Image Generation

GPT Image 2 Environmental Impact

Q: How much energy does GPT Image 2 use per query?

Each GPT Image 2 query consumes approximately 5 Wh of energy. This is 17x more than a traditional Google search (~0.3 Wh).

Q: What is GPT Image 2's carbon footprint?

Based on the carbon intensity of its inference location (Azure / Multi-cloud), each GPT Image 2 query produces approximately 2.19g of CO2.

Q: How does GPT Image 2 compare to a Google search?

A GPT Image 2 query uses 17x more than a traditional Google search in terms of energy consumption. A Google search uses approximately 0.3 Wh, while GPT Image 2 uses 5 Wh per query.

Q: How much water does GPT Image 2 use?

Each GPT Image 2 query consumes approximately 18 mL of water, primarily used for cooling the data centers that process the request.

OpenAI's first image model with native thinking — plans and self-checks

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ArchitectureMultimodal Transformer with native reasoning for image generationProviderOpenAI

5.0 WhEnergy / query

2.2 gCO₂ / query

18 mLWater / query

17x more thanvs Google search

Energy per query

5.0 Wh

17x more than a Google search (0.3 Wh)

CO2 per query

2.2 g

US East (Virginia) grid (450 gCO₂/kWh)

Water per query

18 mL

~56 queries to fill 1 litre

Processing location

Azure / Multi-cloud

Provider

OpenAI

How does GPT Image 2 compare?

Ranked #122 of 166 models by energy per query

Head-to-head comparisons

vs GPT-4o Image Generation vs Midjourney

Detailed Breakdown

Energy Consumption

GPT Image 2 is the first OpenAI image model with native thinking: it plans compositions, can search the web for reference, and self-checks output before finalising. That reasoning overhead puts our estimate at ~5.0 Wh per image — above GPT Image 1.5 (~3.8 Wh) and well above single-pass diffusion models.

GPT Image 2 vs Nano Banana 2 (2026)

Power Source & Carbon

Runs on the same Azure/multi-cloud fleet as other OpenAI models (~437 gCO2/kWh blended).

GPT Image 2 vs Nano Banana 2 (2026)

Water Usage

At ~18 mL per image using the 3.6 L/kWh combined water factor applied to OpenAI-stack entries.

UC Riverside — Making AI Less Thirsty (2023)

About GPT Image 2

GPT Image 2 is a image generation model from OpenAI, released in April 15, 2026. OpenAI's first image model with native thinking — plans and self-checks. Each query uses 5.0 Wh of energy and produces 2.2 g of CO₂. That's 17x the energy of a Google search — reflecting the computational demands of image generation.

These figures are estimates derived from hardware specifications and API benchmarks — OpenAI has not published official energy data for GPT Image 2. Actual consumption may vary significantly depending on batching, quantisation, and infrastructure optimisations that we cannot observe from outside.

GPT Image 2 in Context

45.6 kWh

per year

Your yearly GPT Image 2 footprint

At 25 queries per day, your annual GPT Image 2 usage consumes 45.6 kWh — roughly what a fridge uses in a month. That produces 20.0 kg of CO₂.

17x

vs a text query

Image vs text: the energy gap

Generating one image with GPT Image 2 uses 17x more energy than a text conversation with ChatGPT. The diffusion process that creates images requires many iterative passes through the model, each refining the image from noise — far more compute per output than generating text one token at a time.

What does your GPT Image 2 usage cost the planet?

Use our calculator to estimate your personal environmental footprint based on how often you use GPT Image 2.

Calculate My Compute

Frequently Asked Questions

How much energy does GPT Image 2 use per query?

Each GPT Image 2 query consumes approximately 5.0 Wh of energy. This is 17x more than a traditional Google search (~0.3 Wh).

What is GPT Image 2's carbon footprint?

Based on the carbon intensity of Azure / Multi-cloud, each query produces approximately 2.2 g of CO2. The grid in this region has a carbon intensity of 450 g CO2/kWh with 25% renewable energy.