Carbon and place data tools

The Carbon & Place website provides free tools to allow communities, planners and policymakers in the UK to understand their neighbourhoods better.  

Based on the latest research and best available data, the tools allow the user to explore how total carbon emissions vary across the country – and how the solutions for reducing emissions will differ between neighbourhoods.  

Carbon footprints are often considered on a global scale, or in terms of an individual’s actions. But often it’s at the community level where the collective resource and power can be mobilised to make meaningful change happen. The Carbon & Place website was built to help local communities do just that. 

Read more about why the tools were developed 

Most of the tools are interactive maps of the UK, divided into super local areas (known as ‘lower super output areas’), each representing a population of 1,500 to 3,000 people. The user can click through to a report card about the area, which includes emissions data and information about contributing factors (eg housing types, transport choices), as well as comparisons with other areas.  

Tools include the Place Based Carbon Calculator, which displays how carbon emissions vary across England; the Retrofit Explorer, which presents data on buildings and associated energy consumption; and the Transport and Accessibility Explorer, which shows how travel options and access to services vary across the country.  

The tools on Carbon & Place are developed as Open-Source Software and, as much as possible, use Open Data. All are free to use and most of the data is free to download. 

Carbon & Place was produced by academics at the University of Leeds with funding from UK Research and Innovation, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and the Economic and Social Research Council through the Energy Demand Research Centre. 

The tools will have a full update during 2025. 

Explore the Carbon & Place website