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by Projet Celsius
Projet Celsius
AI Impact Database

Uses

What a person asks of an AI, once, in their own words: a question, an e-mail, a page, an image, an hour of agent.

Annual emissions of 6 uses of AI, by frequency

× 2,200one hour of a code agent weighs as muchas 2,200 quick questionsCode suggestion, 0.031 gCO2eQuick question, 0.14 gCO2eCreate an image, 1.5 gCO2eSummarise a meeting, 14 gCO2eDeep research, 45 gCO2eCode agent hour, 310 gCO2e0.01 gCO2e0.1 gCO2e1 gCO2e10 gCO2e100 gCO2e1 kgCO2e10 kgCO2e100 kgCO2e1 tCO2e10 tCO2e1101001,00010,000Number of uses per year
Reading: one hour of a code agent weighs as much as 2,200 quick questions. Carbon footprint (CO2e) over one year, by number of uses. Each use is a straight line, within the blurred band of its range when the database has one. Servers worldwide. Calculation of the AI Impact Database of Projet Celsius.
Columns
AI Impact Database: 39 entries, category Uses, CO2e calculated for servers worldwide.
Unit
Write an email1 email0.11 gCO2e1 email0.23 Whestimated
Quick question1 question0.14 gCO2e1 question0.3 WhGoogle and 3 othersestimated
Write a page1 page0.21 gCO2e1 page0.45 Whestimated
Proofread a page1 page0.27 gCO2e1 page0.6 Whestimated
Translate a page1 page0.27 gCO2e1 page0.6 Whestimated
Article of 1,000 words1 article0.51 gCO2e1 article1.1 Whestimated
Conversation of 10 exchanges1 conversation1.6 gCO2e1 conversation3.5 Whestimated
Analyse a spreadsheet1 analysis1.3 gCO2e1 analysis2.8 Whestimated
Query a PDF1 question2.2 gCO2e1 question4.7 Whestimated
Summarise 30 pages1 summary2.2 gCO2e1 summary4.9 Whestimated
Deep research1 search45 gCO2e1 search99 Whestimated
AI overview of a search1 search0.061 gCO2e1 search0.13 Whestimated
Web search (benchmark)1 search0.14 gCO2e1 search0.3 WhGooglepublished
Web search with an AI1 search1.3 gCO2e1 search2.7 Whestimated
Create an image1 image1.5 gCO2e1 image3.2 Whmeasured
Retouch a photo1 photo1.6 gCO2e1 photo3.5 Whestimated
Create a large image1 image5.9 gCO2e1 image13 Whestimated
Visual in 4 attempts1 visual5.9 gCO2e1 visual13 Whestimated
Voice mode, 1 minute1 minute0.29 gCO2e1 minute0.62 Whestimated
Summarise a meeting1 meeting14 gCO2e1 meeting30 Whestimated
Clip of 5 seconds1 video45 gCO2e1 video99 Whmeasured
Clip of 10 seconds1 video160 gCO2e1 video340 Whestimated
Code suggestion1 suggestion0.031 gCO2e1 suggestion0.069 Whestimated
Generate a function1 function0.54 gCO2e1 function1.2 Whestimated
Have code reviewed1 review0.59 gCO2e1 review1.3 Whestimated
Coding agent hour1 hour310 gCO2e1 hour670 Whestimated
Specialised task1 task0.00092 gCO2e1 task0.002 WhLuccioni et al.measured
Automated workflow1 run0.11 gCO2e1 run0.24 Whestimated
Browser agent1 task5.3 gCO2e1 task12 Whestimated
Handle a customer request1 request0.56 gCO2e1 request1.2 Whestimated
Write meeting minutes1 set of minutes0.66 gCO2e1 set of minutes1.4 Whestimated
Review a contract1 contract2.7 gCO2e1 contract5.8 Whestimated
Prepare a lesson1 lesson2.8 gCO2e1 lesson6.2 Whestimated
Presentation of 10 slides1 presentation5.2 gCO2e1 presentation11 Whestimated
Literature search1 search13 gCO2e1 search29 Whestimated
Question to Gemini1 question0.11 gCO2e1 question0.24 WhGooglemeasured
Question to Claude1 question0.14 gCO2e1 question0.3 Whestimated
Question to ChatGPT1 question0.16 gCO2e1 question0.34 WhOpenAIpublished
Le Chat, LCA1 answer1.14 gCO2e1 answerMistral AIpublished
Version 0.4 of 13 November 2026, CC BY 4.0 licence

Calculated values depend on the location of the servers; published values are used as they stand. An empty source indicates a value calculated by the database from its factors.

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