LLM Carbon Footprint Calculator

Estimate CO2 emissions from your LLM API usage. Compare models and data center regions to understand your AI carbon footprint.

Carbon Calculator
Model & Region
Energy estimate: 0.8 µWh/token (Small/Flash models) · PUE 1.12
Monthly energy
0.01 kWh
Monthly CO₂
0.002 kg
Annual CO₂
0.02 kg
Per 1k tokens
0.0002 g CO₂
Equivalent to…
Driving 1 km (gas car)1.2%
1 email sent44.8%
Google search9.0×
Streaming 1 hr Netflix5.0%
Cup of coffee0.9%

Carbon estimates are order-of-magnitude approximations based on published AI energy research. Actual values depend on hardware utilization, data center efficiency, and renewable energy mix. Not suitable for ESG reporting. Dataset verified 2026-08-20.

How to Use

Select a model

Smaller models (Haiku, Flash, mini) have significantly lower energy use per token than frontier models.

Choose a region

Data center region affects carbon intensity. EU West and US West (renewables-heavy regions) have much lower grid carbon intensity.

Enter your token volume

Enter your monthly API usage in millions of tokens (input + output combined).

See your footprint

View monthly CO2 in kg, annual estimate, and comparison to everyday activities.

Reducing your AI carbon footprint

The most impactful actions: (1) Use the smallest model that meets quality requirements — energy scales roughly with model size. (2) Use batch processing for non-real-time tasks — better GPU utilization means less energy per token. (3) Cache prompt prefixes — fewer tokens processed means less energy. (4) Choose providers committed to renewable energy contracts.

FAQ

Have more questions? Contact us

Last verified: 2026-08-20 · methodology · data sources