Carbon dioxide: Emissions

Small processing footprint, big questions about reuse

What this tab covers The greenhouse-gas footprint per tonne, split by lifecycle phase (feedstock, production, movement, use, end of life), the global total, other environmental impacts, levers and low-carbon routes, India's position, and where the investment opportunity lies. Emission intensity 0.08 t CO2e per t range about 0.03-0.2 · processing energy of 100-150 kWh per t at 0.45-0.7 kg CO2 per kWh plus distribution; excludes the product CO2

Per t of liquid CO2 product, cradle-to-gate (processing only; the CO2 molecule itself is counted separately). Intensity: indicative (basis: energy use x grid intensity). Global total: not published.

Share of footprint by lifecycle phase

Production / process 75% Movement 25%

Footprint by lifecycle phase

Phase	Intensity	Share	Main sources of emissions	Notes	Source
Feedstock	not allocated (by-product of ammonia, ethanol, gas processing)	0%	host process	emissions belong to the host plant	allocation convention (indicative)
Production / process	about 0.06 t CO2e per t	75%	compression, purification, liquefaction power	higher on coal-heavy grids	indicative
Movement	about 0.02 t CO2e per t	25%	refrigerated road tankers	indicative	indicative
Use	about 1 t CO2 per t for food, drinks and urea; partly retained in EOR	–	carbonation, dry ice and urea release the CO2 within days to months	fossil CO2 used this way only delays emission; urea releases 0.733 t CO2 per t in the field	stoichiometry; IPCC accounting
End of life	not applicable	–	returns to air	permanent storage only with geological CCS or mineralisation	not applicable

Other environmental impacts

Natural-well CO2 used for EOR adds fossil CO2 and produces more oil. Pipeline ruptures are a local safety risk.

Levers to cut emissions

Shift merchant supply to biogenic CO2 from fermentation and biogas upgrading
Geological storage of captured CO2 rather than short-lived use
Mineralisation in concrete and aggregates
Use captured CO2 with green hydrogen for e-methanol

India

India's urea plants use about 21 Mt of CO2 a year and release it in fields; merchant use is about 1.3 Mt a year (gasworld 2025; derived). Growing ethanol and compressed biogas output could add biogenic CO2 supply (indicative).

Emission figures are indicative global averages from the life-cycle studies named; actual footprints vary widely by site, energy mix and method.

Low-carbon routes

Route	Intensity	Cost premium	Status	Source
Biogenic CO2 from ethanol and biogas plants	processing emissions only; CO2 is biogenic	small for food grade (indicative)	India's compressed biogas programme (SATAT) and ethanol blending create new CO2 sources (indicative)	indicative

For a climate investor The opportunity is less in merchant CO2 itself than in capture and use: biogenic CO2 from India's ethanol and biogas expansion for food grade and e-methanol, and CO2 mineralisation into building materials. What has to be true: a carbon price or offtake premium, since by-product CO2 is cheap. Players include Carbon Clean (capture at Tuticorin), the industrial gas majors and India's grain and molasses ethanol distillers (indicative).