Estimate the footprint of your AI use
Questions, images, videos: the electricity and CO2e of a year, based on your assumptions.
- Calculation
- On the AI Impact Database, version 0.4, engine 0.3.1
- Published
- 20 October 2026, CC BY 4.0 licence
1
Your uses
In reasoning modeA question that reasons: x 1.94
None1 of 101 of 41 of 2All 2
Your assumptions
Video generatorElectricity used by a 5-second video3
Median generator25Wh The most downloaded90Wh The most energy-hungry measured415Wh
Server electricityIn gCO2e per kWh5, 6, 7
Global average (Ember)458 g France (Ember)41.4 g United States (Ember)384 g Ireland (Ember)257 g Germany (Ember)330 g Netherlands (Ember)254 g Poland (Ember)589 g Sweden (Ember)35.3 g Norway (Ember)28.1 g
Default : the regular-use profile of the article series (10 questions a day, 5 images and 1 video a week).
3
Results over a year
Electricity6.5kWhequivalent to 18 Wh per day
Climate3kgCO2e6.5 kWh x 458 g per kWh
Water0.95 to 160L0.26 mL to 45 mL per question
Where the electricity comes from
Questions10 per day x 365 x 0.3 Wh1.1 kWh 17 %
Images5 per week x 52 x 2.9 Wh756 Wh 12 %
Videos1 per week x 52 x 90 Wh4.7 kWh 72 %
↑1 video a week weighs more than 4 times 10 questions a day What this corresponds to
With the electricity of other countries
Poland3.8 kgCO2e
Global averageyour choice3 kgCO2e
France270 gCO2e
Norway180 gCO2e
Assumptions and sources
6.5 kWhyour uses over a yearEpoch AILuccioniDelavandePEReN458 g per kWhglobal average, life cycleEmber3 kgCO2ea year
Not countedModel training and server manufacturing; Your device
The calculation in detail
The values and the limits
The values used
- With reasoning4
- × 1.9 (PEReN)
- A 5-second video3
- 25 to 415 Wh
- Chosen electricity5
- 458 g per kWh
The limits of the calculation
- Orders of magnitude: the values per use come from measurements on specific models, not on your assistant.
- Only the servers' electricity at the time of use is counted: not training, not hardware manufacturing, not your device.
- The country of the large assistants' servers is not published: the global average is the default value.
- For water, text questions alone: 0.26 mL (cooling, Google) to 45 mL (life cycle, Mistral AI).
- The water of images and videos: no published measurement.
The 9 sources
One line per document
- 1Epoch AI, How much energy does ChatGPT use?, February 2025A text question, 0.3 Wh
- 2Luccioni, Jernite and Strubell, Power Hungry Processing: Watts Driving the Cost of AI Deployment?, 2024A generated image, 2.9 Wh
- 3Delavande, Pierrard and Luccioni, Video Killed the Energy Budget, September 2025A 5-second video, 25 to 415 Wh
- 4Arcep, Intelligence artificielle et environnement (mesures du PEReN), May 2026Reasoning mode, x 1.9
- 5Ember, Global Electricity Review 2026 (the AI Impact Database, IA-0001)The global average, 458 g per kWh, over the life cycle
- 6Our World in Data, based on Ember, carbon intensity of electricity over the life cycle, by countryFrance, 41.4 g per kWh
- 7Ember, Global Electricity Review 2026, and annual data via Our World in DataThe other countries
- 8ADEME, Impact CO2The car, the beef meal, the new smartphone
- 9SDES et Insee, L'empreinte carbone de la France de 1990 à 2025, octobre 2026A French person's annual footprint, 8.3 tCO2e
More on uses
The whole Uses topic →Charts and maps
Chart
UsesElectricity used by a question, an image, a videoabout300timesa 5-second video versus one questionKey figureUsesElectricity used by a written question to an AIReference value · a typical question · independent estimate, February 2025ChartUsesElectricity used by a generated video, 7 models measured× 3,000from 0.14 Wh to over 415 Wh per videoChartUsesElectricity by type of AI taskover1,000timesimage generation versus text classification
UsesElectricity used by a question, an image, a videoabout300timesa 5-second video versus one questionKey figureUsesElectricity used by a written question to an AIReference value · a typical question · independent estimate, February 2025Chart
UsesElectricity used by a generated video, 7 models measured× 3,000from 0.14 Wh to over 415 Wh per videoChartUsesElectricity by type of AI taskover1,000timesimage generation versus text classificationAnalyses
Where does this figure come from?Uses20 October 2026"A generated image is a phone charge"The comparison did the rounds of the media in late 2023. It came from a serious study, but from its preliminary version, from the most power-hungry generator, and from a phone charge counted as 12 Wh.
Where does this figure come from?Uses20 October 2026"A generated video uses 1 kWh"The figure has been circulating since 2025, often attached to Sora. It comes from a real measurement, but one made on a different, open model, in a particularly heavy version. Measurements of 7 generators range from 0.14 to 415 Wh.Tools
On the Projet Celsius blog ↗
Society
ClimateAcross the hub
AI Impact DatabaseAll the figures, their methodology and their sources.
AI Ranking10 assistants rated out of 100: performance, ethics and environment.
AnalysesThe signed pieces: analyses, viewpoints, "Where does this figure come from?".
Charts and mapsThe reference visuals, with their data and sources.
ToolsYou are hereOpen calculations, your assumptions on the left, the result on the right.
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