Guide to the Google Sheets Extension

Utilize Climatiq-specific extension for Google Sheets to seamlessly convert your business activity data into carbon estimates across various activities, such as travel, energy usage, and fuel consumption.

Overview

Climatiq’s Google Sheets extension transforms your spreadsheets into a powerful environmental impact assessment tool. No coding is required, allowing you to quickly create proofs of concept and collaborate with your team for feedback before fully integrating Climatiq’s API or developing advanced features. The Add-In lets you visualize results directly in Excel and share detailed emission reports, streamlining approval for sustainability projects with reliable data.

Since this tool provides a simplified version of our API endpoints, we recommend reviewing our documentation or using the guided Postman collection if you are interested in accessing the full capabilities of the API.

Getting Started

Access to Climatiq's API generally requires a commercial subscription. However, for this Extension, we offer a free starter plan that includes up to 500 emission estimations per month, granting access to all advanced emission calculations, e.g. the emission estimations for travel, freight, energy and the Autopilot. Without this plan or a commercial subscription, functionality will be limited to basic estimations, i.e. General Estimates and General Search. You can sign up for the starter plan here (opens in a new tab). If you anticipate commercial usage or usage beyond the free starter plan limit, please reach out to our team (opens in a new tab).

Installation of the extension

You can add the extension to Google Sheets by installing it via the Google Marketplace (opens in a new tab). Once installed, it will be come available via the "Extension" menu item in the Google Sheets menu bar.

Menu Bar

Setting the API key

To be able to use the formulas, you will need to set an API key to be used by the extension when calling Climatiq's API. You can get your API key by following these steps. Once you've obtained the key, you set it via the Extension menu (Extension > Climatiq > Set API key) in Google Sheets and you are ready to go.

The API key will be stored permanently for this specific sheet and other users using this file will also be able to make use of the formulas. This also means that you will have to set the key once for every new Google sheet in which you'd want to use this integration.

Set Key

Support and Feedback

In case of questions, please reach out to the Climatiq team via the website chat or the support form (opens in a new tab). We also appreciate any feedback being shared through these channels.

General Concepts and Notices

To get the most out of the extension, it's important to familiarize yourself with the following concepts.

"ShowDetails" Flag

For all Estimation and Autopilot functions, you can choose whether to receive additional calculation details or just the estimated CO2e value in the response. Refer to the documentation for each formula to see which details are available. The additional details will be stored in the cells following the one containing the function.

Show Details

Optional Parameters

Typically not all parameters are required when using the formulas. The documentation indicates which ones are required and which ones are optional. In case no value should be used for the optional parameters, please simply leave them empty, e.g. Climatiq_Calculate_Travel_Air(start, end, flightclass) as Climatiq_Calculate_Travel_Air("BER", "JFK").

Error Handling

In addition to common errors, formulas will return specific errors from the Climatiq API if an input is incorrect, or if the provided API key is invalid, or a suitable emission factor cannot be found by the API.

Examplary Error

API Consumption and Recalculation of Results

By default, Google Sheets will re-calculate the results for formulas eeverytime an input changes or the file is reloaded. Every re-calculation will also count as a call to the Climatiq API. To avoid overconsumption of your subscribed API calls, it is recommended to copy-paste the values of the calculations into the cells as soon as the calculations are complete. To do this, you should select the cells with the calculation results, copy them and paste them back into these cells via Edit > Paste Special > Values only.

Documentation within the Extension

To see an overview of the available formulas in a sidebar within Google Sheets, you can open the documentation via the Extension menu (Extension > Climatiq > Show documentation).

Access to all functionalities

By default, when signing up for the Climatiq API, the initial access only covers the usage of the general estimation and search capabilities. For any advanced calculations, e.g. emission estimations for air travel, additional access needs to be granted for your API key. Otherwise the following error will be shown when trying to make use of an advanced features, that has not yet been enabled for your account:

Your authentication is valid, but you do not have access to this feature.

To enable these advanced features, you can sign up to a free starter plan, which covers up to 500 emission estimations monthly across advanced emission calculations. You can sign up for this plan here (opens in a new tab). And in case you are interested in large-scale usage of the integration, please reach out to our team (opens in a new tab).

Formulas

There are three sets of formulas available:

Estimations: Easily calculate the emissions for different kinds of business activities, e.g. travel, shipping and energy usage based on detailed methodologies
Autopilot: Leverage Climatiq's Autopilot to automate spend- and activity-based emission estimates
Search: Look up emission factors, support regions, fuel types, and others in Climatiq's database

Estimations

General Emission

Calculate the total estimated emissions produced for a particular activity, in kgCO2e, using any emission factor in the Climatiq database.

Climatiq_Calculate(activityID, region, source, year, unit, amount, showDetails)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`activityID`	✓	Text	An ID describing the activity that to search for. Multiple emission factors can share the same activity_id, e.g. if they are from a different source or apply to a different region. You can search for `activity_id`s in the Data Explorer (opens in a new tab) or via the search formulas.
`region`	✕	Text	Geographic region to which the emission factor applies.
`source`	✕	Text	Desired emission factor source.
`year`	✕	Number	Year in which the activity took place.
`unit`	✓	Text	Specific unit of the consumed amount, e.g. usd for Money, l for Volume or kg for Weight. See the full list here.
`amount`	✓	Number	Amount for which the emissions shall be calculated.
`showDetails`	✕	True/False	Indicates if details on the used emission factor should be shared: Name, source and ID of the used emission factor.

Examples Calculate Travel Air

Air Travel

Calculate the total estimated emissions of air travel. The distance between the airports will be calculated using the great circle distance.

Climatiq_Calculate_Travel_Air(start, end, flightclass, year, showDetails)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`start`	✓	Text	IATA code for the departure airport
`end`	✓	Text	IATA code for the destination airport
`flightclass`	✕	Text	Flight class, can be empty, `average`,`economy`, `business` or `first`.
`year`	✕	Number	The year in which the travel occurred.
`showDetails`	✕	True/False	Indicates if these details should also be shared: Distance, direct emissions, indirect emissions & notices.

Examples Calculate Travel Air

Road Travel

Calculate the total estimated emissions of road travel. The distance between the locations will be calculated by considering the actual road network where possible. Otherwise the road distance will be used.

Climatiq_Calculate_Travel_Road(start, end, car_type, car_fuel,year, showDetails)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`start`	✓	Text	Start location, can be any type of free text
`end`	✓	Text	Destination location, can be any type of free text
`car_type`	✕	Text	Size of the care. Valid values are `small`, `medium`, `large` and `average`.
`car_fuel`	✕	Text	Type of fuel used by the car. Valid values are: `petrol`, `diesel`, `hybrid` (cars with a battery that is recharged by the internal combustion engine), `plugin_hybrid` (cars with an internal combustion engine and a battery that can be plugged in), `battery` (for electric vehicles) and `average`.
`year`	✕	Number	The year in which the travel occurred.
`showDetails`	✕	True/False	Indicates if these details should also be shared: Distance, direct emissions, indirect emissions & notices.

Examples Calculate Travel Road

Rail Travel

Calculate the total estimated emissions of rail travel. The distance between the locations will be calculated by considering the actual rail network where possible. Otherwise the road distance will be used.

Climatiq_Calculate_Travel_Rail(start, end, year, showDetails)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`start`	✓	Text	Start location, can be any type of free text
`end`	✓	Text	Destination location, can be any type of free text
`year`	✕	Number	The year in which the travel occurred.
`showDetails`	✕	True/False	Indicates if these details should also be shared: Distance, direct emissions, indirect emissions & notices.

Examples Calculate Travel Rail

Travel based on Spend

Calculate travel emissions based on spend-based data in any currency by using EXIOBASE emission factors. This calculation automatically takes inflation into account, if the year you spent the money was different than the year of the emission factor.

Climatiq_Calculate_Travel_Spend(spend_type, currency, amount, location, year, showDetails)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`spend_type`	✓	Text	The type of travel associated with the expenditure. Valid values are: `air`, `road`, `rail`, `sea`, and `hotel`.
`currency`	✓	Text	The currency in which the money unit is expressed.
`amount`	✓	Number	The amount of money spent.
`location`	✓	Text	The location where money was spent, can be any type of free text.
`year`	✕	Number	The year in which expenditures occurred.
`showDetails`	✕	True/False	Indicates if these details should also be shared: Distance, used emission factor name, source, region and notices.

Examples Calculate Travel Spend

Freight Shipping

Calculate the total estimated emissions of freight shipping. The distance between the locations will be calculated by considering the actual transport network where possible. By calling our API directly, it's also possible to specify the individual shipment legs as well as the mode of transport used.

Climatiq_Calculate_IntermodalFreightTransport(start, end, mode, weight, weightUnit, showDetails)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`start`	✓	Text	Start location, can be any type of free text
`end`	✓	Text	Destination location, can be any type of free text
`mode`	✓	Text	Main mode of transport. Valid values are: `air`, `road`, `rail` and `sea`
`weight`	✓	Number	Weight of the transported goods
`weightUnit`	✓	Text	Unit of the weight. Valid values are: `g`, `kg`, `t` (metric ton), `lb`, `ton` (US short ton).
`showDetails`	✕	True/False	Indicates if there details should also be shared: Distance & route.

Examples Calculate Freight

Procurement Emissions by Industry Classification Code

Estimate the emissions for a purchase using an industry classification code to identify the type of purchased goods or service. This calculation accounts for tax, trade and transport margins using per-sector and per-country margins from EXIOBASE, if no user-supplied margins are provided. It also corrects for currency exchange rates and inflation adjustments, using rates from the UN Treasury, supplemented with per-industry inflation numbers from Eurostat. You can find details on the methodology here.

Climatiq_Calculate_Procurement_ByClassification(scheme, code, region, year, currency, amount, showDetails)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`scheme`	✓	Text	The classification scheme used. Valid values are: `mcc`, `unspsc`, `isic4` and `nace2`
`code`	✓	Text	Specific code of the classification. Please be aware that UNSPSC is only available up to a family level, i.e. the last four digits should be 0.
`region`	✓	Text	The country in which the goods have been purchased, i.e. ideally the supplier country. Must be the 2-digit UN code.
`year`	✓	Number	Year of purchase
`currency`	✓	Text	Currency of spend, see all available currencies here.
`amount`	✓	Text	Spend amount
`showDetails`	✕	True/False	Indicates if these details about the calculation methodology should also be shared: Emission factor name, the applied margins for tax, trade, transport and inflation.

Examples Calculate Spend Code

Procurement Emissions by Activity ID

Estimate the emissions for a purchase using an activity ID to identify the type of purchased goods or service. This calculation accounts for tax, trade and transport margins using per-sector and per-country margins from EXIOBASE, if no user-supplied margins are provided. It also corrects for currency exchange rates and inflation adjustments, using rates from the UN Treasury, supplemented with per-industry inflation numbers from Eurostat. You can find details on the methodology here.

Climatiq_Calculate_Procurement_ByActivityID(activity_id, region, year, currency, amount, showDetails)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`activityID`	✓	Text	An ID describing the activity that to search for. Multiple emission factors can share the same activity_id, e.g. if they are from a different source or apply to a different region. You can search for `activity_id`s in the Data Explorer (opens in a new tab) or via the search formulas.
`region`	✓	Text	The country in which the goods have been purchased, i.e. ideally the supplier country. Must be the 2-digit UN code.
`year`	✓	Number	Year of purchase
`currency`	✓	Text	Currency of spend, see all available currencies here.
`amount`	✓	Text	Spend amount
`showDetails`	✕	True/False	Indicates if these details about the calculation methodology should also be shared: Emission factor name, the applied margins for tax, trade, transport and inflation.

Examples Calculate Spend ID

Fuel

Estimate the emissions of fuel combustion. The calculation also provides details on the associated scope 3, i.e. the well-to-tank emissions. More options are available by directly calling our API.

Climatiq_Calculate_Fuel(fuel_type, amount, amount_unit, region, year, showDetails)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`fuel_type`	✓	Text	Type of fuel burned, e.g. biodiesel, cng, fuel_gas, etc. You can make use of our search formula to get a list of available fuel types.
`amount`	✓	Number	Amount of fuel burned.
`amount_unit`	✓	Text	Unit of provided amount
`region`	✕	Text	The country in which the fuel have been purchased. Must be the 2-digit UN code.
`year`	✕	Number	Year of the fuel consumption
`showDetails`	✕	True/False	Indicates if these details about the calculation methodology should also be shared: Overall co2e, combustion emissions, wtt emissions and notices.

Examples Calculate Fuel

Electricity

Estimate the emissions of electricity usage. If desired, the formula also provides details on the associated scope 3, i.e. the well-to-tank, transmission and distribution losses and their well-to-tank emissions. More options are available by directly calling the API - refer to the documentation for details.

Climatiq_Calculate_Electricity(amount, region, year, connectionType, calculationType, supplier, energy_source, recs, includeScope3, showDetails)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`amount`	✓	Number	Amount of electricity consumed in kWh.
`region`	✕	Text	The country or region in which the electricity has been consumed. Must be the 2-digit UN code.
`year`	✕	Text	Year of the electricity consumption
`connectionType`	✕	Text	Either the electricity was delivered via the "grid" or via a `direct` line. Default is `grid`.
`calculationType`	✕	Text	Indicates whether the `location-based` or `market-based` value should be returned, default is `location-based`.
`supplier`	✕	Text	Available where the region is GB or a US state, a supplier ID can be provided to use market factors for that supplier. Use the respective search formula to find available suppliers.
`energy_source`	✕	Text	The source that electricity is generated from. Valid values are `renewable` or specific fuel types such as `natural_gas`, `coal`, `biomass` and `nuclear`.
`recs`	✕	Number	Quantity of RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) to apply for market-based emission calculations.
`includeScope3`	✕	True/False	Indicates if the scope 3 emissions should be considered in the calculation, default is false.
`showDetails`	✕	True/False	Indicates if details should also be shared: Overall co2e, combustion emissions, wtt emissions and notices.

Examples Calculate Electricity

Cloud Computing - Virtual Machines

Estimate the emissions for using virtual machines provided by the common cloud providers (AWS, GCP and Azure), including both the embodied emissions (meaning the emissions related to the manufacturing and disposal of the physical components, expressed per CPU hour over the expected lifetime of the hardware) and the electricity usage of the different components. More options are available by directly calling our API.

Climatiq_Calculate_CloudVMs(vm_type, region, provider, duration, duration_unit, showDetails)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`vm_type`	✓	Text	The specific virtual machine instance type you are using.
`region`	✓	Text	The region that is relevant for the calculation, as specified by the cloud provider.
`provider`	✓	Text	The provider used, valid values are: `aws`, `azure` and `gcp`.
`duration`	✓	Number	How long the machine is running for.
`duration_unit`	✓	Text	The unit the duration value is in. Valid values are `ms`, `s`, `m`, `h`, `day`, `year`.
`showDetails`	✕	True/False	Indicates if details about the calculation methodology should also be shared: Overall emissions, the memory usage energy emissions, the cpu usage energy emissions and the embodied emissions.

Examples Calculate Electricity

CBAM

Calculate total estimated emissions produced for a particular Combined Nomenclature (CN) code, for use with CBAM reporting.

Climatiq_Calculate_CBAM(cn_code, production_region, weight, weight_unit, showDetails)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`cn_code`	✓	Text	The combined nomenclature code for the imported goods.
`production_region`	✓	Text	The region the goods were produced in. If you specify "ROW" then this will return the EU default factors
`weight`	✓	Number	The weight of the imported goods in the defined unit.
`weight_unit`	✓	Text	Unit of the weight. Valid values are: `g`, `kg`, `t` (metric ton), `lb`, `ton` (US short ton).
`showDetails`	✕	True/False	Indicates if details should also be shared (overall co2e, estimated costs, the emission factor name, direct emissions, indirect emissions and notices).

Examples Calculate Electricity

Autopilot

Autopilot is an AI-powered calculation endpoint designed to automate spend- and activity-based emission estimates. It uses a proprietary natural language processing (NLP) model paired with Climatiq’s scientific expertise to streamline complex emission calculations, making carbon insights accessible to non-experts.

Autopilot significantly reduces the time and manual effort spent identifying the appropriate emission factors and mapping activity data. Capable of ingesting any taxonomy and unstructured data, this feature matches raw text content to the correct emission factors and delivers accurate and compliant emission estimates.

Leveraging a built-in expert review mechanism and machine learning, Autopilot's matching algorithm consistently refines its precision. This is achieved through active feedback and continuous improvement of the underlying NLP model.

General Estimation

Calculate total estimated emissions produced for a particular activity, in kgCO2e, using free-text input. The best matching emission factor will automatically be selected and used for the calculation.

Climatiq_Autopilot(text, domain, unit, amount, year, region, region_fallback, showDetails)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`text`	✓	Text	The free-form input text, such as an activity name, service or material name.
`domain`	✓	Text	Defines the scope of emission factors to be searched. Use `general` for all open emission factors, `exiobase` for only EXIOBASE factors and `general_and_ecoinvent` to also include ecoinvent.
`unit`	✓	Text	Specific unit of the consumed amount, e.g. usd for Money, l for Volume or kg for Weight. See the full list here.
`amount`	✓	Number	Amount for which the emissions shall be calculated.
`year`	✕	Number	Year in which the activity took place.
`region`	✕	Text	Geographic region to which the emission factor should apply.
`region_fallback`	✕	True/False	Year in which the activity took place.
`showDetails`	✕	True/False	Indicates if details on the used emission factor should be shared: Name, source and ID.

Examples Autopilot

Suggest

Return a number of autopilot suggested estimates for a particular calculation. You can adjust the number of suggestions to return. Suggestions are ordered by the most likely match first.

Climatiq_Autopilot_Suggest(results, text, domain, unit, amount, year, region, region_fallback, flatten, showDetails)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`results`	✓	Number	The maximum number of suggestions to receive. Autopilot will return as many suitable suggestions as it can find, up to the max number requested, or at most 20 suggestions.
`text`	✓	Text	The free-form input text, such as an activity name, service or material name.
`domain`	✓	Text	Defines the scope of emission factors to be searched. Use `general` for all open emission factors, `exiobase` for only EXIOBASE factors and `general_and_ecoinvent` to also include ecoinvent.
`unit`	✓	Text	Specific unit of the consumed amount, e.g. usd for Money, l for Volume or kg for Weight. See the full list here.
`amount`	✓	Number	Amount for which the emissions shall be calculated.
`year`	✕	Number	Year in which the activity took place.
`region`	✕	Text	Geographic region to which the emission factor should apply.
`region_fallback`	✕	True/False	Year in which the activity took place.
`flatten`	✕	True/False	Indicates if the calculation details of the matches should also be shared, i.e. estimated emissions and the details of the used emission factor (name, source, Climatiq UUID)
`showDetails`	✕	True/False	Indicates if details on the used emission factor should be shared: Name, source and ID.

Example - Flattened Autopilot Suggest Flattened

Example - Not Flattened Autopilot Suggest

Request Review

Request a human review of a particular calculation.

Climatiq_Autopilot_RequestReview(text, domain, unit, amount, year, region, region_fallback, reason)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`year`	✕	Number	Year in which the activity took place.
`text`	✓	Text	The free-form input text, such as an activity name, service or material name.
`domain`	✓	Text	Defines the scope of emission factors to be searched. Use `general` for all open emission factors, `exiobase` for only EXIOBASE factors and `general_and_ecoinvent` to also include ecoinvent.
`unit`	✓	Text	Specific unit of the consumed amount, e.g. usd for Money, l for Volume or kg for Weight. See the full list here.
`amount`	✓	Number	Amount for which the emissions shall be calculated.
`year`	✕	Number	Year in which the activity took place.
`region`	✕	Text	Geographic region to which the emission factor should apply.
`region_fallback`	✕	True/False	Year in which the activity took place.
`reason`	✕	Text	Optional reason or explanation for the review request.

Examples Autopilot Review

Search

Search Emission Factors

Search the emission factor database of Climatiq. Please be aware that this might only return a subset of results (depending on the number of results specified). The search works in the same way as ouData Explorer (opens in a new tab)- The formula returns a table of results, so make sure the surrounding cells are empty when using this formula. Depending on whether an existing Climatiq subscription to use the raw emission factors is in place, these will also be returned as part of the response. If you want to gain access to the raw emission factors, please reach out to our team (opens in a new tab).

Climatiq_Search_EmissionFactors(query, numberOfResults, sector, category, source, region, unit_type)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`query`	✕	Text	A free-text query that will match ids, names, descriptions, etc. of emission factors. This uses fuzzy matching, so your query does not need to be precise.
`numberOfResults`	✕	Number	The number of results to be shared. The maximum value is 500.
`sector`	✕	Text	Filters by emission factor sector. Refer to the Data Explorer (opens in a new tab) for a list of available options.
`category`	✕	Text	Filters by emission factor category. Refer to the Data Explorer (opens in a new tab) for a list of available options.
`source`	✕	Text	Filters by emission factor source. Refer to the Data Explorer (opens in a new tab) for a list of available options.
`region`	✕	Text	Filters by emission factor region. Refer to the Data Explorer (opens in a new tab) for a list of available options.
`year`	✕	Number	Filters by applicable year.
`unit_type`	✕	Text	Filters by emission factor unit type, e.g. Money or Volume. Refer to the Data Explorer (opens in a new tab) for a list of available options.

Examples Search

Available Regions

Find available regions for a specific query. At least one of the parameters needs to be set.

Climatiq_Search_Regions(query, sector, category, source)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`query`	✕	Text	A free-text query that will match ids, names, descriptions, etc. of emission factors. This uses fuzzy matching, so your query does not need to be precise.
`sector`	✕	Text	Filters by emission factor sector. Refer to the Data Explorer (opens in a new tab) for a list of available options.
`category`	✕	Text	Filters by emission factor category. Refer to the Data Explorer (opens in a new tab) for a list of available options.
`source`	✕	Text	Filters by emission factor source. Refer to the Data Explorer (opens in a new tab) for a list of available options.

Examples Search Regions

Available Electricity Suppliers

Find available electricity suppliers for a specific region to be used for the electricity emission estimation. Currently only available for GB and US regions.

Climatiq_Search_AvailableElectricitySuppliers(region)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`region`	✕	Text	Filters by emission factor region. Refer to the Data Explorer (opens in a new tab) for a list of available options.

Examples Search Suppliers

Available Fuel Types

Pulls a list of fuel types available to be used in the fuel emissions formula for a specific unit type.

Climatiq_Search_AvailableFuelTypes(unit_type)

Parameters

Name	Required	Type	Description
`unit_type`	✕	Text	Filters by emission factor unit type, e.g. Money or Volume. Refer to the Data Explorer (opens in a new tab) for a list of available options.

Examples Search Fuels Types

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