Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator

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There are a number of other web-based calculators that can estimate greenhouse gas emission reductions for

For basic information and details on greenhouse gas emissions, visit the Emissions section of EPA’s climate change site.

This calculator requires JavaScript, which is currently disabled in your browser. To calculate the equivalencies manually, you can refer to the calculations and assumptions page.

UPDATED February 17, 2009. This calculator was updated to include the eGRID2007 Version 1.1 annual non-baseload CO₂ output emission rates (year 2005 data). See the revision history page for more details.

Did you ever wonder what reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by 1 million metric tons means in everyday terms? The following equivalency calculator can help you understand just that.

For example, it can be difficult to visualize what a "metric ton of carbon dioxide" really is. This calculator will translate rather difficult to understand statements into more commonplace terms, such as "is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide emissions of X number of cars annually."

This equivalency calculator may be useful in communicating your greenhouse gas reduction strategy, reduction targets, or other initiatives aimed at reducing GHG emissions.

Enter Your Data Below

There are two options for entering reduction data into this calculator.

Option 1:

If you are starting with reductions data in units of "gallons of gasoline consumed," "kilowatt-hours of electricity," "therms of natural gas," or "passenger vehicles per year" instead of emission reductions, use this option.
Enter a quantity and pick the desired unit below; and
Click on the "Calculate Equivalent" button to convert your value to Carbon Dioxide Equivalent.

Notes:

This calculator estimates avoided emissions in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from “kilowatt-hours of electricity savings” by using the eGRID national annual non-baseload carbon dioxide emission rate.
This calculation does not include any other greenhouse gas and does not include line losses.
This calculation should not be used for emission inventory or carbon footprinting exercises.
To estimate indirect greenhouse gas emissions from electricity use, please use Power Profiler or use eGRID subregion annual output emission rates as a default emission factor (see eGRID2007 Version 1.1 Year 2005 GHG Annual Output Emission Rates (PDF) (1 p, 200K, About PDF).

Option 2:

If you have already estimated the quantity of avoided emissions (e.g., metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent), you can input the amount of avoided emissions and select the appropriate units for the corresponding greenhouse gas type.

Amount	Unit	Gas
		CO₂ - Carbon Dioxide
		CH₄ - Methane
		N₂O - Nitrous Oxide
		- Hydrofluorocarbon gases
		- Perfluorocarbon gases
		SF₆ - Sulfur Hexafluoride
		Carbon Equivalent

*If your estimated emissions of methane, nitrous oxide, or other non-CO₂ gases are already expressed in CO₂ or carbon equivalents, please enter your figures in the row for CO₂ or carbon equivalent.

The sum of the greenhouse gas emissions you entered above is of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent.

This is equivalent to one of the following:

Equivalency Results

Click on the question mark ? link to read the explanation of that particular calculation. Read about all calculations.

The information you entered above is equivalent to one of the following statements:

Annual greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles ? (click to read more about this calculation)

CO₂ emissions from gallons of gasoline consumed ?

CO₂ emissions from barrels of oil consumed ?

CO₂ emissions from tanker trucks’ worth of gasoline ?

CO₂ emissions from the electricity use of homes for one year ?

CO₂ emissions from the energy use of homes for one year ?

Carbon sequestered by tree seedlings grown for 10 years ?

Carbon sequestered annually by acres of pine or fir forests ?

Carbon sequestered annually by acres of forest preserved from deforestation ?

CO₂ emissions from propane cylinders used for home barbeques ?

CO₂ emissions from burning railcars’ worth of coal ?

Greenhouse gas emissions avoided by recycling tons of waste instead of sending it to the landfill ?

Annual CO₂ emissions of coal fired power plants ?