Fact sheet

Conversion
factors
Energy and carbon conversions
2016 update

enter
 Conversion factors 1

Introduction

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This leaflet provides a number of useful conversion factors
to help you calculate energy consumption in common units
and to work out the greenhouse gas emissions associated
with energy use.

Calculating your energy use and carbon emissions can be

useful for monitoring energy use internally within a business,
and also for public reporting of energy consumption and
carbon emissions.

This updated version is based on data published by

Defra in 2016.

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 Conversion factors 2

Conversion factors for energy units

From to kWh
Greenhouse gas conversions
therms 29.307 The energy conversion factors given in this leaflet are quoted
Btu 2.931x10-4 as kilograms carbon dioxide equivalent (kgCO2e) per unit of fuel.
MJ 0.2778
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toe 1.163x104
The use of fuels leads to emissions of carbon dioxide The factors in this guide do not account for indirect
(CO2) and small quantities of other greenhouse gases emissions, for example emissions associated with the
– including methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). For extraction of natural gas, refining of oil etc. For
Btu = British thermal unit;
a given quantity of a gas, the equivalent quantity of conversion factors that include indirect emissions
MJ = Megajoule;
CO2 that would be needed to give the same see the Defra 2016 greenhouse gas conversion
toe = tonnes of equivalent oil;
greenhouse effect can be calculated using its ‘global factors.
Kcal = kilo calorie
warming potential’. This quantity is quoted in units
of kilograms carbon dioxide equivalent (kgCO2e).

The greenhouse gas conversion factor comprises

Example
the effect of the CO2, CH4 and N2O combined –
Conversion of 100,000 Btu to kWh: this is quoted as kgCO2e per unit of fuel consumed.

100,000 Btu = 100,000 x 2.931 X 10-4 kWh The energy conversion factors given in this leaflet are
quoted as total direct kgCO2e per unit of fuel. Direct
= 29.31kWh
emissions are those emitted at the point of use of a
fuel – or at the point of generation for electricity.
Common prefixes
The following prefixes are used for multiples of
joules, watts and watt-hours:

Kilo (k) = 103; mega (M) = 106; giga (G) = 109;

tera (T) = 1012; peta (P) = 1015

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 Conversion factors 3

Energy conversion factors

The factors given below are taken from Defra’s greenhouse gas conversion E
CADIT
SP LCU AB
AD LAT LE
RE
factors for company reporting, published in September 2016. SH OR
EE
TS

Table 1 Energy conversion factors Download editable spreadsheet

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Fuel1 Units kgCO2e per unit Fuel1 Units kgCO2e per unit

Grid electricity2 kWh 0.41205 Burning oil tonnes 3,165.398

Renewable electricity3 See footnote 3 See footnote 3
kWh 0.24666
Natural gas kWh 0.183997
Diesel4 tonnes 3,108.5
therms 5.39241
kWh 0.24592
cubic meters 2.024
litres 2.61163
LPG kWh 0.214577
Petrol4 tonnes 2,993.6
therms 6.28864
kWh 0.23324
litres 1.50502

Gas oil tonnes 3,475.821 litres 2.19697

kWh 0.27631 Industrial coal tonnes 2,417.464

litres 2.96572 kWh 0.32235

Fuel oil tonnes 3,225.108 Wood pellets5 tonnes 55.53515

kWh 0.26782 kWh 0.01307

1
Factors given for all fuels are on a gross calorific value (CV) basis, in common with most energy billing.
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2
This figure represents electricity generated (scope 2 under the location-based method). Scope 3 emissions should be reported separately.
3
For electricity purchased on a ‘green tariff’, the grid electricity factor above should be used to report under the location-based method of the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard. The Standard requires organisations to also report scope 2
emissions using the market-based method. The relevant factor under this method will be specific to the product supplied by a given electricity supplier.
4 Standard fuel bought from a local filling station (across the board forecourt fuel typically contains biofuel content).
5 Conversion factors include the emissions of methane and nitrous oxide that occur during combustion.
 Conversion factors 4

Passenger transport conversion factors

Table 2 Petrol and diesel cars Download editable spreadsheet

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Car size Units kgCO2e per unit Car size Units kgCO2e per unit

Small up to 1.4 litre petrol km 0.16027 Small, up to 1.7 litre diesel km 0.14675

miles 0.25794 miles 0.23618

Medium 1.4-2.0 litre petrol km 0.20033 Medium, 1.7-2.0 litre diesel km 0.17741

miles 0.32241 miles 0.28551

Large, over 2.0 litre petrol km 0.29461 Large, over 2.0 litre diesel km 0.22473

miles 0.47414 miles 0.36166

Average petrol car km 0.19184 Average diesel car km 0.18307

miles 0.30875 miles 0.29461

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 Conversion factors 5

Table 3 Bus, rail and air6 travel Download editable spreadsheet The conversion factors presented here are just a
sample of those published by Defra.
Mode of transport Units7 kgCO2e per unit For a more comprehensive set of factors,
and full guidance notes for their use,
Regular taxi pkm 0.16286 visit [Link].

Average local bus pkm 0.10172

Coach pkm 0.02867

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International rail (Eurostar) pkm 0.01214

National rail pkm 0.04885

Light rail and tram pkm 0.05363

Underground pkm 0.05789

Long haul international flight to/from UK pkm 0.02038

Long haul international flight to/from non-UK pkm 0.01904

Short haul international flight to/from UK pkm 0.01791

Domestic flight pkm 0.02963

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6
The air travel emission factors include a distance uplift factor of 8%, to take into account non-direct routes and delays/circling and also includes an uplift factor for radiative [Link]
for Transport data on passenger cabin class split by flight length (domestic, short haul, long haul) is now used to give better average passenger emissions for each flight length.
7
vkm stands for vehicle kilometres. The associated kgCO2e figure is based on the vehicle emissions per kilometre. pkm stands for passenger kilometres. The associated kgCO2e figures are
calculated by taking the total emissions figure for the vehicle and dividing by the average number of passengers.
 Conversion factors 6

Heat content of fuels

The default gross calorific values given below can be Table 5 Gross calorific values for liquid fuels Download editable spreadsheet
used when fuel-specific values are not available from
your energy supplier. Gross values include the energy Liquid fuels kWh/tonne litres/tonne kWh/litre
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needed to evaporate the water in the fuel, and that
formed during the combustion process. In the tables Fuel oil 12,042 1,014 11.876
below we provide the gross values, in line with those
LPG 13,710 1,955 7.0126
usually provided by the energy suppliers in the UK.
Net values exclude this energy. Diesel 12,684 1,192 10.641

Gas oil 12,579 1,172 10.733

Table 4 Gross calorific values for solid fuels
Burning oil 12,833 1,250 10.266
Solid fuels kWh/tonne
Petrol 13,095 1,368 9.5727
Coal (industrial) 7,500
Table 6 Gross calorific values for gaseous fuels Download editable spreadsheet
Wood pellets 4,650

Straw 4,378 Gaseous fuels kWh/tonne litres/tonne kWh/m3

Natural gas 14,760 1,338,912.134 11.024

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 Conversion factors 7

Go online to get more

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 Conversion factors 8

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Published in the UK: November 2016

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