ADEME Emission Factors – French Carbon Calculator

Call this Actor to get French ADEME carbon emission factors (kgCO2e per kWh, litre, km, kg...) or to compute the kgCO2e of a list of activities (quantity x factor). Use it when an AI agent or a human needs a sourced French emission factor or a first-pass footprint; do not use it for non-French factor sets or audited regulatory reports. One call = one answer: search (find factors), lookup (fetch known ids), calculate (kgCO2e per line plus a total). No API key, typical run a few seconds.

Unofficial tool. Not affiliated with, endorsed or maintained by ADEME. It reads the public ADEME open data (Base Carbone / Base Empreinte) and returns it as clean JSON.

Minimal input per mode

Mode	Minimal input	What comes back
search	{"mode": "search", "query": "TGV", "maxResults": 5}	factor records (factorId, name, value, unit, status, dataAsOf, attribution...)
lookup	{"mode": "lookup", "factorIds": ["28153"]}	the factors with these ids, any status
calculate	{"mode": "calculate", "lines": [{"factorId": "28153", "quantity": 1200, "unit": "passager.km"}]}	one calculation-line per line (kgCO2e, kgCO2eLow/High, factor, warnings) + one calculation-total

Short output (real run, 5 Nov 2026), calculate line above: {"recordType": "calculation-line", "status": "ok", "kgCO2e": 3.036, "kgCO2eLow": 2.4288, "kgCO2eHigh": 3.6432, "factor": {"factorId": "28153", "name": "TGV", "value": 0.00253, "unit": "kgCO2e/passager.km"}, "dataAsOf": "2025-07-03", "datasetVersion": "V23.6"}.

For AI agents (MCP)

• One call = one answer. Keep maxResults small (default 20; 5 is enough to pick a factor). Raise it only when the run SUMMARY says capped: true.
• Find the id first, then compute. For anything that matters: search, read factorId and unit, then calculate with factorId and a compatible unit. Text item matching can pick an unexpected factor (the line then carries a warning and up to 3 alternatives).
• Errors fail fast in the form Field X invalid: expected Y, got Z, example W (for example Field location invalid: expected one of France continentale | Outre-mer | Europe | Monde | Autre pays du monde ...). Fix that field and call again; no record is charged.
• 0 results is not an error. The run succeeds with an empty dataset, and the key-value store record SUMMARY carries note: "0 results: <reason / how to widen the search>". For lookup, unknown ids are listed in notFound. A truncated search sets capped: true plus a note.
• Unit mismatches never guess: a line with an incompatible unit gets status: "unit_mismatch", no value and a warning, and the total says complete: false.

Three modes:

Mode	You give	You get
search	words (French or English), category, unit, area, validity year, modified date	matching emission factors
lookup	a list of ADEME factor ids	the factors (any status, archived ones are flagged)
calculate	lines {item or factorId, quantity, unit}	kgCO2e per line (with low/high range, factor used, warnings) + one total record

No API key, no account at ADEME, no proxy. Typical run: a few seconds.

Who uses it

• Sustainability / CSR teams and consultants building a quick carbon estimate (energy, fuel, travel, purchases) with a traceable ADEME factor behind every number.
• Developers and AI agents that need French emission factors in JSON (call the Actor from an LLM agent; the calculate mode refuses silent unit guesses).
• Spreadsheets and BI: export factors (name, value, unit, uncertainty, validity) to CSV/Excel with one run.
• Eco-design and procurement comparing the footprint of fuels, electricity, transport modes or materials.
• Finance and reporting tools: add a first-pass kgCO2e column (with low/high range) to lists of activities such as fuel, kWh or passenger-km, then verify the factors before any audited report.
• Teaching and training: show students where a factor comes from, its unit, its uncertainty and its validity period.

Quick start

1. Search (French or English words)

{ "mode": "search", "query": "gaz naturel", "maxResults": 20 }

{ "mode": "search", "query": "TGV", "category": "ferroviaire", "location": "France continentale" }

{ "mode": "search", "unit": "kgCO2e/kWh", "validityYear": 2024, "includeGases": true, "maxResults": 100 }

2. Look up by id

{ "mode": "lookup", "factorIds": ["13515", "28153"] }

3. Calculate

{
  "mode": "calculate",
  "lines": [
    { "item": "gazole", "quantity": 300, "unit": "litre", "label": "Company van fuel" },
    { "factorId": "28153", "quantity": 1200, "unit": "passager.km", "label": "Business trips by TGV" },
    { "item": "gaz naturel", "quantity": 10, "unit": "kg", "label": "Boiler (wrong unit on purpose)" }
  ]
}

Call it from the API (replace <user>):

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/<user>~ademe-emission-factors/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"mode":"search","query":"gaz naturel","maxResults":5}'

Input

Field	Mode	Meaning
mode	all	search (default), lookup, calculate
query	search	Words that must all appear (name, attribute, tags, category; French and English fields are indexed). Accents/case ignored; no typo correction.
category	search	Words that must appear in the ADEME category path
unit	search	Exact French unit, e.g. kgCO2e/kWh, kgCO2e/litre, kgCO2e/passager.km
location	search	Mainland France, Overseas France, Europe, World, Other countries
validityYear, modifiedSince	search	Text match on the validity period (free text in the source); modified on/after YYYY-MM-DD
includeArchived	search	Also return archived (old) factors; default only valid ones
includeGases	search/lookup	Add per-gas values when published
factorIds	lookup	ADEME element ids
lines	calculate	Up to 500 lines
maxResults	search	1–1000, default 20

An empty input {} returns 20 valid factors.

Output example (real run, 5 Nov 2026)

search → one record (nulls removed):

{
  "recordType": "factor",
  "factorId": "28153",
  "name": "TGV",
  "nameEn": "High Speed Train",
  "attribute": "2018",
  "category": "Transport de personnes > Ferroviaire > France continentale > TGV",
  "value": 0.00253,
  "unit": "kgCO2e/passager.km",
  "uncertaintyPct": 20,
  "status": "Valide générique",
  "location": "France continentale",
  "validityPeriod": "avr-21",
  "modifiedAt": "2021-12-15",
  "source": "InfoGES SNCF",
  "datasetVersion": "V23.6",
  "dataAsOf": "2025-07-03",
  "attribution": "Source: ADEME, Base Carbone® (Base Empreinte®) V23.6, data.ademe.fr, data as of 2025-07-03. Licence Ouverte / Open Licence (Etalab). Retrieved 2026-11-05 by an unofficial tool; not endorsed by ADEME."
}

calculate → one record per line plus a calculation-total record. Line 2 above (TGV, 1200 passenger-km): kgCO2e: 3.036, range 2.4288 – 3.6432. Line 3 (natural gas asked in kg but the factor is per kWh PCI):

{
  "recordType": "calculation-line", "line": 3, "status": "unit_mismatch",
  "warnings": ["Unit mismatch: you gave \"kg\" but this factor is expressed per \"kWh PCI\" (kgCO2e/kWh PCI). No value computed."],
  "factor": { "factorId": "13515", "name": "Gaz naturel", "value": 0.243, "unit": "kgCO2e/kWh PCI" }
}

The total record (totalKgCO2e, totalTonnesCO2e, totalKgCO2eLow/High, linesComputed, linesNotComputed, complete, warnings) only sums lines that were computed and says so when some were skipped.

How the calculator behaves (read this)

• kgCO2e = quantity × factor value, after unit conversion inside one dimension only: kg/g/t, Wh/kWh/MWh/GWh/MJ/GJ, m/km, mL/L/m³, kg.km/t.km. Anything else (kg vs kWh, km vs passenger.km…) gives no value and a warning — never a guess.
• With item (text), the best text match with a compatible unit is used, and a mainland-France factor is preferred when scores are close. Text matching can pick an unexpected factor (e.g. "électricité" has hundreds of variants): the line carries a warning and up to 3 alternatives. For anything that matters, search first and pass the factorId.
• Valide générique factors are standard references; Archivé ones are old versions (flagged in the line warnings).
• Gas factors are often per kWh PCI; gas invoices are usually in PCS. The line warns you to check the basis.
• Uncertainty is ADEME's percentage per factor; the total combines lines in quadrature (independent factors assumed) — indicative only.

Data, licence and attribution

• Source: ADEME Base Carbone® (Base Empreinte®) on data.ademe.fr (dataset base-carboner, currently V23.6, data as of 2025-07-03 at the time of writing; the run reports the current version and date in datasetVersion / dataAsOf).
• Licence: Licence Ouverte / Open Licence (Etalab) as stated on the dataset page. Attribution is included in every record (attribution). Base Carbone® and Base Empreinte® are ADEME trademarks; this tool is not endorsed by ADEME.
• Only factor rows are returned (the detail rows per emission category are ignored). The Source, Programme, Contributeur fields name organisations/programmes. E-mail addresses found in source comments are removed.
• Language: factor names exist in French (always) and English (most); searching works with both. Spanish fields are not returned.

Privacy / GDPR by design

This Actor is deliberately built not to handle personal data of natural persons. This is a design choice made to respect the GDPR.

• It returns emission factor data only (ADEME Base Carbone): statistical and product data about activities, places and organisations. Your lines are plain activities and quantities; no personal data is asked for.
• E-mail addresses found in the source comments are replaced by [email removed].
• Not guaranteed: the factor texts come from the open ADEME database and are passed through otherwise unchanged, so an occasional name in a source label cannot be excluded. You remain responsible for your own use of the data.
• The Actor stores nothing about you beyond your run's own dataset and logs on Apify.

Related Actors

No direct overlap with the other Actors of this publisher. If you work with French public data, see Product Recalls (RappelConso + Safety Gate) and French Public Contract Awards (DECP).

Limits and disclaimer

• Unofficial tool, not affiliated with ADEME. Data are provided as is, without warranty. For regulatory or audited carbon reports (BEGES, CSRD…), check each factor and its conditions of use on the official Base Empreinte site; this Actor is a convenient way to query the data, not a certified calculator.
• Data freshness = the ADEME dataset version (dataAsOf); factors are updated by ADEME a few times a year.
• The ADEME API has no key, but is shared infrastructure: runs retry politely on HTTP 429/5xx. Large runs stop before the platform timeout and return partial results (partial in the run SUMMARY).
• Only the Base Carbone dataset is covered (not Agribalyse's separate datasets, nor Base Empreinte’s other data).

Pricing

Pay per event, no subscription:

Event	Price	Per 1,000
carbon-record: one emission factor, one calculation line, or one calculation total delivered	0.003 USD	3 USD per 1,000 records
Actor start (once per run)	0.00005 USD	n/a

Examples: search returning 20 factors = 20 records = 0.06 USD; a calculate run with 10 lines = 10 line records + 1 total = 11 records = 0.033 USD (plus the tiny start event).

You can cap spend per run with the platform's Maximum cost per run setting: the Actor reads it, stops cleanly when the cap is reached and returns the partial results it already delivered (the run needs a cap high enough for at least one record, otherwise it stops with a clear error and nothing is charged). In calculate mode one record is kept for the total, so the cap must allow at least 2 records.

Français (court)

Facteurs d'émission officiels de la Base Carbone® de l'ADEME : recherche (mots français ou anglais), consultation par identifiant et calcul simple de bilan (quantité × facteur, avec incertitude et avertissement si l'unité ne correspond pas). Outil non officiel, données sous Licence Ouverte, aucune donnée personnelle.