How Climatiq API Speeds up Product-Level Carbon Footprinting

Tracking emissions across a product’s full lifecycle is already a challenge for most industries, but for data centres – complex hubs of hardware, software and energy use – the task grows even more complicated. 

From server components manufactured across continents to energy-intensive operations powered by varying electricity grids, the carbon footprint of data centre products often remains buried in spreadsheets or inaccessible databases.

Climatiq, a climate data infrastructure company, introduces its Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) API, a tool built to automate emissions calculations for individual products, including those used throughout digital infrastructure and data centre supply chains. 

The API streamlines the process of carbon reporting by drawing on over 330,000 global emission factors and using AI to process complex data inputs, helping operators meet rising sustainability and regulatory expectations.

Why Scope 3 emissions are a challenge for digital infrastructure

Most companies can account for their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions – these cover direct emissions from owned operations and indirect emissions from purchased electricity. 

But Scope 3 emissions, which cover everything else in the value chain, are far more difficult to manage. This includes emissions linked to the lifecycle of products found in data centres: racks, switches, cooling systems, power units and servers. 

These items often comprise dozens of components sourced from multiple regions and assembled across different manufacturing setups.

Diana Kriuchkova, Director of Product Management at Climatiq, says: “Calculating reliable PCFs has traditionally been slow and difficult. 

“The process requires granular data that often doesn’t exist. Plus, the nature of complex, multi-country supply chains means a single product might touch 15 different energy grids and manufacturing processes.”

These kinds of complexities are typical in data centre operations. For instance, a single server might include metals mined in South America, circuit boards assembled in Asia and a chassis produced in Europe. 

Each element draws on different energy sources – coal, gas or renewables – and contributes to the overall carbon load of the product. 

When scaled across a hyperscale data centre with thousands of servers, the challenge becomes unmanageable without automation.

Diana says: “To do this for just one product takes a long time and becomes completely impossible for manufacturers to scale.”

For operators and tech providers under pressure from regulation such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) or upcoming Digital Product Passport rules, this level of complexity presents a serious reporting burden. 

These laws require companies to disclose not only their operational emissions, but also the environmental cost of the products they use, manufacture or sell – many of which sit in data centres.

API automates carbon tracking for hardware and software

Climatiq’s API plugs directly into enterprise software platforms, including those used by IT asset managers and data centre operators. 

It reads bills of materials – the technical documents listing every component in a product – and matches each item with its relevant emissions factor.

An emissions factor is a standardised value that estimates the amount of CO2 or equivalent greenhouse gas emitted per unit of activity or material. 

These are sourced from a live database that includes manufacturing processes, materials and energy usage across countries and industries.

The API also automates complex decisions. It estimates likely transport routes between suppliers and considers end-of-life outcomes for each material, such as landfill, recycling or incineration.

Diana confirms that the API can generate "cradle-to-grave footprints, including end-of-life calculations", offering full lifecycle transparency on carbon emissions.

All calculations align with internationally recognised standards such as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) and ISO 14067. 

The system also shows users how results are generated, allowing adjustments based on company-specific assumptions or available data.

Sally Scott, Account Executive at Climatiq, says: “This cuts PCF work from months to minutes, using automated calculations and high-quality emissions data, while maintaining reliability and auditability.

“Instead of building a new solution from scratch, teams can now integrate a ready-to-use PCF capability straight into their workflow, accelerating product-level emissions reporting.”

Real-world integration and data centre potential

Software firm Celonis already uses Climatiq’s API within its supply chain management platform. 

For manufacturers serving data centre clients or working within the digital infrastructure space, this means they can calculate the carbon footprint of each product and identify which suppliers or materials contribute most to emissions.

Each calculation includes an audit trail that outlines the methodology and sources used, helping both internal teams and external regulators review emissions data with confidence.

For the data centre sector, which increasingly sits in the spotlight due to its growing energy demand and hardware turnover, tools like Climatiq’s could offer a scalable way to meet climate targets without adding headcount. 

Whether calculating emissions across server portfolios or assessing sustainability of component sourcing, the API gives operators a faster route to transparent reporting.

Instead of relying on consultants to calculate individual footprints, Climatiq’s model supports entire catalogues of hardware or digital products at once. 

This matters for cloud providers, colocation services and enterprise data centres working across borders and managing vast procurement pipelines. As environmental transparency becomes standard across global markets, companies in digital infrastructure face rising expectations to report and reduce emissions. By focusing on software integrations rather than direct services, Climatiq positions itself as the carbon accounting engine behind the tech stack.