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.
Illustrative worked example: a four-person city household
This is an illustrative example with made-up quantities. Every factor is from the sources above.
| Item | Annual activity | Factor (source, year) | Emissions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity | 3,000 kWh | 0.675 kg CO2/kWh (CEA Version 22.0, 2025-26) | 2,025 kg CO2 |
| LPG | 9 cylinders × 14.2 kg = 127.8 kg | 2.98 kg CO2/kg (IPCC 2006) | 381 kg CO2 |
| Petrol hatchback | 8,000 km | 0.140 kg CO2/km (India GHG Program, 2015) | 1,120 kg CO2 |
| Scooter | 6,000 km | 0.0368 kg CO2/km (India GHG Program, 2015) | 221 kg CO2 |
| One return flight, Delhi-Mumbai, one person | about 2,300 km | 246 g CO2e/passenger-km (UK DESNZ 2022, via OWID) | 566 kg CO2e |
| Milk | 500 kg | 3.15 kg CO2e/kg (Poore and Nemecek 2018) | 1,575 kg CO2e |
| Rice | 120 kg | 4.45 kg CO2e/kg (Poore and Nemecek 2018) | 534 kg CO2e |
| Total of items counted | 6,422 kg, about 6.4 tonnes |
That is about 1.6 tonnes per person for the items counted. It leaves out other foods, waste, clothes, gadgets and services, so a full footprint would be higher.
For context, Our World in Data (Global Carbon Budget) puts India's fossil CO2 emissions at about 2.2 tonnes per person in 2024, against a world average of about 4.7 tonnes. That national number includes industry, freight and public services, so it is not directly comparable with one household's list.
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.
Related articles
What is a carbon footprint?
A plain guide to what a carbon footprint is, what it includes, how big the average Indian footprint is, and what the…
How to reduce your carbon footprint: for homes, offices and companies
A practical avoid-reduce-replace guide for Indian households and businesses: BEE star-rated appliances, rooftop solar…
What are greenhouse gases and CO2 equivalent (CO2e)?
Which gases warm the planet, how CO2 equivalent and global warming potential work, why reports use different GWP…
Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions explained: a guide for Indian companies
What Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions mean under the GHG Protocol, how location-based and market-based Scope 2 differ, the…
Carbon and Climate Glossary: Key Terms Explained Simply
An A-Z guide to 59 carbon and climate terms people and companies meet, from additionality and BRSR to CBAM, CCTS,…
Want to understand this for your home or company?
Talk to us. We are happy to explain what this means for you in plain words. We do not sell carbon credits and we cannot promise any result, but we can help you think it through.
Talk to usShare this article