Energy Resources Explorer
Compare energy sources across emissions, cost, land use, and reliability. Build custom electricity grid mixes to see weighted averages, or explore lifecycle CO₂ breakdowns for each source.
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Comparison Summary
CO₂ Emissions by Source
Reference Guide
Capacity Factor
The capacity factor measures how much energy a power plant actually produces compared to its maximum potential output over a given period.
Nuclear plants typically achieve 93% capacity factor, while solar PV averages about 25% because it only generates during daylight hours.
Levelized Cost of Energy
LCOE represents the average cost per unit of electricity generated over the lifetime of a power plant, including capital, fuel, maintenance, and financing.
Wind and solar now have the lowest LCOE at $25-50/MWh, while coal ranges from $65-150/MWh. These figures do not include integration costs like storage.
Lifecycle CO₂ Emissions
Lifecycle emissions include all CO₂ released from construction, fuel supply, operation, and decommissioning of a power plant.
Coal produces 820 gCO₂/kWh while wind onshore produces only 11 gCO₂/kWh, roughly 75 times less. Nuclear is similarly low at 12 gCO₂/kWh despite requiring uranium mining and enrichment.
Grid Mix Weighted Average
A grid's average carbon intensity is the generation-weighted average of each source's emissions intensity. Sources with higher capacity factors contribute more energy per unit of installed capacity.
France achieves roughly 56 gCO₂/kWh thanks to 70% nuclear power, while Germany's mix (with 26% coal) averages about 350 gCO₂/kWh.
