1 year of a cat = 1.55 M AI prompts
1 year of a cat equals roughly 1.55 M AI prompts on the CO₂ side: 310,000 g, while an average text prompt weighs just 0.2 g. The math, the source and detailed equivalents are right below, with public, verifiable numbers.
Figures updated on June 30, 2026 · Source : UCLA : empreinte carbone des animaux de compagnie (G. Okin)
The CO₂ of a prompt reflects the emissions of the electricity used while answering, on an average power grid. On the action side, figures include production (food, goods) or combustion (transport). Here again, we compare orders of magnitude, not gram-perfect measurements.
Why 1.55 M prompts?
The math fits in three lines, using public, sourced values:
- 1.1 year of a cat: 310,000 g (UCLA : empreinte carbone des animaux de compagnie (G. Okin))
- 2.1 text prompt: 0.2 g (published range: 0.15 to 1 g)
- 3.310,000 g ÷ 0.2 g ≈ 1.55 M prompts
In other words, “1 year of a cat” weighs as much as 1.55 M questions asked to a generative AI. It is an order of magnitude, not a to-the-decimal measurement: sources publish ranges, and we use a median value, explained in our methodology.
What about a generated image or a reasoning prompt?
Not every AI use weighs the same. A generated image costs about 6 g and a “reasoning” prompt about 13.3 g, versus 0.2 g for a simple text prompt. So “1 year of a cat” is also roughly 51,667 times one generated image, or 23,308 times one reasoning prompt.
Convert your own usageWhere do these numbers come from?
The value we use for “1 year of a cat” comes from “UCLA : empreinte carbone des animaux de compagnie (G. Okin)”, referenced like all our data on the Sources page. No number on this page is made up: every value can be traced back to a public document.
On the prompt side, there is no official meter: we convert the electricity used with the average grid intensity (about 480 g of CO₂ per kWh), which lands around 0.15 g in operation. We use 0.2 g per prompt, rising towards 1 g over the full life cycle.