Command R+ Environmental Impact
Enterprise RAG-optimised model
- Architecture
- Dense Transformer (decoder-only)
- Parameters
- 104B
- Context
- 128,000 tokens
- Provider
- Cohere
Energy per query
1.5 Wh
5x more than a Google search (0.3 Wh)
CO2 per query
0.53 g
US East (Virginia) grid (450 gCO₂/kWh)
Water per query
3 mL
~357 queries to fill 1 litre
Processing location
AWS / Google Cloud / Azure
Provider
Cohere
Category
Text / Chat
Grid carbon intensity
450 g CO2/kWh (25% renewable)
How does Command R+ compare?
Detailed Breakdown
Energy Consumption
Command R+ at 104B parameters is optimised for RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) workflows. Estimated at ~1.5 Wh per query — comparable to other 100B+ dense models.
Power Source & Carbon
Available across AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure. Cohere has not published environmental impact data.
Water Usage
Estimated at ~2.8 mL per query, based on energy and typical multi-cloud WUE.
About Command R+
Command R+ is an open-source text and chat model from Cohere, released in April 4, 2024, that runs well below the category average for energy consumption at 1.5 Wh per query. Because its weights are publicly available, it can be self-hosted on any infrastructure — meaning its carbon footprint depends entirely on where and how you choose to run it. At 104B parameters, it enterprise rag-optimised model.
These figures are estimates derived from hardware specifications and API benchmarks — Cohere has not published official energy data for Command R+. Actual consumption may vary significantly depending on batching, quantisation, and infrastructure optimisations that we cannot observe from outside.
Command R+ in Context
Your yearly Command R+ footprint
At 25 queries per day, your annual Command R+ usage consumes 13.7 kWh — roughly what a fridge uses in a month. That produces 4.8 kg of CO₂.
Key Insights
What does your Command R+ usage cost the planet?
Use our calculator to estimate your personal environmental footprint based on how often you use Command R+.
Calculate My ComputeFrequently Asked Questions
How much energy does Command R+ use per query?
Each Command R+ query consumes approximately 1.5 Wh of energy. This is 5x more than a traditional Google search (~0.3 Wh).
What is Command R+'s carbon footprint?
Based on the carbon intensity of AWS / Google Cloud / Azure, each query produces approximately 0.53 g of CO2. The grid in this region has a carbon intensity of 450 g CO2/kWh with 25% renewable energy.
How much water does Command R+ use?
Each query consumes approximately 3 mL of water, primarily used for cooling the data centers that process the request.
How does Command R+ compare to a Google search?
A Command R+ query uses 5x more than a Google search in terms of energy. A Google search uses approximately 0.3 Wh, while Command R+ uses 1.5 Wh.
Technical Details
Architecture
Dense Transformer (decoder-only)
Parameters
104B
Context window
128,000 tokens
Release date
2024-04-04
Open source
Yes