Carbon Footprint Calculator
Estimate annual CO₂ from driving, flights and electricity.
About the Carbon Footprint Calculator
Estimates your annual carbon footprint in tonnes of CO₂ from car mileage, flights and household electricity use, using standard emission factors.
How to use
Enter your annual car kilometres, number of long flights and monthly electricity use, then click Calculate.
Worked example
15,000 km driving + 2 flights + 300 kWh/month → about 4.6 tonnes CO₂/year.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your yearly driving, flight, and electricity usage.
- Use the calculator's instant result to estimate annual CO2.
- Check the breakdown to see which activity contributes most.
- Adjust your inputs if you want to compare different habits or scenarios.
The formula explained
$$ \text{annual CO}_2 = (\text{driving miles} \times \text{driving factor}) + (\text{flight miles} \times \text{flight factor}) + (\text{electricity kWh} \times \text{electricity factor}) $$
- \(annual CO2\) = estimated total carbon dioxide emissions for the year
- \(\text{driving miles}\) = miles driven in a year
- \(\text{driving factor}\) = CO2 emitted per mile driven
- \(\text{flight miles}\) = miles flown in a year
- \(\text{flight factor}\) = CO2 emitted per mile flown
- \(\text{electricity kWh}\) = kilowatt-hours of electricity used in a year
- \(\text{electricity factor}\) = CO2 emitted per kilowatt-hour of electricity
Step by step method
- Start with your annual driving miles, flight miles, and electricity use in kilowatt-hours.
- Multiply each activity by its emission factor using the calculator's underlying formula.
- Add the three emissions together to get the total annual carbon footprint.
- Review the result and compare it with another scenario if you want to test changes.
Worked example
Suppose someone drives 12,000 miles a year, flies 3,000 miles, and uses 8,000 kWh of electricity.
- Calculate driving emissions: \(12{,}000 \times 0.404 = 4{,}848\) kg CO2.
- Calculate flight emissions: \(3{,}000 \times 0.254 = 762\) kg CO2.
- Calculate electricity emissions: \(8{,}000 \times 0.417 = 3{,}336\) kg CO2.
- Add them: \(4{,}848 + 762 + 3{,}336 = 8{,}946\) kg CO2 per year.
Answer. 8,946 kg CO2 per year
Tips and common mistakes
- Make sure your inputs are annual totals, not monthly or weekly numbers.
- Check unit labels carefully because miles and kilowatt-hours are not interchangeable.
- If you want a meaningful comparison, change only one input at a time.
- Remember that electricity factors can vary by region, so the estimate may change depending on location.
Frequently asked questions
What is a typical footprint?+
The global average is ~4 to 5 tonnes CO₂ per person per year; high-income countries are far higher.
How can I reduce it?+
Drive and fly less, switch to renewable electricity, and improve home efficiency.
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