mcpField
C
Carbon

Carbon

Remote
pipeworx.ioScience & Education0Updated 5d ago

About Carbon

Carbon is an MCP server for people and agents working with UK electricity carbon-intensity data. It provides current, historical, regional, and generation-mix readings from the UK Carbon Intensity API without authentication.

Key features

  1. 01Get current electricity intensity
  2. 02Retrieve intensity by date
  3. 03View the current generation mix
  4. 04Check regional intensity and mix
  5. 05Get fuel-specific intensity factors

Use cases

  1. 01Identify lower-carbon periods for energy-intensive tasks
  2. 02Review historical or regional grid intensity
  3. 03Inspect the UK electricity generation mix

MCP support

Exposes UK electricity carbon-intensity and generation data tools to MCP clients. It runs locally over stdio or can be accessed through the Pipeworx gateway.

Configuration

Remote servers need no local install. Pick your client, then copy the config or install in one click.

Endpointhttps://gateway.pipeworx.io/carbon/mcp
Copy install command
Claude CodeTerminal
Cursor.cursor/mcp.json
VS Code.vscode/mcp.json
Claude Desktopclaude_desktop_config.json
Windsurf~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

Run commands in a terminal; paste JSON into the client’s MCP config and restart. Servers that need sign-in will prompt on first connect.

Tools

Details

From the project README

mcp-carbon

Carbon MCP — UK Carbon Intensity API (free, no auth)

Part of Pipeworx — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1875+ live data sources. This is an independent, unofficial integration — not affiliated with, endorsed by, or published by the upstream provider.

Tools

ToolDescription
get_intensityCheck current UK electricity carbon intensity. Returns gCO2/kWh (forecast and actual) plus intensity level (very low to very high). Use to schedule energy-intensive tasks during low-carbon periods.
get_intensity_by_dateGet UK electricity carbon intensity for every 30-minute period on a specific date (e.g., "2024-01-15"). Returns gCO2/kWh forecast and actual. Use to identify lowest-carbon hours.
get_generation_mixCheck current UK electricity grid composition by source percentage (gas, coal, wind, solar, nuclear, hydro, biomass, imports). Use to understand real-time grid energy mix.
get_regional_intensityCarbon intensity (forecast gCO2/kWh + index band) and generation mix for a specific Great Britain region. Pass "postcode" (UK outcode — first half of a postcode, e.g. "RG10") or "regionid" (1–17, e.g. 13 = London). Omit both for all regions at the current half-hour. Regional figures are forecast-only.
get_intensity_factorsCarbon intensity factors (gCO2/kWh) per fuel type used in the headline figures — e.g. Coal 937, Gas (Combined Cycle) 394, Nuclear 0, Wind 0, Solar 0.

Quick Start

Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "carbon": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/carbon/mcp"
    }
  }
}
What this endpoint actually serves

tools/list at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/carbon/mcp returns the tools in the table above plus the shared Pipeworx meta-tools — ask_pipeworx, discover_tools, search_within, remember/recall and the rest of the gateway-wide set. So the tool count you see is larger than this table: a single-pack endpoint currently lists roughly 30 shared tools alongside the pack's own. The connection's initialize response states its exact scope, and is the authoritative answer for a given day.

This is deliberate, not multiplexing by accident. The meta-tools are what let a scoped connection answer a question this pack does not cover — via ask_pipeworx, which routes across the whole catalog — without you adding a second MCP server. There is currently no way to mount a pack endpoint without them; if the extra schemas cost you more context than the routing is worth, connect to the full gateway once rather than to several pack endpoints.

Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway to get every pack's tools listed directly, instead of just this one's:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1875+ data sources. The only difference is which pack's tools are listed directly; ask_pipeworx reaches all of them from either one.

No MCP client? Call it over HTTP

curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/get_intensity \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{}'

No account needed for the first calls. Inspect any tool: GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/get_intensity. Find one: POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_packs with {"query":"..."}.

Standalone (no gateway account)

This package also runs as a local stdio MCP server — no Pipeworx account, no gateway round-trip:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "carbon": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-carbon"]
    }
  }
}

Or run it directly to confirm it starts:

npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-carbon

It speaks MCP over stdin/stdout and answers initialize/tools/list/tools/call for only this pack's tools — none of the shared meta-tools the gateway connection above adds. Same source, same tools, no ask_pipeworx routing.

Using with ask_pipeworx

Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English — this works on the pack endpoint above as well as on the full gateway:

ask_pipeworx({ question: "your question about Carbon data" })

The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.

More

License

MIT

Comments

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