GPT-5.2 Codex Environmental Impact
Agentic coding model — 56.4% SWE-Bench Pro
- Architecture
- Code-optimised Transformer with agentic reasoning
- Context
- 256,000 tokens
- Provider
- OpenAI
Energy per query
4.0 Wh
13x more than a Google search (0.3 Wh)
CO2 per query
1.7 g
US East (Virginia) grid (450 gCO₂/kWh)
Water per query
15 mL
~69 queries to fill 1 litre
Processing location
Azure / Multi-cloud
Provider
OpenAI
Category
Code Assistant
Grid carbon intensity
450 g CO2/kWh (25% renewable)
How does GPT-5.2 Codex compare?
Detailed Breakdown
Energy Consumption
GPT-5.2 Codex is optimised for autonomous software engineering, achieving 56.4% on SWE-Bench Pro and 64.0% on Terminal-Bench 2.0. At ~4.0 Wh per agentic step, it performs multi-file edits, test execution, and debugging in extended sessions that may span dozens of steps.
Power Source & Carbon
Runs on OpenAI's multi-cloud infrastructure. Extended coding sessions may run for minutes with sustained GPU utilisation.
Water Usage
At ~14.5 mL per step. A full bug-fix session with 10+ steps can consume over 140 mL of water.
About GPT-5.2 Codex
GPT-5.2 Codex is a code assistant model from OpenAI, released in January 14, 2026. Agentic coding model — 56.4% SWE-Bench Pro. Each query uses 4.0 Wh of energy and produces 1.7 g of CO₂. That's 13x the energy of a Google search — reflecting the computational demands of code assistant.
These figures are estimates derived from hardware specifications and API benchmarks — OpenAI has not published official energy data for GPT-5.2 Codex. Actual consumption may vary significantly depending on batching, quantisation, and infrastructure optimisations that we cannot observe from outside.
GPT-5.2 Codex in Context
The efficiency alternative
Devstral 2 performs the same type of task using just 0.60 Wh per query — 85% less energy than GPT-5.2 Codex. For a user sending 25 queries per day, switching would save 31.0 kWh per year.
At global scale
With an estimated 10M+ daily users averaging 10 queries each, GPT-5.2 Codex consumes roughly 400 MWh of electricity per day — enough to power 13333 homes.
Your yearly GPT-5.2 Codex footprint
At 25 queries per day, your annual GPT-5.2 Codex usage consumes 36.5 kWh — roughly what a fridge uses in a month. That produces 15.9 kg of CO₂.
OpenAI GPT Family
How energy efficiency has evolved across versions.
What does your GPT-5.2 Codex usage cost the planet?
Use our calculator to estimate your personal environmental footprint based on how often you use GPT-5.2 Codex.
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How much energy does GPT-5.2 Codex use per query?
Each GPT-5.2 Codex query consumes approximately 4.0 Wh of energy. This is 13x more than a traditional Google search (~0.3 Wh).
What is GPT-5.2 Codex's carbon footprint?
Based on the carbon intensity of Azure / Multi-cloud, each query produces approximately 1.7 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 GPT-5.2 Codex use?
Each query consumes approximately 15 mL of water, primarily used for cooling the data centers that process the request.
How does GPT-5.2 Codex compare to a Google search?
A GPT-5.2 Codex query uses 13x more than a Google search in terms of energy. A Google search uses approximately 0.3 Wh, while GPT-5.2 Codex uses 4.0 Wh.
Technical Details
Architecture
Code-optimised Transformer with agentic reasoning
Context window
256,000 tokens
Release date
2026-01-14
Open source
No
Training data cutoff
2025-12