Carbon footprint calculator: yearly tonnes of CO₂e from driving, flights, train and bus, home electricity and diet, using UK government emission factors.
Factors are UK averages for 2024; your car, airline load factor and local grid will differ. Gas heating, goods and services are not included.
These activities add up to 4.57 tonnes of CO₂e a year (381 kg a month). The largest source is diet at 45% of the total.
Where the emissions come from
Car1,751 kgFlights372 kgTrain and bus90 kgਬਿਜਲੀ304 kgDiet2,055 kg
Emission factors used ਕਤਾਰਾਂ: 5
Source
Factor
kg CO₂e a year
Petrol car
2.0844 kg per litre
1,751
Home electricity
0.22535 kg per kWh
304
Domestic / short / long-haul flights
0.27257 / 0.18592 / 0.26128 kg per passenger-km
372
Train / bus
0.03546 / 0.10846 kg per passenger-km
90
Diet
5.63 kg per day
2,055
ਗਣਨਾ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਹੁੰਦੀ ਹੈ S
Car
14.286km/L12,000km=840L×2.0844=1,750.9kg
DESNZ 2024 petrol (average biofuel blend) per litre, tailpipe only.
Flights
0×0.27257+2,000×0.18592+0×0.26128=371.8kg
DESNZ 2024 average-passenger factors per passenger-km, including radiative forcing (non-CO₂ warming at altitude).
Train and bus
1,000×0.03546+500×0.10846=89.7kg
DESNZ 2024 national rail and average local bus, per passenger-km.
Home electricity
22,700kWh×0.22535=304.2kg
Diet
5.63×365=2,055.0kg
Scarborough et al. (2014), UK diets standardised to 2,000 kcal a day.
Total
4,571.6kg=4.57t CO2e
Personal carbon footprint calculator ਬਾਰੇ
The footprint is a sum of activity × emission factor: litres of fuel burned (distance ÷ fuel economy), passenger-kilometres by air, rail and bus, your share of household electricity, and a daily diet figure × 365. Transport and electricity factors are the UK government's 2024 greenhouse gas conversion factors (DESNZ); diet figures come from Scarborough et al. (2014), who analysed the diets of UK adults in the EPIC-Oxford cohort.
It shows which change would cut the most. The defaults (12,000 km in a petrol car at 7 L/100 km, 2,000 km of short-haul flights, a medium-meat diet and half of a 2,700 kWh household) add up to 4.57 t CO₂e a year, with diet the largest part at 2,055 kg.
CO₂e counts methane and nitrous oxide by their warming effect relative to CO₂, and the flight factors include the extra warming from emissions at altitude. Gas heating, goods, services and the manufacture of the car are left out, so the total covers only part of a full footprint.
ਹੱਲ ਕੀਤੀਆਂ ਉਦਾਹਰਨਾਂ
Petrol car, 10,000 km at 7 L/100 km
Car distance per year
10,000 km
Car fuel
Petrol
ਬਾਲਣ ਕੁਸ਼ਲਤਾ
7 L/100 km
Domestic flights, distance per year
0 km
Short-haul flights (under 3,700 km each), distance per year
2000 km
Long-haul flights (over 3,700 km each), distance per year
0 km
Train distance per year
1000 km
Bus distance per year
500 km
Home electricity use
2700 kWh a year
People in the household
2
Electricity grid
UK grid 2024 (0.225 kg/kWh)
Diet
Medium meat (50–99 g a day)
Car
1,459 kg CO₂e
ਜਾਂਚ ਦਾ ਸਰੋਤ: 700 L × 2.0844 kg CO₂e/L (DESNZ 2024, petrol average biofuel blend) = 1459.08 kg, Python decimal
Diesel car, 20,000 km at 5 L/100 km
Car distance per year
20,000 km
Car fuel
Diesel
ਬਾਲਣ ਕੁਸ਼ਲਤਾ
5 L/100 km
Domestic flights, distance per year
0 km
Short-haul flights (under 3,700 km each), distance per year
2000 km
Long-haul flights (over 3,700 km each), distance per year
0 km
Train distance per year
1000 km
Bus distance per year
500 km
Home electricity use
2700 kWh a year
People in the household
2
Electricity grid
UK grid 2024 (0.225 kg/kWh)
Diet
Medium meat (50–99 g a day)
Car
2,513 kg CO₂e
ਜਾਂਚ ਦਾ ਸਰੋਤ: 1000 L × 2.51279 kg CO₂e/L (DESNZ 2024, diesel average biofuel blend)
US units: 10,000 miles at 30 mpg
Car distance per year
10,000 mi
Car fuel
Petrol
ਬਾਲਣ ਕੁਸ਼ਲਤਾ
30 mpg (US)
Domestic flights, distance per year
0 km
Short-haul flights (under 3,700 km each), distance per year
2000 km
Long-haul flights (over 3,700 km each), distance per year
0 km
Train distance per year
1000 km
Bus distance per year
500 km
Home electricity use
2700 kWh a year
People in the household
2
Electricity grid
UK grid 2024 (0.225 kg/kWh)
Diet
Medium meat (50–99 g a day)
Car
2,630 kg CO₂e
ਜਾਂਚ ਦਾ ਸਰੋਤ: 10000/30 US gal × 3.785411784 L = 1261.80 L × 2.0844 = 2630.10 kg, Python decimal
One long-haul return trip of 11,000 km in total
Car distance per year
12,000 km
Car fuel
Petrol
ਬਾਲਣ ਕੁਸ਼ਲਤਾ
7 L/100 km
Domestic flights, distance per year
0 km
Short-haul flights (under 3,700 km each), distance per year
0 km
Long-haul flights (over 3,700 km each), distance per year
11,000 km
Train distance per year
1000 km
Bus distance per year
500 km
Home electricity use
2700 kWh a year
People in the household
2
Electricity grid
UK grid 2024 (0.225 kg/kWh)
Diet
Medium meat (50–99 g a day)
Flights
2,874 kg CO₂e
ਜਾਂਚ ਦਾ ਸਰੋਤ: 11 000 passenger-km × 0.26128 kg CO₂e (DESNZ 2024, long-haul average passenger, with radiative forcing)
ਸਵਾਲ
What is the average carbon footprint per person?
CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels and industry averaged 4.7 tonnes per person worldwide in 2024 (Global Carbon Budget 2025, via Our World in Data): 14.2 t in the United States, 8.7 t in China, 4.5 t in the United Kingdom and 2.2 t in India. Those are national totals including industry and excluding other greenhouse gases, so they do not compare directly with the personal activities added up here.
How much CO₂ does a flight produce?
DESNZ 2024 gives 0.26128 kg CO₂e per passenger-km for an average long-haul passenger including radiative forcing, or 0.15423 kg for the CO₂ alone. An 11,000 km return trip therefore adds 2,874 kg. Seat class matters: a long-haul business-class seat is rated at 0.58028 kg per km, 2.9 times the economy figure of 0.20011 kg.
How much CO₂ does a car emit per litre of fuel?
DESNZ 2024 gives 2.0844 kg CO₂e per litre of petrol and 2.51279 kg per litre of diesel, both for the average UK biofuel blend. A petrol car using 7 L/100 km burns 840 litres over 12,000 km, which is 1,751 kg a year. These are tailpipe figures; fuel production and the car's manufacture are extra.
Does an electric car have a lower carbon footprint?
Per kilometre driven, yes on the UK grid. At the 2024 factor of 0.22535 kg CO₂e per kWh including transmission losses (DESNZ), an electric car using 17 kWh per 100 km emits 38 g per km, against 146 g per km for a petrol car at 7 L/100 km. Battery and vehicle manufacture are outside this comparison.
How much does diet change a carbon footprint?
By up to about 1.6 tonnes a year. Scarborough et al. (2014) measured 7.19 kg CO₂e a day for UK high-meat diets and 2.89 kg for vegan diets, both scaled to 2,000 kcal. Over a year that is 2,624 kg against 1,055 kg. A medium-meat diet (50–99 g a day) comes to 2,055 kg.
UK DESNZ — Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2024 (flat file v1.1); P. Scarborough et al., “Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK”, Climatic Change 125 (2014) 179–192.