"The grid emits X grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour" sounds like a measurement.
It's actually a methodology choice — and a big one.
Pull carbon intensity for the same country, same year, from different authoritative sources, and you can see numbers spread by 7x.
Different sources average generation differently, draw system boundaries differently, and update on different cycles.
If your AI provider quotes you one number for "grid carbon," ask which methodology produced it — because the honest answer is there isn't a single number, there's a range, and most public claims quietly pick the flattering end of it.
Top comments (0)