CARBON MARKET SIMULATOR · EMISSIONS TRADING SIMULATOR
Free Carbon Market Simulator
Prometheus is a free, open-source, browser-based carbon market simulator. It teaches how emissions trading works by letting you run a firm in a live market — weighing the cost of cutting emissions against the price of buying an allowance — instead of only reading about it.
What Prometheus is
Prometheus is an emissions trading simulator for students, educators, policy professionals, and regulators. It is also a cap-and-trade simulator, an ETS simulator, and an India CCTS simulator — one carbon trading game that models the dominant carbon market designs in a single live, browser-based environment. The facts below describe what it does today.
- Free and open-source. Prometheus is free to use and open-source. There is no paywall, no account fee, and no ads.
- Runs in the browser. It runs entirely in a web browser with no installation, no plugins, and no downloads.
- Solo play against AI bots. You can play solo against AI bots that trade and abate with distinct personalities — some cross the spread aggressively, others wait patiently in the queue.
- Multiplayer. You can run a multiplayer game where people join the same live market from any browser using a shared room code.
- Two market architectures. It models both absolute cap-and-trade systems (EU ETS style) and intensity-based rate systems, including India’s Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS).
- Compare allocation methodologies. You can compare how allowances are handed out — benchmarking, grandparenting, and hybrid approaches — and see how each shapes firm behaviour.
- Teaches the core mechanics. It teaches the abatement-versus-buy decision, price discovery on a live order book, banking allowances across periods, and end-of-period compliance.
Cap-and-trade and intensity-based systems, side by side
Prometheus models both major families of emissions trading system so you can feel the difference rather than memorise it. In absolute cap-and-trade, the regulator fixes the total quantity of allowances and tightens it over time; firms surrender allowances against their actual emissions. In an intensity-based system, obligations are set per unit of output against an emissions-intensity benchmark, so a firm earns credits when it beats the benchmark and a shortfall when it misses, and the constraint scales with production. Running them side by side shows how each handles growth, banking, and price formation.
An India CCTS simulator
India’s Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) is a first-class scenario in Prometheus. It uses real CCTS sector baselines, emissions intensities, and abatement options for sectors such as cement, aluminium, chlor-alkali, paper and pulp, petrochemicals, textiles, and refineries. The benchmark tightens annually, settlement is computed after each period against realised output, and compliance is enforced the way a rate-based scheme works — making it a practical way to learn how the CCTS operates.
What you learn by trading in it
Because the price is discovered by real order flow rather than solved for, the lessons stick. By playing Prometheus you learn the abatement-versus-buy decision at the heart of why carbon markets work, how price discovery happens on a continuous double-auction order book, how banking allowances across periods changes strategy, and how compliance and penalties settle at the end of each period.
Frequently asked questions
What is a carbon market simulator?
A carbon market simulator is an interactive tool that reproduces how an emissions trading system works, letting users buy and sell emission allowances, decide whether to cut emissions or pay for them, and watch a price emerge from supply and demand. Prometheus is a free, browser-based carbon market simulator that puts you in charge of a firm with a compliance obligation and a live allowance market. You learn the mechanics of cap-and-trade and intensity-based systems by trading in one rather than only reading about them.
Is there a free carbon market simulator?
Yes. Prometheus is a free, open-source carbon market simulator that runs entirely in a web browser with no installation and no cost. You can play solo against AI bots or run a multiplayer session with other people. It was built as a learning and training tool, not a commercial product.
How can I learn how emissions trading works?
The most direct way to learn how emissions trading works is to participate in a market and face the trade-offs yourself. Prometheus lets you do exactly that: you run a firm, compare the cost of abating a tonne of emissions against the price of buying an allowance, place orders on a live order book, and meet a compliance deadline. Through hands-on play it teaches abatement-versus-buy decisions, price discovery, banking, and end-of-period compliance.
What is the difference between cap-and-trade and intensity-based carbon markets?
In a cap-and-trade (absolute) system, the regulator sets a fixed total quantity of allowances that tightens over time, and firms surrender allowances against their actual emissions. In an intensity-based system, obligations are defined per unit of output: a firm earns credits when it beats an emissions-intensity benchmark and faces a shortfall when it misses, so the constraint scales with production. Prometheus models both architectures side by side, including India’s intensity-based CCTS, so you can directly compare how each handles growth, banking, and price formation.
Is there a simulator for India’s Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS)?
Yes. Prometheus models India’s Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) as a first-class intensity-based system, using real CCTS sector baselines, emissions intensities, and abatement options for sectors such as cement, aluminium, and refineries. It simulates benchmark tightening, ex-post settlement, and compliance the way a rate-based scheme like the CCTS works. This makes Prometheus a practical India CCTS simulator for students, regulators, and trainers.
Can I play a carbon market game with friends or against AI?
Both. Prometheus supports single-player mode against AI bots that trade and abate with distinct personalities, and multiplayer mode where people join the same market with a shared room code from any browser. This makes the carbon trading game usable for solo learning, classrooms, and workshops alike.
Prometheus is a free, open-source, browser-based carbon market simulator for learning emissions trading, cap-and-trade, and intensity-based systems like India’s CCTS.