# TAO emission does not add to 100

Learn about tao excess and how it is calculated.

_Source: https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/legacy-deprecated/tao-emission-does-not-add-to-100_

_Last reviewed: 2026-09-15_

Learn about tao excess and how it is calculated.

Looking at the Taostats Subnet page, you may notice that the Emissions do not always add to 100%

![Dark-themed subnet table with rank, subnet, tags, and a single emission-percentage column plus a total row summing less than 100%](https://beta.taostats.io/images/docs/concepts/taostats-subnet-emission-percent-table.png)

If 1 tao is emitted per block, this means that just 0.817 tao is being awarded to subnets. Where is the other .183 tao going?

## The chain is buying this tao and injecting it into subnet Liquidity pools.

### Why??

[Tao Emission](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/how-emission-works/tao-emission) is calculated from EMA flow.

[Alpha Emission](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/how-emission-works/alpha-emission) is calculated from tao emission and price - but it has a max value of 1.

At the time of writing, Subnet 8 has:

* a normalized EMA flow of 0.05635527424782002.
* Price is 0.035997

This would mean that alpha\_in should be 1.55

$$
\dfrac{0.05635527424782002}{0.035997} = 1.565554748
$$

But since the maximum alpha that can be emitted into the pool is one, this is not possible.

So we reset alpha\_in to 1, and calculate the tao\_in:

$$
1 \cdot 0.035997 = 0.035997
$$

The tao\_in cannot exceed 0.035997.

We have what is called `excess tao`  = default\_tao\_in - tao\_in

$$
0.0563552742 - 0.035997 = 0.0203582742
$$

On SN 8 there is 0.0204 excess tao per block.

This tao is added to the liquidity pool, and the alpha it buys is held as protocol alpha (`SubnetProtocolAlpha`).

This serves to increase the price to nearer the emission percentage.

## how can I find which are getting excess tao?

On the taostats subnet page - look for the daily chain buy column. This is the per block value multiplied by 7200.

![Single dark-themed table column headed "Daily Chain Buys" listing tao values in descending order with a sort chevron](https://beta.taostats.io/images/docs/concepts/taostats-daily-chain-buys-column.png)

## how will Excess tao change after the halving?

When tao halves in December 2025, all excess tao will drop to 0.  Tao emissions will drop by 50%, and the max alpha\_in will still be 1.  This means that it is unlikely for excess toa be become a concern until we begin seeing alpha halvings in 2028.