Convert kWh to kg CO₂ by Country
The value above comes from a published dataset (DEFRA, EPA, IPCC) that's revised about yearly. Get one email when this number changes: old → new, and what it means. No marketing.
A thousand kilowatt-hours of electricity produces about 131 kg CO₂e in the UK, 350 kg in the United States and 41 kg in France. The same electricity, doing the same work, with an eightfold difference in emissions — because what matters is not how much you use but what generated it. This converter carries the grid factor for 214 countries, each on its own published figure.
To convert kilowatt-hours to kilograms of CO₂, multiply by that country’s grid emission factor. In the UK that is about 0.131 kg per kWh, in the US 0.350, in France 0.041. So 1,000 kWh is 131 kg, 350 kg or 41 kg depending on where it is consumed. Pick the country above.
kg CO₂ = kWh × grid emission factor. Reverse: kWh = kg CO₂ ÷ factor. Every factor is read live from the data layer, so the page restates itself when the underlying dataset is refreshed rather than freezing a figure that ages badly — grid factors move every year, and in most countries they are falling.
| Country | Per kWh | 1,000 kWh | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iceland | 0.0278 | 27.8 kg | CO₂ |
| Norway | 0.0281 | 28.1 kg | CO₂ |
| France | 0.0414 | 41.4 kg | CO₂ |
| Brazil | 0.1100 | 110 kg | CO₂ |
| United Kingdom | 0.1310 | 131 kg | CO₂e |
| Germany | 0.3297 | 330 kg | CO₂ |
| United States | 0.3497 | 350 kg | CO₂e |
| Australia | 0.5252 | 525 kg | CO₂ |
| China | 0.5265 | 527 kg | CO₂ |
| Poland | 0.5886 | 589 kg | CO₂ |
| India | 0.6701 | 670 kg | CO₂ |
| South Africa | 0.6993 | 699 kg | CO₂ |
The spread is bigger than almost any efficiency measure
Across the 214 grids covered here the factor runs from effectively zero — a handful of countries run on almost entirely hydroelectric power — to 1.306 kg per kWh in Turkmenistan. The median sits near 0.474.
Moving a workload from a high-carbon grid to a low-carbon one can cut its emissions by ten to thirty times. Almost no efficiency measure available to an ordinary organisation comes close to that. This is why data-centre siting dominates the carbon conversation in computing, why electrification looks brilliant in France and mediocre in Poland, and why a global company’s electricity emissions are driven far more by where it operates than by how carefully it operates. The same kilowatt-hour is not the same kilowatt-hour.
Three sources, deliberately — and what that means
The factors here do not all come from one place, and that is a considered choice rather than an inconsistency.
| Where | Source | Counts | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | DEFRA | CO₂e | The factor UK reporting requires |
| United States | EPA eGRID | CO₂e | The factor US reporting requires |
| Everywhere else | Ember | CO₂ | The best globally consistent dataset |
Because the UK and US figures come from national sources and the rest from a single global dataset, the numbers are not strictly comparable country to country. Three differences stack up: the source, the basis (the UK and US figures include methane and nitrous oxide as well as carbon dioxide; the Ember figures count carbon dioxide alone), and the vintage. The converter labels each answer kg CO₂ or kg CO₂e accordingly rather than printing one unit over all of them. Use this to find the right factor for a country; do not use it to rank countries against each other to two decimal places.
The alternative — forcing every country onto one dataset — would have made the numbers comparable but given UK and US users a figure their own regulators do not recognise. For a lookup tool, being right for each country matters more than being internally tidy.
Why this is not a Scope 2 figure
This page gives you the location-based number: the average intensity of the grid you draw from. A reported Scope 2 figure needs more than that, and the gap is where most reporting errors live.
- Market-based accounting — if you buy renewable electricity through contracts or certificates, your reportable figure differs from the grid average. See market-based versus location-based.
- Residual mix — once others have claimed the renewable attributes, what is left for unclaimed consumption is dirtier than the grid average. That is the residual mix.
- Transmission and distribution losses — a separate Scope 3 category, not included in a generation factor.
- Dual reporting — the GHG Protocol requires both bases to be disclosed where a market exists.
The Scope 2 electricity calculator handles the market-based choice, the certificates and the dual disclosure, with the assumptions in the Scope 2 electricity methodology. This converter deliberately does one thing: it finds the right grid factor and multiplies.
Reading the numbers
- A zero is real, not missing data — a few grids run on almost entirely hydroelectric power and round to nought at this precision.
- Very small territories can look extreme — islands running on diesel generation sit near or above 1 kg per kWh, which is genuine rather than an error.
- Factors fall over time — most grids are decarbonising, some quickly. A figure more than a year or two old will usually overstate emissions, which is why this page reads live.
- Grid average, not marginal — for questions about the effect of adding load, the marginal intensity is the relevant concept and differs from these figures.
For the intensity units themselves, CO₂e/kWh to /MWh and kg CO₂e/kWh to lb/MWh. For the energy units, kWh to GJ and kWh to MWh. For the resulting mass, kg CO₂e to tonnes.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends entirely on the country. About 131 kg CO₂e in the UK, 350 kg in the United States, 41 kg in France and 670 kg in India. Across the grids covered here the range runs from effectively zero to about 1,306 kg for the same thousand kilowatt-hours.
Multiply the kilowatt-hours by the grid emission factor for the country where the electricity is consumed. Select the country in the converter above and it applies the current published factor. To reverse it, divide the emissions figure by the same factor.
Because the UK and US figures come from their own national sources, which count methane and nitrous oxide alongside carbon dioxide, while every other country uses a global dataset that counts carbon dioxide alone. Rather than print one unit over all of them, the converter labels each answer for what it actually is.
Broadly yes, precisely no. The differences between grids are large enough that the ranking is meaningful — France really is far cleaner than Poland. But three sources with different bases and vintages sit behind the list, so it is a lookup rather than a league table, and small gaps between two countries should not be read as significant.
Not on its own. This gives the location-based number — the grid average where you draw power. A reported figure also depends on whether you buy renewable electricity through contracts or certificates, on the residual mix if you do not, and on dual disclosure requirements. Use the Scope 2 electricity calculator for a figure you intend to report.
Because its grid runs on almost entirely hydroelectric power and rounds to nought at this precision. It is a real value rather than missing data — a handful of countries genuinely have negligible power-sector emissions.
Several hydro-dominated grids are effectively at zero. Among larger economies Iceland, Norway, Sweden and France all sit below 0.05 kg per kWh — the first three on hydro and geothermal, France on nuclear. At the other end, grids dependent on coal or on gas with poor efficiency run past 1 kg per kWh.
Yes, and mostly downward as grids decarbonise — some quite quickly. That is why this page reads its figures live rather than printing a fixed table: a grid factor more than a year or two old will usually overstate emissions, sometimes substantially.