Green Region Comparison Calculator

Work out green region comparison instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Green Region Comparison Calculator

Grid carbon intensity varies by more than an order of magnitude between regions — from around 20 grams per kilowatt-hour in hydro or nuclear-dominated grids to over 600 in coal-heavy ones. Moving a workload to a low-carbon region is usually the single largest available emissions reduction, and the trade-off is latency for users far from that region.

Formula

Regional emissions

tonnes CO2 = kWh x grams per kWh / 1,000,000; saving = region A emissions - region B emissions

Worked example

With the default values below, Green Region Comparison Calculator returns Annual CO2 saved by choosing region B of 167.50. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Annual energy consumptionminimum 0.001 MWh: 500 MWh
Region A carbon intensityminimum 0 gCO2/kWh: 380 gCO2/kWh
Region B carbon intensityminimum 0 gCO2/kWh: 45 gCO2/kWh
Additional latency for region Bminimum 0 ms: 35 ms

Results

Annual CO2 saved by choosing region B: 167.50 tonnes
Region A annual emissions: 190.00 tonnes
Region B annual emissions: 22.50 tonnes
Emissions reduction: 88.2%

Step by step

1Values used
2Regional emissions
3Annual CO2 saved by choosing region B= 167.50 tonnes
4Region A annual emissions= 190.00 tonnes
5Region B annual emissions= 22.50 tonnes
6Emissions reduction= 88.2

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or fees or charges into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is region choice more effective than efficiency work?

Frequently yes, and it is far cheaper. A tenfold difference in grid intensity dwarfs the 10 to 30 percent typically achievable through code and architecture optimisation.

What about latency-sensitive workloads?

Move the batch and asynchronous portions to low-carbon regions and keep only latency-critical serving close to users. Most workloads split this way more easily than expected.