DeepSeek-V4-Flash Environmental Impact
Efficiency tier of the V4 line — 284B total, 13B active
Energy per query
1.0 Wh
3x more than a Google search (0.3 Wh)
CO2 per query
0.53 g
China grid (525 gCO₂/kWh)
Water per query
4 mL
~270 queries to fill 1 litre
Processing location
DeepSeek Cloud (China) / self-hosted
Provider
DeepSeek
Category
Text / Chat
Grid carbon intensity
525 g CO2/kWh (33% renewable)
How does DeepSeek-V4-Flash compare?
Detailed Breakdown
Energy Consumption
DeepSeek-V4-Flash is the efficiency tier of the V4 line, activating only ~13B of its 284B parameters per token. At ~1.0 Wh per query it is 6x cheaper to run than V4-Pro, making it the sensible default for everyday tasks.
Power Source & Carbon
DeepSeek's own cloud runs in China at ~525 gCO2/kWh (Ember 2026). Open weights mean global self-hosting on cleaner grids is common.
Water Usage
At ~3.7 mL per query on Chinese infrastructure (3.7 L/kWh combined water factor).
About DeepSeek-V4-Flash
DeepSeek-V4-Flash is an open-source text and chat model from DeepSeek, released in April 24, 2026, that runs well below the category average for energy consumption at 1.0 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 284B parameters, it efficiency tier of the v4 line — 284b total, 13b active.
These figures are estimates derived from hardware specifications and API benchmarks — DeepSeek has not published official energy data for DeepSeek-V4-Flash. Actual consumption may vary significantly depending on batching, quantisation, and infrastructure optimisations that we cannot observe from outside.
DeepSeek-V4-Flash in Context
Your yearly DeepSeek-V4-Flash footprint
At 25 queries per day, your annual DeepSeek-V4-Flash usage consumes 9.1 kWh — comparable to running a LED light bulb for a month. That produces 4.8 kg of CO₂.
Key Insights
DeepSeek DeepSeek Family
What does your DeepSeek-V4-Flash usage cost the planet?
Use our calculator to estimate your personal environmental footprint based on how often you use DeepSeek-V4-Flash.
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How much energy does DeepSeek-V4-Flash use per query?
Each DeepSeek-V4-Flash query consumes approximately 1.0 Wh of energy. This is 3x more than a traditional Google search (~0.3 Wh).
What is DeepSeek-V4-Flash's carbon footprint?
Based on the carbon intensity of DeepSeek Cloud (China) / self-hosted, each query produces approximately 0.53 g of CO2. The grid in this region has a carbon intensity of 525 g CO2/kWh with 33% renewable energy.
How much water does DeepSeek-V4-Flash use?
Each query consumes approximately 4 mL of water, primarily used for cooling the data centers that process the request.
How does DeepSeek-V4-Flash compare to a Google search?
A DeepSeek-V4-Flash query uses 3x more than a Google search in terms of energy. A Google search uses approximately 0.3 Wh, while DeepSeek-V4-Flash uses 1.0 Wh.
Technical Details
Architecture
Mixture-of-Experts (284B total, ~13B active)
Parameters
284B
Context window
256,000 tokens
Release date
2026-04-24
Open source
Yes
Training data cutoff
2026-03