# UK Carbon Intensity Scraper: Grid CO2 & Fuel Mix (`naimurhasanrwd/carbonintensity-uk-scraper`) Actor

Pull GB electricity carbon intensity and generation mix from the National Grid ESO Carbon Intensity API, nationally or per DNO region. No login, no proxy, no browser.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/naimurhasanrwd/carbonintensity-uk-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Naimur Hasan](https://apify.com/naimurhasanrwd) (community)
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## UK Carbon Intensity Scraper

Pulls GB electricity carbon intensity and generation mix from the National
Grid ESO Carbon Intensity API. No login, no proxy, no browser.

### Input

| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `scope` | string | `national` or `regional`. Default `national`. |
| `period` | string | `current` | `today` | `last24h` | `next24h`. Default `today`. |
| `includeGenerationMix` | boolean | Add a column per fuel. Default `true`. |

### Output

One row per half-hour settlement period (national) or per DNO region
(regional): `from`, `to`, `region`, `regionId`, `actual`, `forecast`, `index`,
plus `biomass`, `coal`, `gas`, `hydro`, `imports`, `nuclear`, `other`,
`solar`, `wind` and `lowCarbonPercent` when the mix is included.

### Notes

- **Intensity and fuel mix live on different endpoints.** `/generation`
  returns the mix with no intensity attached, so asking only for it produces a
  fuel breakdown with every intensity column null. This Actor calls both and
  joins them on the settlement period's `from`, leaving the mix null for a
  period the generation series does not cover rather than borrowing the
  neighbouring one.
- **`actual` and `forecast` are different things and both matter.** Future
  settlement periods have a forecast and no actual; recent ones have both and
  they frequently disagree by tens of gCO₂/kWh. They are kept as separate
  columns rather than coalesced.
- **The fuel mix arrives as a list, not as fields.** Turning it into one column
  per fuel means a fuel the API omits has to become an explicit `null`, or
  rows silently shift columns between periods.
- **Zero is a real value here.** Coal routinely reads `0` and North Scotland's
  intensity genuinely hits `0`; neither is missing data.
- **The forecast window has no generation mix.** `/generation` supports past
  windows only, so `next24h` returns intensity without fuel columns and the run
  logs that it did. Asking the generation endpoint for a forward window answers
  HTTP 400.
- **`pt24h` reaches back from the timestamp you give it.** Passing
  "now minus 24 hours" returns the window 24 to 48 hours ago, not the last day.
- Regional scope is a current-period snapshot — the API has no regional
  history at this endpoint — so `period` is ignored there.
- There is no `/generation/today`; today is expressed as an explicit UTC
  midnight-to-now window. All timestamps are UTC.

# Actor input Schema

## `scope` (type: `string`):

National half-hourly series, or a snapshot broken down by distribution region

## `period` (type: `string`):

Which window to pull. Regional scope always returns the current period.

## `includeGenerationMix` (type: `boolean`):

Add a percentage column per fuel: wind, solar, nuclear, gas, coal, hydro, biomass, imports, other

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "scope": "national",
  "period": "today",
  "includeGenerationMix": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `items` (type: `string`):

One row per half-hour settlement period, or per region.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("naimurhasanrwd/carbonintensity-uk-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("naimurhasanrwd/carbonintensity-uk-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call naimurhasanrwd/carbonintensity-uk-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,naimurhasanrwd/carbonintensity-uk-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/gJkcPNuld2Stsehyn/builds/OqTC0MNTrJXVfKjMM/openapi.json