t clinker x 0.52 t CO2/t clinker    = 49,400 t CO2

The 0.52 factor already carries the cement-kiln-dust correction: the pre-CKD value is 0.51 and the default CKD multiplier is 1.02, and 0.51 × 1.02 = 0.52. Applying the CKD correction a second time on top of 0.52 double-counts it — a common error when the two rows are read as independent inputs rather than as a factor and its derivation.

This figure is the calcination term only. The fuel burned to fire the kiln is stationary combustion and is reported separately.

Nitric acid — why the per-gas basis matters

A plant produces 50,000 tonnes of 100% nitric acid in a high-pressure process with no abatement. The factor is 9 kg N₂O per tonne.

N2O   = 50,000 t x 9 kg/t = 450,000 kg = 450 t N2O
CO2e  = 450 t N2O x 273 (IPCC AR6, 100-year) = 122,850 t CO2e

Four hundred and fifty tonnes of gas becomes roughly 123,000 tonnes of CO₂e. Reporting the 450 without applying the GWP would understate this single category by more than a hundredfold, and it is the reason this dataset keeps the gas explicit rather than pre-converting.

Abatement changes the picture sharply. The same plant fitted with non-selective catalytic reduction uses a factor of 2 kg N₂O per tonne, giving 100 t N₂O and about 27,300 t CO₂e — a 78% reduction from equipment alone, with no change in output.

Calculators that use these factors

The worked examples above are automated in these GreenCalculus tools, which read this dataset live from the MasterBrain so results always reflect the current vintage:

Cement & lime process calculator — calcination CO₂ from clinker and lime.
Iron & steel process calculator — reductant and process emissions from steelmaking.
Aluminium (PFC) process calculator — anode-effect PFC emissions from smelting.
Chemicals process calculator — ammonia, nitric acid and other chemical processes.
Glass & ceramics process calculator — carbonate decomposition in glass and ceramics.

Common reporting errors

Treating a per-gas figure as CO₂e. The dominant error in this sector. Every non-CO₂ row on this page needs a GWP applied before it can join a CO₂e total.
Reporting only fuel combustion. For cement, lime, ammonia and hydrogen the process term is comparable to or larger than the combustion term. An inventory with only fuel is not conservative, it is incomplete.
Applying a clinker factor to cement tonnage. The mineral factors are per tonne of clinker; cement is clinker plus supplementary materials. Skipping the clinker fraction overstates the emission by roughly 5% for Portland cement and far more for blended and masonry cements.
Double-counting the CKD correction. The published 0.52 already includes it. Use either the corrected default or the pre-CKD value with the multiplier, never both.
Mixing IPCC editions without saying which. Nitric acid and the fluorochemicals appear in both the 2006 guidelines and the 2019 Refinement with different values. Pick the edition your reporting framework requires and record it.
Ignoring abatement. Nitric-acid and adipic-acid factors vary several-fold with installed abatement technology. Using an unabated default for an abated plant is as wrong as the reverse.

Methodology, tiers & uncertainty

Tier structure. IPCC methods run from Tier 1 (a default factor applied to national or site production) through Tier 2 (default factors refined by process-specific parameters such as clinker fraction or carbonate composition) to Tier 3 (plant-specific measurement or full mass balance). The factors here support Tier 1 and Tier 2. A facility with continuous emissions monitoring or a verified carbon mass balance should use that instead — a measured value always supersedes a default.

Defaults are global, not local. These are international defaults intended for national inventory compilation. Real plants vary widely around them with raw-material composition, process route, vintage and installed abatement. They are appropriate where plant-specific data is genuinely unavailable, and should be replaced as soon as it is not.

GWP basis is yours to choose. No GWP set is baked into any value here. Apply AR6 100-year for current GHG Protocol and CSRD reporting, or AR5 where a framework still requires it, and state which you used — the difference is material for N₂O and the fluorinated gases.

Uncertainty. IPCC assigns wide uncertainty ranges to Tier 1 process defaults, frequently ±10–30% and considerably more for the fluorinated-gas categories where emissions depend on operating practice rather than stoichiometry. Carbonate stoichiometry is the exception: those values are fixed by chemistry and carry essentially no uncertainty for pure material.

Implementation & provenance chain

Every row traces to its IPCC volume and edition. Nothing is hand-transcribed: the tables are generated from the same MasterBrain rows the REST endpoint serves, and the generator asserts that all 224 source keys render exactly once before the page is built.

Provenance chain
Stage	What it is
Primary sources	IPCC 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 3 (IPPU); and the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 Guidelines
Edition marker	Each row carries `source_id` of either `IPCC_2006_VOL3` or `IPCC_2019_REFINEMENT` in the API response
Data layer	GreenCalculus MasterBrain — canonical keyspace under the `industrial_processes` section, version-stamped
Gas basis	Per gas as published; no GWP applied at any stage of the chain
Licence	IPCC Guidelines are published for public use in national inventory compilation

Data access — REST API & CSV

The full 224-row dataset is available as a machine-readable REST endpoint and as a flat CSV download. Both serve exactly the rows shown in the tables above, versioned by MasterBrain edition and citable.

JSON — REST API

All 224 IPPU parameters with keys, values, gas, process-specific units and IPCC edition markers. Cache-Control: max-age=3600; X-GC-Version header signals dataset updates.

/wp-json/greencalculus/v1/ippu-factors

Open API endpoint →

CSV — flat dataset

Flat CSV of all 224 rows (key, name, value, unit, gas, GWP set, GHG scope/category, source, note) — ready for spreadsheet import.

Click to generate ↓

Citation guidance

If you use this dataset in a published tool, report or academic work, cite the IPCC primary sources. The GreenCalculus compilation reference is optional but appreciated.

IPCC (2006). 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 3: Industrial Processes and Product Use. Prepared by the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme, Eggleston H.S., Buendia L., Miwa K., Ngara T. and Tanabe K. (eds). IGES, Japan.

IPCC 2006 Guidelines primary citation

IPCC (2019). 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Calvo Buendia E., Tanabe K., Kranjc A., Baasansuren J., Fukuda M., Ngarize S., Osako A., Pyrozhenko Y., Shermanau P. and Federici S. (eds). IPCC, Switzerland.

IPCC 2019 Refinement primary citation

Cite this dataset (GreenCalculus compilation). A versioned, machine-readable snapshot of these factors is archived on Zenodo with a citable DOI:

Say, Jeremiah (2026). IPCC industrial-process & product-use (IPPU) emission factors (machine-readable) (v2026.107). GreenCalculus. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21831123

GreenCalculus dataset DOI

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between process and combustion emissions?

Combustion emissions come from burning a fuel to supply energy. Process emissions come from the chemical or physical transformation of the material itself and would occur even if the energy were entirely renewable. A cement kiln does both: it burns fuel for heat, and it drives limestone to decompose into lime and carbon dioxide. Both are Scope 1, but they take different factors, scale with different activity data, and respond to different mitigation measures.

Why are these factors not in CO₂e?

Because the IPCC publishes them per gas, and converting them for you would bake in a global warming potential set that may not be the one your framework requires. Eight gases appear across this dataset. Applying AR6 100-year values gives a different answer from AR5, and some national inventory submissions still require the older set. Keeping the gas explicit means the conversion is yours to make and yours to document.

Which scope do process emissions belong in?

Scope 1, when the process happens in equipment you own or control. They are not a separate scope, but they are a separate category within Scope 1 and should be reported apart from stationary and mobile combustion. If you buy a material whose production caused process emissions rather than making it yourself, those emissions are in your Scope 3 Category 1 instead, and are quantified from the supplier’s product footprint rather than from these factors.

Do I apply the cement factor to cement or to clinker?

To clinker. Calcination happens when clinker is made, and cement is clinker blended with supplementary materials that carry no calcination emission of their own. Multiply cement tonnage by the clinker fraction first — 0.95 for ordinary Portland cement by default, 0.64 for masonry cement — then apply the clinker factor. Applying the factor directly to cement tonnage overstates Portland cement by about 5% and blended cements by far more.

Why does the same process appear twice with different values?

Because both current IPCC editions are published here rather than merged. Nitric acid and the fluorochemicals appear in the 2006 Guidelines and again in the 2019 Refinement, which revised them. National inventories still report against whichever edition their submission requires, and a value cannot be traced if the edition it came from has been erased. The source_id field distinguishes them on every row — pick the edition your framework specifies and record the choice.

Why do nitric and adipic acid have so many different factors?

Because nitrous oxide output depends heavily on the process route and on what abatement is installed. A high-pressure nitric-acid plant with no abatement emits 9 kg N₂O per tonne; the same plant with non-selective catalytic reduction emits 2. That is a 78% difference driven purely by equipment, so using a generic default for a plant whose configuration you know will be materially wrong in one direction or the other. Match the factor to the actual process route and abatement.

What are the carbonate stoichiometry values for?

They give the theoretical CO₂ released per tonne of a pure carbonate, fixed by molecular weight — 0.43971 for calcite, 0.47732 for dolomite, and so on. They are used when you know the carbonate composition of your raw material but have no process-specific factor, which is the IPCC Tier 2 route for mineral industries. Because they follow from chemistry rather than measurement they carry essentially no uncertainty for pure material, though real feedstock is never entirely pure.

Can I use these instead of measured plant data?

Only where measured data is genuinely unavailable. These are IPCC Tier 1 and Tier 2 defaults intended for national inventory compilation, and real plants vary widely around them with raw-material composition, process vintage and installed abatement. If you hold continuous emissions monitoring data or a verified carbon mass balance, that is Tier 3 and supersedes any default here. The defaults are a floor for completeness, not a substitute for measurement.

Version history

Substantive revisions to this dataset reference page
Version	Date	MasterBrain	Summary
1.0	2026-08-06	v2026.105	Initial publication. Complete IPPU dataset (224 parameters, 8 gases) from IPCC 2006 Vol.3 and the 2019 Refinement: mineral, chemical and metal industries, non-energy products, carbonate stoichiometry. Process-versus-combustion explainer, per-gas GWP guidance, edition split, worked examples, 8-item FAQ, REST + CSV access.

Provenance

MasterBrain v2026.284

The factor this page used

Read from MasterBrain when this page was built. Each row names the published document and the cell the number came from, so you can check it against the original.

gwp.N2O.ar6_100273IPCC AR6 WGI Ch 7 Table 7.SM.7 (2021) — AR6 GWP-100AR6-100 · retrieved 23 May 2026

See every source and its licence

Cite this page

APA

GreenCalculus. (2026). IPCC Industrial-Process (IPPU) Emission Factors — Complete Reference. MasterBrain data edition v2026.284 (6 Nov 2026). https://greencalculus.com/data/ipcc-industrial-process-factors/

BibTeX

@misc{greencalculus_ipcc_industrial_process_factors_2026,
  author       = {{GreenCalculus}},
  title        = {IPCC Industrial-Process (IPPU) Emission Factors — Complete Reference},
  year         = {2026},
  organization = {GreenCalculus},
  publisher    = {Numbers Publishing Pte. Ltd.},
  note         = {MasterBrain data edition v2026.284 (6 Nov 2026)},
  url          = {https://greencalculus.com/data/ipcc-industrial-process-factors/}
}

Drawn from 21,133 factors across 294 source documents · edition v2026.284, updated 6 Nov 2026 · every source and its licence