AIEDS - AI Energy Disclosure Standard

AIEDS is the provider-neutral standard for reporting modeled energy and carbon from AI work. This published document is the citable source of truth: it is rendered at randomknights.xyz/aieds, its exact source bytes are served at randomknights.xyz/source/AIEDS.md, and the sha256 of those bytes is shown in the page header. Cite the methodology version together with that hash. The Required Record section below is the record contract a structured disclosure must meet.

Current Method

Methodology 2.0.0 is current. Versions 1.x are superseded and must not be used for new disclosures. The v2 response path is energy-first:

energyWh = inputTokens / 1000 * modelInputWhPer1k
         + outputTokens / 1000 * modelOutputWhPer1k
energyWh = energyWh * providerPue
gCO2e = energyWh / 1000 * gridIntensityGPerKWh

Every coefficient, PUE, and grid-intensity value must identify its methodology version and evidence source. Do not blend disclosures from different impact model versions in one aggregate.

Metric Order

1. Level 1: energy in kWh or Wh, then carbon in gCO2e.
2. Level 2: operational facts such as input tokens, output tokens, cost, and latency.
3. Level 3: educational comparisons derived from Level 1, never substitutes for it.

Tree-Time uses one Mature Reference Tree, or MRT, at 21,000 g CO2e per year:

treeTimeMinutes = gCO2e / 21000 * 525600

The 21 kg value is canonical in methodology 2.0.0 and matches the shipped constant. Any 22 kg figure is superseded 1.x prose and must not be used.

Required Record

A disclosure must identify:

• stable record id;
• subject kind and name;
• scope: device, usage, inference, or training;
• time window;
• energyKWh and gCO2e;
• grid intensity and region when known;
• confidence;
• methodologyVersion;
• generating source and generatedAt timestamp.

Include compute provenance when available: tokens, GPU seconds, FLOPs, and hardware. Structured records must validate against the schema before release.

Confidence And Display

Use the confidence level supported by evidence. Direct measurement is stronger than a hardware factor, which is stronger than a token or FLOP proxy. Never upgrade confidence because the estimate looks plausible.

Every rendered disclosure states:

Energy and carbon are modeled estimates.
Tree-Time and equivalents are educational comparisons.

Do not describe an equivalency as an offset, credit, certification, verified outcome, or restoration result. Methodology changes require owner ratification, a version bump, and an append-only changelog entry in the canonical methodology.