How to calculate your carbon footprint (for Indian households)
A step-by-step method for Indian households: multiply what you use (electricity units, LPG, fuel, flights, food) by a sourced emission factor, add it up, and understand how uncertain the answer is.
How do you calculate emissions from electricity?
Multiply the kWh you took from the grid by India's grid emission factor. The official source is the CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector published by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
| CEA version | Published | Financial year | Weighted average (t CO2 per MWh) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Version 22.0 | August 2026 | 2025-26 | 0.675 |
| Version 21.0 | November 2025 | 2024-25 | 0.710 |
| Version 20.0 | December 2024 | 2023-24 | 0.727 |
One tonne per MWh is the same as one kilogram per kWh, so the latest factor is 0.675 kg CO2 per unit. CEA calculates it by dividing total CO2 from grid-connected power stations (1,189.04 million tonnes in 2025-26) by net electricity fed into the grid, including renewable, captive and imported power (1,761.28 billion units). Version 22.0 also revised the 2024-25 numbers using actual captive data, so always use the newest version.
Formula: annual kWh × 0.675 = kg CO2
If you have rooftop solar, count only the units you imported from the grid, not the units your panels produced.
Sources: Central Electricity Authority, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, User Guide Version 22.0 (August 2026); Central Electricity Authority, CO2 Baseline Database User Guide Version 21.0 (November 2025); Central Electricity Authority, CO2 Baseline Database User Guide Version 20.0 (December 2024); 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 2 Energy, Chapter 1; 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 5 Waste; India GHG Program (WRI India, CII, TERI), India Specific Road Transport Emission Factors, Version 1.0 (2015); Bharat Petroleum, Natural Gas Conversions (reproducing PPAC conversion basis); ICAO Carbon Emissions Calculator and methodology; Our World in Data, Which form of transport has the smallest carbon footprint? (UK DESNZ 2022 conversion factors); Our World in Data, Greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of food product (Poore and Nemecek 2018, Science); Our World in Data, You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local; Our World in Data, CO2 emissions per capita (Global Carbon Budget)
This article was prepared with AI assistance and checked by the GreenEye team against the sources shown in each section.
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