Carbon Footprint Calculator

Calculation Method

The calculator estimates annual CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) emissions by summing contributions from four categories:

1. Energy: Electricity × grid emission factor (varies by country), plus natural gas, heating oil, and propane combustion emissions.
2. Transportation: Vehicle fuel consumption × fuel emission factor, public transit passenger-miles, and flight emissions based on distance class with radiative forcing multiplier.
3. Food: Per-person dietary emissions based on diet type (vegan through heavy meat eater), adjusted for food waste, local sourcing, and organic purchasing.
4. Waste: Baseline landfill emissions minus reductions for recycling aluminum, plastic, glass, paper, and composting.

Key Emission Factors

• Electricity: 0.37 kg CO₂/kWh (US avg) — varies by grid mix
• Natural gas: 5.3 kg CO₂/therm
• Gasoline: 8.89 kg CO₂/gallon
• Diesel: 10.16 kg CO₂/gallon
• Short-haul flight: ~250 kg CO₂/round trip
• Long-haul flight: ~1,800 kg CO₂/round trip

Average Annual Footprints

• United States: ~16,000 kg (16 tonnes) per capita
• European Union: ~6,800 kg (6.8 tonnes) per capita
• World average: ~4,700 kg (4.7 tonnes) per capita
• Paris Agreement target: ~2,000 kg (2 tonnes) per capita by 2050

Sources & Notes

• Emission factors from EPA, EIA, IPCC, and DEFRA databases
• All values are CO₂ equivalent (includes CH₄, N₂O where applicable)
• Results are estimates; actual emissions depend on many additional factors