HardwareLevel 1 of 6 calculation factorCalculation factor, level 1 of 6Database structure 
6Territories
5Organisations
4Occupations and activities
3Uses
2Machine operationsAmortised manufacturing, per GPU hour
The share of the manufacturing of an AI server with 8 H100 cards that falls to one hour of work of a card. Projet Celsius estimate.
- Selected reference: The whole server with 8 H100 cards, Projet Celsius calculation based on GreenIT.
- Included: the manufacturing, distribution and end of life of the whole server, spread over its hours of service.
- Out of scope: the electricity consumed during use and the construction of the data centre.
Sentence to citeAmortised manufacturing, per GPU hour, Projet Celsius estimate: 35 gCO2e, based on GreenIT.
Origin of the value
The whole server, spread over 5 years of service at 69% utilisation, that is 35 gCO2e. The graphics cards' motherboard alone, published by Nvidia, accounts for 6 times less.
Comparison with the other calculation factors
Characteristics
| Unit | 1 GPU hour : the whole server with 8 H100 cards, Projet Celsius calculation based on GreenIT |
|---|---|
| Counted | the manufacturing, distribution and end of life of the whole server, spread over its hours of service |
| Not counted | the electricity consumed during use and the construction of the data centre |
| Status | estimated, 1 reading with the same scope, 1 other published value |
All the characteristics
| Identifier | IA-0006, projetcelsius.com/en/ai/database/IA-0006/ |
|---|---|
| Version | 0.1 of 2 November 2026 |
| Category | Calculation factors, the foundation of the calculation |
| Component | The whole server with 8 H100 cards, Projet Celsius calculation based on GreenIT (35 gCO2e), The motherboard alone of the 8 H100 cards, Projet Celsius calculation based on Nvidia (5.4 gCO2e) |
| Choice of the selected value | value taken as it stands from its source, without calculation |
| Sources | GreenIT, 2026 |
| Licence | CC BY 4.0 |
Variants
Sources of the calculation
1 publication, for this entry and those used to calculate it, with the chosen parameters.
Energy and factors
The references of the selected values and of the entries used in this calculation.
GreenIT · September 2026
Role and limits : GreenIT
What the publication covers. global fleet of AI servers, manufacturing and use, over the life cycle
What it does not cover. users' devices
Reading by the database. An estimate for the global fleet, using the life cycle assessment method
Reference for the variant "The whole server with 8 H100 cards, Projet Celsius calculation based on GreenIT"
Scope of the figure used. 8,341 kgCO2e for the server with 8 H100 cards, divided by 8 cards, 5 years of service and 69% utilisation; from 6 years at full utilisation to 3 years at half
Limit. Our calculation: the lifetime comes from Amazon (5 years for part of its servers since 2025), the utilisation from GreenIT
Published values
2 figures for the same quantity, each in its own scope.
| Source | Date | CO2e | What the figure measures | Scope | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Database checks and calculations | |||||
| GreenIT, Projet Celsius calculation ↗Impacts environnementaux et sanitaires de l'intelligence artificielle dans le monde en 2025 et 2030 | Sept. 2026 | 34.5 gCO2e | 8,341 kgCO2e for the server with 8 H100 cards, divided by 8 cards, 5 years of service and 69% utilisation; from 6 years at full utilisation to 3 years at half | same scope | computation |
| Nvidia, Projet Celsius calculation ↗HGX H100 Product Carbon Footprint Summary | 2025 | 5.43 gCO2e | 1,312 kgCO2e for the motherboard of the 8 H100 cards, with the same lifetime and utilisation | other scope | computation |
The published figures do not all count the same scope; the scope of each figure is written next to it. Why do the estimates diverge?
Methodology conventions
With their alternatives
| The default location | Without other information, the servers are in the world, at the world average electricity |
|---|---|
| Electricity, location-based, on a life cycle basis | The kilowatt-hour is that of the servers' country, on a life cycle basis, from a single source for all countries |
| Two significant figures | A calculated value is rounded to two significant figures, a published value is reproduced with the precision of its source; the calculation keeps full precision |
| Calculate a case without an entry | The formula, the default values and a step-by-step example |
History
Entry in version 0.1 of 2 November 2026, in the database in version 0.4
- 2 November 2026Version 0.1 of the entry, as of the date of its current value.
- 13 November 2026Description : that is 34.5 gCO2e becomes that is 35 gCO2e.Convention C8: a Projet Celsius calculation is written to two significant figures, like the value on the page; the citable sentence, the page description and the JSON-LD follow.
- 31 October 2026Creation of the database, in its first version (0.1).
