DeepSeek-V3.1 Environmental Impact
Hybrid V3+R1 model — 671B params, 37B active
- Architecture
- Mixture-of-Experts (hybrid V3 + R1)
- Parameters
- 671B
- Context
- 128,000 tokens
- Provider
- DeepSeek
Energy per query
5.0 Wh
17x more than a Google search (0.3 Wh)
CO2 per query
2.8 g
China grid (550 gCO₂/kWh)
Water per query
19 mL
~54 queries to fill 1 litre
Processing location
DeepSeek Cloud (China)
Provider
DeepSeek
Category
Text / Chat
Grid carbon intensity
550 g CO2/kWh (30% renewable)
How does DeepSeek-V3.1 compare?
Detailed Breakdown
Energy Consumption
DeepSeek-V3.1 combines the V3 chat model with R1 reasoning capabilities in a single model. At ~5.0 Wh per query for standard chat (non-reasoning), it activates only 37B of 671B parameters. Reasoning mode activates more experts and consumes significantly more energy.
Power Source & Carbon
Hosted on DeepSeek's Chinese infrastructure. Open-source and widely self-hosted globally.
About DeepSeek-V3.1
DeepSeek-V3.1 is a 671B-parameter text and chat model from DeepSeek, released August 1, 2025. Hybrid V3+R1 model — 671B params, 37B active. At 5.0 Wh per query, it uses 17x the energy of a Google search. It runs on a Mixture-of-Experts (hybrid V3 + R1) architecture.
These figures are estimates derived from hardware specifications and API benchmarks — DeepSeek has not published official energy data for DeepSeek-V3.1. Actual consumption may vary significantly depending on batching, quantisation, and infrastructure optimisations that we cannot observe from outside.
DeepSeek-V3.1 in Context
The efficiency alternative
Gemini Nano performs the same type of task using just 0.01 Wh per query — 100% less energy than DeepSeek-V3.1. For a user sending 25 queries per day, switching would save 45.5 kWh per year.
Your yearly DeepSeek-V3.1 footprint
At 25 queries per day, your annual DeepSeek-V3.1 usage consumes 45.6 kWh — roughly what a fridge uses in a month. That produces 25.1 kg of CO₂.
Key Insights
DeepSeek DeepSeek Family
How energy efficiency has evolved across versions.
What does your DeepSeek-V3.1 usage cost the planet?
Use our calculator to estimate your personal environmental footprint based on how often you use DeepSeek-V3.1.
Calculate My ComputeFrequently Asked Questions
How much energy does DeepSeek-V3.1 use per query?
Each DeepSeek-V3.1 query consumes approximately 5.0 Wh of energy. This is 17x more than a traditional Google search (~0.3 Wh).
What is DeepSeek-V3.1's carbon footprint?
Based on the carbon intensity of DeepSeek Cloud (China), each query produces approximately 2.8 g of CO2. The grid in this region has a carbon intensity of 550 g CO2/kWh with 30% renewable energy.
How much water does DeepSeek-V3.1 use?
Each query consumes approximately 19 mL of water, primarily used for cooling the data centers that process the request.
How does DeepSeek-V3.1 compare to a Google search?
A DeepSeek-V3.1 query uses 17x more than a Google search in terms of energy. A Google search uses approximately 0.3 Wh, while DeepSeek-V3.1 uses 5.0 Wh.
Technical Details
Architecture
Mixture-of-Experts (hybrid V3 + R1)
Parameters
671B
Context window
128,000 tokens
Release date
2025-08-01
Open source
Yes
Training data cutoff
2025-07