Coffee Footprint Calculator (CO₂e of your daily coffee per year)

Understanding the coffee carbon footprint calculator — concept and principle

This calculator estimates the yearly greenhouse-gas footprint of the coffee you drink, as a low, middle and high value in kilograms of CO₂ equivalent. It is useful for personal carbon budgeting, school projects, or comparing coffee habits with other daily choices.

A year of coffee in CO₂: with the default inputs the result is 49.6 kg CO₂e (range 27.6–71.5 kg).

How it is calculated

Litres per year = cups per day × cup size (mL) ÷ 1000 × days

Footprint (kg CO₂e) = litres × factor

Low factor 0.27, high factor 0.70 kg CO₂e per litre of brewed coffee.
Middle value 0.485 kg/L is the midpoint of that range.
Per cup (g CO₂e) = cup size (mL) × 0.27 (low) or × 0.70 (high).

The principle

A life-cycle assessment adds up emissions from every stage: growing the coffee, processing, shipping, roasting, packaging, then brewing, keeping warm and washing the cup. A Finnish study (Usva et al., 2020) found 0.27–0.70 kg CO₂e per litre of drinkable coffee. Farming was 32–78% of the total, mainly from fertiliser and land use, and the consumer stage 19–49%. Because the result is given per litre, the footprint scales with how much coffee you drink, not with the number of cups as such.

Worked example

Default inputs: 2 cups per day, 140 mL per cup, 365 days.

Litres per year = 2 × 140 ÷ 1000 × 365 = 102.2 L, shown as 102.
Middle = 102.2 × 0.485 = 49.6 kg CO₂e.
Low = 102.2 × 0.27 = 27.6 kg; high = 102.2 × 0.70 = 71.5 kg.
Per cup: 140 × 0.27 = 38 g to 140 × 0.70 = 98 g.
Cups per year = 2 × 365 = 730.

Each point is the calculator re-run with only “Cups of coffee per day” changed; the gold point is the default example. Change the inputs above and this chart follows your numbers.

Cups of coffee per day	Yearly footprint, middle (kg CO₂e)
0.5	12.4
1	24.8
1.5	37.2
2	49.6
2.5	62
3	74.4
4	99.1

How to read the result

The range is wide because farming practice and brewing habits vary so much. You are towards the low end if you brew only what you drink, avoid keeping coffee warm on a hot plate and wash up efficiently. You move higher with wasted coffee and coal-heavy electricity. Milk adds its own footprint, so a large latte can be several times a black coffee. For scale, the default yearly total is similar to driving a petrol car a few hundred kilometres.

Common mistakes

Counting mug size instead of the coffee actually brewed and drunk.
Applying the black-coffee factor to milky drinks.
Treating the middle value as exact; it is just the midpoint of a range.
Forgetting days when you drink no coffee.

Keep in mind: The factors come from one Finnish study and include Finland's low-carbon electricity. Treat the result as a rough estimate, not a certified footprint.

Frequently asked questions

What is the carbon footprint of a cup of coffee?

For a 140 mL black coffee, about 38–98 g CO₂e, using 0.27–0.70 kg per litre.

Which stage of coffee has the biggest footprint?

Usually farming, at 32–78% of the total in the Finnish study.

Does milk make a big difference?

Yes. Milk has its own large footprint, so milky drinks score higher than black coffee.

Sources: K. Usva et al., "Carbon and water footprint of coffee consumed in Finland — life cycle assessment", Int J Life Cycle Assess 25:1976–1990 (2020)

Checked 9 Nov 2026. K. Usva, T. Sinkko, F. Silvenius, I. Riipi & H. Heusala, “Carbon and water footprint of coffee consumed in Finland — life cycle assessment”, Int J Life Cycle Assess 25:1976–1990 (2020): 0.27–0.70 kg CO₂e per litre of consumed coffee; 140 mL cup.

Your numbers