Carbon Footprint Estimator
A rough streaming and AI estimate from published factors — illustrative, not a meter.
Rough estimates from published third-party research, not a measurement of your devices or your grid. Streaming uses the IEA’s 36 g CO2 per hour of video on a global average grid (commentary, December 2020). Each AI text prompt uses 0.03 g CO2e, Google’s median Gemini Apps text prompt from May 2025.
Streaming, a year
13,104 g
AI prompts, a year
219 g
Combined, a year
13.32 kg
Illustrative factors only. Not a precise footprint.
Worked example
7 hours of streaming a week is 364 hours a year. At 36 grams of CO2 per hour, that is about 13.1 kg. Twenty AI prompts a day at 0.03 grams each is about 0.22 kg a year.
FAQ
- Where does 36 grams come from?
- The IEA’s updated estimate for one hour of streaming video in 2019, on a global average grid, from its December 2020 commentary. Later grids and resolutions differ.
- Where does the AI figure come from?
- 0.03 grams of CO2e per median Gemini Apps text prompt, from Google’s May 2025 measurement. It is not your model and not your electricity grid.
- Why so round?
- These are illustrative factors, not a meter reading. Do not treat the kilograms as a precise footprint.