How the calculator works

Each part is an amount you use multiplied by an emission factor.

• Electricity: your kWh multiplied by the carbon intensity of the grid in your country.
• Heating: 0.18 kg of CO₂ per kWh of gas.
• Car: 2.31 kg of CO₂ per litre of petrol, 2.68 kg per litre of diesel, or the grid factor for an electric car.
• Flights: about 120 kg of CO₂ per hour in the air, based on an economy seat.
• Food: an average daily figure for your type of diet, multiplied by 365.

Home energy is shared between the people who live with you. Everything else is counted as your own.

What it leaves out

The calculator covers the parts of a footprint that are easy to measure and that you can change. It does not count the goods and services you buy, your share of public services such as roads and hospitals, or the emissions from building your home and car. Depending on how you live, those can add several tonnes a year.

The comparison with your country’s average is a rough guide. National figures cover CO₂ from all fossil fuels and industry in the country, divided by the population, so they include activities this calculator does not.

Where to cut first

Look at the longest bar. If it is home energy, heating controls and insulation come first. If it is the car, the options are fewer kilometres, a more efficient car or an electric one, and our EV vs petrol calculator shows how much that saves in your country. If it is flights, one fewer long trip changes the total more than anything else on the list.

Frequently asked questions

What is the average carbon footprint of a person?

Worldwide, CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels and industry average about 4.73 tonnes per person per year. The figure differs enormously between countries, from well under 1 tonne to more than 20. Choose your country in the calculator to see its average.

What does this calculator include?

Four things you control directly: energy used at home, driving, flying and food. It does not include the things you buy, public services, or the emissions built into your home and car, so a full footprint is higher.

Which part of a personal footprint is usually the largest?

For most people in richer countries it is one of three: heating, driving or flying. A single long-haul return flight can outweigh a year of electricity use.

How is the food figure calculated?

It uses average daily emissions for six diet types, measured in a study of UK diets by Scarborough and colleagues (2014). The figures range from about 2.9 kg of CO₂e per day for a vegan diet to about 7.2 kg for a diet high in meat.