24Earth climate tool
Electricity Mix Explorer
See what powers any country—coal, gas, nuclear, hydro, solar, and wind shares for 200+ geographies since 1985, with carbon intensity and how it all changed.
Pick a place and a year
Whose electricity, and when?
Every country and region in the Ember dataset, from 1985 to the latest full year available.
All data ships with the page. Nothing you explore is sent anywhere.
Carbon intensity
World, 2025 generates electricity at
458 g CO₂/kWh
Carbon intensity is available from 2000 onwards (Ember coverage).
Fossil vs. low-carbon
Generation shares
The electricity mix
Share of total electricity generation, by source.
Direction of travel
Change over 5, 10, and 20 years
Percentage-point change in each share, and the change in carbon intensity. Green means cleaner.
| Source | 5 years (vs 2020) | 10 years (vs 2015) | 20 years (vs 2005) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coal | −2.4 pp | −5.7 pp | −6.6 pp |
| Natural gas | −2.1 pp | −1.3 pp | +1.5 pp |
| Other fossil (mainly oil) | −0.3 pp | −2.1 pp | −4.4 pp |
| Nuclear | −1.1 pp | −1.7 pp | −6.2 pp |
| Hydropower | −2.3 pp | −2.2 pp | −2.1 pp |
| Solar | +5.6 pp | +7.7 pp | +8.7 pp |
| Wind | +2.6 pp | +5.1 pp | +8.0 pp |
| Other renewables | −0.1 pp | +0.3 pp | +1.1 pp |
| Fossil total | −4.7 pp | −9.1 pp | −9.5 pp |
| Low-carbon total | +4.7 pp | +9.1 pp | +9.5 pp |
| Carbon intensity (g CO₂/kWh) | −33.8 g | −75.1 g | −85.1 g |
How to read the mix
Shares tell you the recipe, not the amount
Everything here is a share of generation—the recipe of a country’s power. A share can fall while actual generation grows (if demand grows faster), and a country with a clean recipe can still import dirty power. Carbon intensity is the single best summary number: grams of CO₂ per kilowatt-hour generated.
- Generation, not consumptionData covers electricity generated within each geography; imports and exports are not reallocated.
- Low-carbon = nuclear + renewablesHydro, solar, wind, bioenergy, geothermal, and nuclear together. Bioenergy is counted low-carbon by convention, though its real footprint varies.
- Two data sourcesEmber covers 2000 onwards; earlier years come from the Energy Institute’s Statistical Review. Carbon intensity exists from 2000.
- Latest year may be provisionalThe most recent year for some geographies is based on provisional Ember data and can be revised.
Transparent by design
Definitions and sources
What counts in each category
| Category | Includes |
|---|---|
| Coal | All coal-fired generation, including lignite |
| Natural gas | Gas-fired generation |
| Other fossil | Oil and other fossil sources; derived as fossil total minus coal and gas |
| Nuclear | Nuclear fission |
| Hydropower | Conventional hydro, excluding pumped storage |
| Solar | Solar photovoltaics and concentrated solar |
| Wind | Onshore and offshore wind |
| Other renewables | Bioenergy, geothermal, wave and tidal; derived as renewables total minus hydro, solar, and wind |
| Carbon intensity | Grams of CO₂ emitted per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated (Ember, from 2000) |
Derived categories: “Other fossil” and “other renewables” are computed from Ember’s category totals, so the eight shares sum to approximately 100%. Small rounding differences of up to 0.1 percentage points can appear.
Snapshot: Data is a static snapshot bundled with this page, generated from Our World in Data’s Ember and Energy Institute series. It updates when we refresh the snapshot, not live.
Data: Ember Yearly Electricity Data and Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy, as compiled and licensed CC BY by Our World in Data. Shares are of gross generation within each geography. Values are rounded; recent years may be provisional and subject to revision by Ember.