Estimation

Estimation operations are performed to calculate emissions produced by one or more activities, based on multiplying activity data by the appropriate emission factors.

Estimate

POST Calculate total estimated emissions produced for a particular activity, in kgCO2e, using the available emission factors. All requests are performed by sending a POST request to the following endpoint:

https://beta4.api.climatiq.io/estimate

The method of calculating emission estimates can differ depending on the unit type that the factor accepts and the applicability of the emission factor as indicated in the ID, name and description fields, with further detail provided by the source.

Every factor is linked to a unit type that is specified in the emission factors list inside the unit_type attribute. See all available emission factors in our Data Explorer (opens in a new tab).

Request

The following parameters can be defined as JSON-encoded body.

Attribute	Required
emission_factor Selector Emission factor ID or selection parameters selector.	required
parameters Parameters Emission factor parameters. The parameter object changes depending on the EF selected.	required

curl --request POST \
  --url https://beta4.api.climatiq.io/estimate \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer API_KEY' \
  --data '{
      "emission_factor": {
        "activity_id": "electricity-supply_grid-source_residual_mix",
        "data_version": "^1"
       },
      "parameters": {
        "energy": 100,
        "energy_unit": "kWh"
      }
  }'

Response

This endpoint returns an Estimation, which includes the total amount of emissions in kgCO2e and the emission factor used to calculate the emissions.

Attribute
Estimation object An Estimation that describes the total amount of co2e and the emission factor used.

{
    "co2e": 104.32900000000001,
    "co2e_unit": "kg",
    "co2e_calculation_method": "ar5",
    "co2e_calculation_origin": "source",
    "emission_factor": {
        "name": "Electricity supplied from grid - residual mix",
        "activity_id": "electricity-supply_grid-source_residual_mix",
        "id": "ac3acf95-0d5e-4a95-b4bb-b816286ab249",
        "access_type": "public",
        "source": "GHG Protocol",
        "source_dataset": "GHG Emissions Calculation Tool",
        "year": 2021,
        "region": "EE",
        "category": "Electricity",
        "source_lca_activity": "electricity_generation",
        "data_quality_flags": [
            "partial_factor",
            "notable_methodological_variance"
        ]
    },
    "constituent_gases": {
        "co2e_total": 104.32900000000001,
        "co2e_other": null,
        "co2": 104.32900000000001,
        "ch4": null,
        "n2o": null
    },
    "activity_data": {
        "activity_value": 100,
        "activity_unit": "kWh"
    },
    "audit_trail": "selector"
}

Batch Estimations

POST Batch estimations can be used to calculate multiple emission estimations in a single request. Currently limited to maximum 100 operations per request.

https://beta4.api.climatiq.io/batch

Request

Attribute	Required
array List of estimation operations. Every operation should follow the same syntax followed by the estimate request object.	required

curl --request POST \
  --url https://beta4.api.climatiq.io/batch \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer API_KEY' \
  --data '[
    {
        "emission_factor": {
            "activity_id": "passenger_vehicle-vehicle_type_car-fuel_source_na-engine_size_na-vehicle_age_na-vehicle_weight_na",
            "data_version": "^1"
        },
        "parameters":{
            "distance": 100,
            "distance_unit": "km"
        }
    },
    {
        "emission_factor": {
            "activity_id": "consumer_goods-type_snack_foods",
            "data_version": "^1"
        },
        "parameters": {
            "money": 15,
            "money_unit": "usd"
        }
    }
]'

Response

The response includes a list of Estimations.

Attribute
results [Estimation] List of results for every operation.

{
    "results": [
        {
            "co2e": 20.761229420186112,
            "co2e_unit": "kg",
            "co2e_calculation_method": "ar6",
            "co2e_calculation_origin": "climatiq",
            "emission_factor": {
                "name": "Passenger Car",
                "activity_id": "passenger_vehicle-vehicle_type_car-fuel_source_na-engine_size_na-vehicle_age_na-vehicle_weight_na",
                "id": "a41de667-978a-4a2a-942e-dc376d66ebcb",
                "access_type": "public",
                "source": "EPA",
                "source_dataset": "GHG Emission Factors Hub",
                "year": 2022,
                "region": "US",
                "category": "Vehicles",
                "source_lca_activity": "use_phase",
                "data_quality_flags": []
            },
            "constituent_gases": {
                "co2e_total": null,
                "co2e_other": null,
                "co2": 20.629523582279486,
                "ch4": 0.00043495983456613376,
                "n2o": 0.00043495983456613376
            },
            "activity_data": {
                "activity_value": 62.13711922373339,
                "activity_unit": "mile"
            },
            "audit_trail": "selector"
        },
        {
            "co2e": 6.09,
            "co2e_unit": "kg",
            "co2e_calculation_method": "ar4",
            "co2e_calculation_origin": "climatiq",
            "emission_factor": {
                "name": "Snack foods",
                "activity_id": "consumer_goods-type_snack_foods",
                "id": "a59f048d-e029-4fd3-9154-7987a461c4c1",
                "access_type": "public",
                "source": "EPA",
                "source_dataset": "Supply Chain Factors Dataset (commodities)",
                "year": 2018,
                "region": "US",
                "category": "Food/Beverages/Tobacco",
                "source_lca_activity": "cradle_to_shelf",
                "data_quality_flags": []
            },
            "constituent_gases": {
                "co2e_total": null,
                "co2e_other": 0.105,
                "co2": 5.234999999999999,
                "ch4": 0.03,
                "n2o": 0
            },
            "activity_data": {
                "activity_value": 15,
                "activity_unit": "usd"
            },
            "audit_trail": "selector"
        }
    ]
}

Errors

If one or more estimations fail, the result will contain an error for every unsuccessful operation:

{
    "results": [
        // Successful operation
        {
            "co2e": 20.761229420186112,
            "co2e_unit": "kg",
            "co2e_calculation_method": "ar6",
            "co2e_calculation_origin": "climatiq",
            "emission_factor": {
                "name": "Passenger Car",
                "activity_id": "passenger_vehicle-vehicle_type_car-fuel_source_na-engine_size_na-vehicle_age_na-vehicle_weight_na",
                "id": "a41de667-978a-4a2a-942e-dc376d66ebcb",
                "access_type": "public",
                "source": "EPA",
                "source_dataset": "GHG Emission Factors Hub",
                "year": 2022,
                "region": "US",
                "category": "Vehicles",
                "source_lca_activity": "use_phase",
                "data_quality_flags": []
            },
            "constituent_gases": {
                "co2e_total": null,
                "co2e_other": null,
                "co2": 20.629523582279486,
                "ch4": 0.00043495983456613376,
                "n2o": 0.00043495983456613376
            },
            "activity_data": {
                "activity_value": 62.13711922373339,
                "activity_unit": "mile"
            },
            "audit_trail": "selector"
        },
        // Failed operation
        {
            "error": "bad_request",
            "error_code": "no_emission_factors_found",
            "message": "No emission factors could be found using the current query."
        }
    ]
}

Errors Search