Emissions calculator for Australian businesses
Work out Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions from electricity, natural gas, diesel, petrol and LPG with the Australian Government's National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA) Factors. Every result shows its working.
Calculate Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions
Totals are rounded to two decimal places; each line shows its kilograms. Electricity uses the location-based method.
How the calculation works
Emissions are the quantity you used multiplied by an emission factor: kg CO₂e = quantity × kg CO₂e per unit. Divide by 1,000 for tonnes (t CO₂e).
For example, with the NGA Factors 2025, 8,000 litres of diesel works out as 8,000 L = 8 kL × 2,709.72 kg CO₂e/kL = 21,677.76 kg CO₂e, or 21.68 t CO₂e. The factors come from the National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA) Factors, which the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) publishes each year.
How to calculate Scope 2 emissions from electricity
Multiply the kilowatt-hours on the bill by the factor for the state grid the site draws from. These are the location-based factors in Table 1 of the NGA Factors: the average emissions of electricity consumed from each state's grid, worked out for each financial year.
Why the state matters
The same 100,000 kWh is 78 t CO₂e in Victoria and 22 t CO₂e in South Australia under the NGA Factors 2025, because each grid gets its electricity from a different mix of power stations. Western Australia has two grids with their own factors (the South West Interconnected System and the North Western Interconnected System), and the Northern Territory factor is for the Darwin Katherine Interconnected System. Price each site against its own grid, not your head office's.
Which NGA Factors edition to use
Use the edition for the year the activity happened. Each edition is released for a reporting year: the NGA Factors 2026, for example, came out alongside the NGER Measurement Determination update for the 2026–27 reporting cycle.
- 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025
- National Greenhouse Accounts Factors 2024 (2024–25)
- 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026
- National Greenhouse Accounts Factors 2025 (2025–26)
- 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027
- National Greenhouse Accounts Factors 2026 (2026–27)
A report that spans two financial years, such as a calendar year, uses two editions: January to June on one, July to December on the next. Emitt does this for you by matching each activity's date to its edition.
AASB S2 doesn't name an edition. It asks you to use the emission factors that best represent your activity and to disclose which ones you used (paragraph B29). If you report under NGER, use the methods in the NGER Measurement Determination: DCCEEW says the NGA Factors workbook is not published for NGER reporting.
How to calculate Scope 1 emissions from fuel
Fuel burned in your own plant, boilers, generators and vehicles is Scope 1. The NGA Factors publish each fuel's energy content and its emissions per gigajoule, and multiplying the two gives a rate per unit of fuel. For diesel: 38.6 GJ/kL × 70.2 kg CO₂e/GJ = 2,709.72 kg CO₂e/kL.
Business gas bills often show megajoules (MJ) or gigajoules (GJ) rather than cubic metres, so the calculator prices gas in GJ at the published 51.53 kg CO₂e/GJ for natural gas distributed in a pipeline (Table 5). For a bill in cubic metres it uses 2.025129 kg CO₂e/m³, which is 0.0393 GJ/m³ × 51.53. Litres are converted to kilolitres (1 kL = 1,000 L).
| Fuel (as published) | Energy content | kg CO₂e per GJ | kg CO₂e per unit | NGA table |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas distributed in a pipeline | 0.0393 GJ/m³ | 51.53 | 2.025129 per m³ | Table 5 |
| Diesel oil | 38.6 GJ/kL | 70.2 | 2,709.72 per kL | Table 8 |
| Automotive gasoline/petrol (other than for use as fuel in an aircraft) | 34.2 GJ/kL | 67.8 | 2,318.76 per kL | Table 8 |
| Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) | 25.7 GJ/kL | 60.6 | 1,557.42 per kL | Table 8 |
These fuel rates are the same in the NGA Factors 2024, 2025 and 2026.
NGA emission factors for electricity and fuel, 2024 to 2026
Every factor this calculator uses, by reporting year. These are the values Emitt calculates with, unrounded. Electricity is Scope 2 (location-based, Table 1) in kg CO₂e per kWh; fuels are Scope 1 (combustion, Tables 5 and 8).
| Grid or fuel | Unit | 2024–25 NGA 2024 | 2025–26 NGA 2025 | 2026–27 NGA 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scope 2: electricity, location-based (Table 1) | ||||
| New South Wales and ACT | kg CO₂e/kWh | 0.66 | 0.64 | 0.60 |
| Victoria | kg CO₂e/kWh | 0.77 | 0.78 | 0.74 |
| Queensland | kg CO₂e/kWh | 0.71 | 0.67 | 0.65 |
| South Australia | kg CO₂e/kWh | 0.23 | 0.22 | 0.21 |
| Tasmania | kg CO₂e/kWh | 0.15 | 0.20 | 0.23 |
| Western Australia (SWIS) | kg CO₂e/kWh | 0.51 | 0.50 | 0.45 |
| Western Australia (NWIS) | kg CO₂e/kWh | 0.61 | 0.56 | 0.56 |
| Northern Territory (DKIS) | kg CO₂e/kWh | 0.56 | 0.56 | 0.55 |
| National average | kg CO₂e/kWh | 0.63 | 0.62 | 0.59 |
| Scope 1: fuel combustion (Tables 5 and 8) | ||||
| Natural gas (Table 5) | kg CO₂e/m³ | 2.025129 | 2.025129 | 2.025129 |
| Natural gas (Table 5) | kg CO₂e/GJ | 51.53 | 51.53 | 51.53 |
| Diesel (Table 8) | kg CO₂e/kL | 2,709.72 | 2,709.72 | 2,709.72 |
| Petrol (Table 8) | kg CO₂e/kL | 2,318.76 | 2,318.76 | 2,318.76 |
| LPG (Table 8) | kg CO₂e/kL | 1,557.42 | 1,557.42 | 1,557.42 |
Sources: Australian National Greenhouse Accounts Factors 2024, Australian National Greenhouse Accounts Factors 2025, Australian National Greenhouse Accounts Factors 2026, published by DCCEEW. SWIS is the South West Interconnected System, NWIS the North Western Interconnected System and DKIS the Darwin Katherine Interconnected System.
What this calculator doesn't cover
It gives you location-based Scope 2 and fuel combustion Scope 1 for the activities above. It leaves out:
- Market-based Scope 2. Renewable electricity contracts and certificates such as LGCs aren't applied. AASB S2 asks for location-based Scope 2 in any case.
- Scope 3. That includes grid losses and the upstream emissions of fuel (the NGA Factors publish Scope 3 rates for both), as well as purchased goods, freight, travel and your suppliers' emissions. This tool doesn't estimate them; see Scope 3 supplier data.
- Refrigerants. Gas leaking from air-conditioning and cold rooms is Scope 1 (fugitive emissions). Emitt calculates it; this page doesn't.
- Waste. Waste sent to landfill is Scope 3. Emitt calculates it from waste contractor dockets; this page doesn't.
- Vehicle-specific fuel rates. Diesel, petrol and LPG use the stationary energy rates in Table 8. Table 9 publishes slightly different rates for fuel burned in vehicles, by vehicle type.
- Other fuels and sources, such as fuel oil, coal, biofuels and emissions from industrial processes.
The results are estimates for your own use. They aren't an NGER report or an AASB S2 disclosure, and the calculator doesn't decide your reporting boundary or whether you cross a threshold.
Questions about calculating emissions
How do I calculate Scope 2 emissions from electricity in Australia?
Multiply the kilowatt-hours on the bill by the location-based emission factor for the state grid the site draws from, published in Table 1 of the National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA) Factors. For example, with the NGA Factors 2025, 10,000 kWh used in Victoria is 10,000 × 0.78 = 7,800 kg CO₂e, or 7.8 t CO₂e.
What is the emission factor for diesel in Australia?
Diesel is 2,709.72 kg CO₂e per kilolitre (2.70972 kg per litre) for Scope 1 in the NGA Factors 2024, 2025 and 2026. It is diesel's energy content of 38.6 GJ per kilolitre multiplied by its emission factor of 70.2 kg CO₂e per GJ, both from Table 8.
Which NGA Factors edition should I use?
Use the edition for the year the activity happened: the NGA Factors 2025 for 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, and the NGA Factors 2026 from 1 July 2026. AASB S2 doesn't name an edition; it asks for the emission factors that best represent your activity and for you to disclose which you used. If you report under NGER, use the methods in the NGER Measurement Determination, because DCCEEW doesn't publish the NGA Factors for NGER reporting.
Is Scope 2 location-based or market-based?
AASB S2 requires Scope 2 emissions to be disclosed with the location-based method, which uses the average emissions of the state grid from Table 1 of the NGA Factors. You can add information about contracts such as renewable electricity purchases, which is what the market-based method reflects. This calculator and Emitt use the location-based method.
Last reviewed: 9 October 2026.
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